The Definitive Enterprise Browser Buying Guide

ReportJanuary 2, 2024Hacker NewsBrowser security/threat protection

Security stakeholders have realized that the important role browsers play in modern enterprise environments requires a re-evaluation of how they are managed and protected. While not long ago the risks posed by cyber were still addressed through a patchwork of endpoint, network and cloud solutions, it is now clear that the partial protection provided by these solutions is no longer sufficient. As a result, more and more security teams are now turning to the emerging category of dedicated enterprise browsers as the answer to browser security challenges.

However, because this category of security solutions is still relatively new, there is no established set of browser security best practices and no universal evaluation criteria.

LayerX is a user-first enterprise browser extension that addresses the needs of security teams with a downloadable enterprise browser buying guide that walks readers through the key points of selecting the best solution and provides them with information to use during the evaluation process actionable list.

The browser is the most important work interface and the most targeted attack surface

The browser has become the core workspace of the modern enterprise. In addition to serving as the gateway to recognized SaaS applications and other non-enterprise Web destinations, the browser is also the intersection between cloud\Web environments and physical or virtual endpoints. This makes browsers both a target for many types of attacks and a potential source of unintentional data exfiltration.

Some of these attacks have been around for more than a decade, such as exploiting browser vulnerabilities or drive-by downloads of malicious files. As SaaS adoption surges, other aspects have also gained recent momentum, such as social engineering of users using phishing pages. Others have taken advantage of developments in web technology to initiate sophisticated and difficult-to-detect modifications and abuse browser features to capture and exfiltrate sensitive data.

Browser Security 101 – What do we need to protect?

Browser security can be divided into two different groups: preventing accidental data exfiltration and preventing various types of malicious activity.

From a data protection perspective, enterprise browsers enforce policies to ensure that sensitive enterprise data is not insecurely shared or downloaded from sanctioned applications or uploaded from managed devices to non-enterprise network destinations .

From a threat protection perspective, enterprise browsers can detect and defend against three types of attacks:

• Attacks targeting the browser itself aim to compromise data residing within the host device or the browser application itself, such as cookies, passwords, etc.
• Attacks that exploit browsers to access corporate data residing in approved and unapproved SaaS applications via compromised credentials.
• Attacks that utilize modern web pages as attack vectors to target user passwords through various phishing methods or by maliciously modifying browser functions.

How to choose the right solution

What should you look for when choosing an enterprise browser solution for your environment? What are the practical implications of the differences between the various products? How to comprehensively consider deployment methods, solution architecture, and user privacy? How should threats and risks be prioritized?

As we said before, unlike other security solutions, you can’t just ping a coworker and ask him or her what he or she is doing. Enterprise browsers are new and the wisdom of the crowd has yet to take hold. In fact, there’s a good chance your colleagues are struggling with the same issues you are right now.

The Definitive Enterprise Browser Buying Guide – What It is and How to Use It

The Buyer’s Guide (download here) breaks down the high-level “Browser Security” heading into small, easy-to-understand chunks of specific needs that need to be addressed. These are organized into five pillars: deployment, user experience, security features, and user privacy. For each pillar, there is a short description of its browser context and a more detailed description of its functionality.

In terms of scope, the most important pillar is of course the safety features, which are divided into five sub-sections. Since in most cases this pillar will be the initial driver in pursuing a browser security platform, it is worth discussing them in more detail:

Enterprise Browser Deep Dive

The need for an enterprise browser typically stems from one of the following reasons:

• Attack surface management: Proactively reduce browser exposure to various types of threats and eliminate adversaries’ ability to carry out threats.
• Zero Trust Access: Strengthen identity verification requirements to ensure that usernames and passwords are indeed provided by legitimate users and are not leaked.
• SaaS monitoring and protection: Gain 360° visibility into all user activity and data usage across approved and unapproved applications and other non-company web targets while protecting corporate data from disclosure or loss.
• Protect against malicious web pages: Instantly detect and prevent all malicious tactics adversaries embed into modern web pages, including credential phishing, malicious file downloads and data theft.
• Secure third-party access and BYOD: Enables internal employees as well as external contractors and service providers to securely access corporate Web resources from unmanaged devices.

This checklist makes it easy for anyone to identify what their enterprise browser is searching for and find out what features are needed to achieve that goal.

Buyer’s Guide – The direct shortcut to appraisals

The most important and actionable part of the guide is the conclusion checklist, which for the first time provides a concise summary of all the essential features an enterprise browser should offer. This checklist makes the evaluation process easier than ever. Now all you have to do is test your shortlisted solutions to see which one scores the best. Once you have all of this lined up, you can make an informed decision based on the needs of your environment and what you understand.

Download the buyer’s guide here.