Securing the modern workspace can be complex, because a surge of web, SaaS, GenAI, and private apps expands activity beyond the reach of traditional inline security. These gaps increase the risk of  sensitive data exposure while leaving critical  user activity outside the visibility of security teams. Read this blog to see how we’ve integrated Prisma Browser with NGFW to deliver unique capabilities that secure your organization from the network to the endpoint. 

Securing the Modern Workspace Is Complicated

The foundation of security in the organization starts at the network layer. This includes securing your endpoints, data centers, branch campuses, and on-premises devices. In this foundational layer, all network activity is able to be inspected and secured with traditional security tools. 

But the workspace has transformed. Web and SaaS apps entered the picture and their adoption is skyrocketing. The amount of user activity and data sprawled out beyond the network layer. A lot of data now lives on the user’s device and within applications, making inspection and security harder. Decryption is now required to inspect and secure the traffic coming from these apps, but it is not always possible due to factors like new protocols, compliance requirements, SLA considerations, and operational constraints. 

Figure 1. New apps make security harder with increasing client-side data, protocols, and SLA considerations

The Emerging AI Era Is Upending How Security Is Done

The architecture of the workspace today and in the future is driven by AI, shaking up how organizations inspect and secure. Many user actions, like prompting and copy/paste, within AI apps and agents are outside the inspection capabilities of inline security tools. On top of this, a large volume of the traffic from these AI apps and agents is encrypted. This creates major difficulties in inspecting and securing the new AI-driven workspace. 

Furthermore, AI agents and copilots are acting on behalf of the user at the endpoint while assuming the users identities, making it hard to separate traffic from AI versus human users.

The Browser Is a Critical Point to Inspect and Secure

And where do all of these web, SaaS, GenAI and private applications across all layers meet the user? 

The browser. 

The browser is where users, applications, and data converge. It is the modern workspace, where employees spend 85% of their workday. This makes the browser the most impactful place to secure work. With the proper tools, you can gain visibility into and secure all data-in-use, user activity, and traffic. This is achieved today with Prisma® Browser™— providing visibility and control where the users and data meet—with best-in-class security engines.

Visibility, Control, and Advanced Security Now Span From the Network to the User With Prisma Browser and NGFW

Prisma Browser and Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) are synergized to secure the modern AI workspace from the network to the user. Prisma Browser enhances your organization’s security coverage, complementing NGFW’s advanced network security with full visibility and control of all data-in-use and user activity on any device.

With our new integrations between Prisma Browser and NGFW, Palo Alto Networks can now offer protection for unmanaged devices, enforce the use of the secure browser in all scenarios, save resources, and improve operations.

Gain Network to Endpoint Visibility Without Decryption

Get full visibility into what all users are doing in your organization at the endpoint. See all data-in-use and user activity on any app, including web, SaaS, GenAI, and private apps. This includes all activity and data-in-use outside the coverage of inline network inspection. Furthermore, all traffic can be inspected and secured in Prisma Browser without the need for decryption. Prisma Browser ensures that no activity is left uninspected and in the shadows.

Figure 2. Gain visibility into all user actions in the browser and investigate events

Augment Network Security with Granular Last-Mile Control and Security of All Browser Activity

Enhance your organization’s security by combining the advanced network-level security of NGFW with the granular control and browser-level security that Prisma Browser delivers. Ensure your corporate data and users are protected from end to end.

Figure 3. Prisma Browser extends the protective reach of the Palo Alto Networks platform, bringing advanced security and data protection right to where work happens

Prisma Browser sees every user action in every app, letting you enforce corporate policies action-by-action in real-time to prevent sensitive data from being exposed. 

User actions outside the coverage of inline network inspection, like copy and pasting, printing, screenshotting, and file movements, can now be controlled in granular detail. And web controls, like applying data masking on screen, putting watermarks on sensitive pages, and turning pages into read-only, can be implemented seamlessly on a case-by-case basis.

Prisma Browser’s advanced security protects users from threats that directly target the browser. Advanced threats, like reassembly attacks, phishing attacks, and web-delivered malware are stopped in their tracks.

Effortlessly Connect Unmanaged Devices to Private Corporate Resources with Prisma Browser Connector

Seamlessly enable work on any device, including personal, third-party, and contactor-used devices, without operational challenges or difficult deployments. Prisma Browser Connector securely connects unmanaged devices to any private network or corporate resources. And if you have NGFW, you can make this connection without opening new ports, deploying additional components, or deploying virtual machines (VMs).

Unlock Unique Capabilities With NGFW-Specific Identification of Prisma Browser Traffic 

Prisma Browser is the only browser that can be cryptographically identified by NGFW. This means traffic from Prisma Browser can be separated from other browsers. 

Special policies and rules can be applied specifically on Prisma Browser traffic, preventing the use of unapproved, unsecured browsers when accessing corporate resources. And you can lower overhead on the network by specially routing traffic already secured by Prisma Browser.

Figure 4. Prevent the use of unapproved, unsecured browsers, and enforce different rules on traffic coming from Prisma Browser.

This ability for Prisma Browser and NGFW to identify each other with a special protocol is a unique part of the Palo Alto Networks platform, allowing you to protect your on-premises environment more effectively, reduce the use of resources by your NGFW, enable new business continuity scenarios, and cover all on-campus network access with advanced security.

Optimize Operations and Simplify Setup With the Platform Approach

Prisma Browser is a part of the Palo Alto Networks platform, meaning that the management of Prisma Browser falls under the same pane of glass as NGFW, Prisma Access, and other Palo Alto Networks products. Policies, like existing routing policies and Data Loss Prevention profiles, can be reused across the platform for faster implementation and better security coverage. 

Reporting also falls under a single pane of glass, meaning that operations are optimized across the platform. Reporting of incidents and events in Prisma Browser are standardized with the rest of the Palo Alto Networks platform, ensuring faster time to resolution and a more streamlined operational experience.

Leverage the Synergies of Prisma Browser and Next-Gen Firewall For Greater Value

Augment the advanced security of NGFW with the full visibility and granular controls of Prisma Browser. Adapt your security to the new AI-driven workspace and extend coverage from the network all the way to the endpoint. And adapt it easily with one single platform that unifies operations across the entire security stack. 

See Prisma Browser and NGFW in action. Watch the InterSECt deep dive to learn how you can get greater value with Prisma Browser and NGFW together.