What Is an Enterprise Browser?

An enterprise browser provides a secure, managed web browser environment designed for specific business needs, allowing for full visibility and control over all web services and user actions.

Features often include controlled access to web apps, the ability to manage user activities, and tools to prevent data breaches, which are not typically prioritized in consumer browsers. This specialization helps maintain data integrity and streamline work processes within an enterprise setting.

How Do Enterprise Browsers Work?

An enterprise browser operates as a secure, managed web browsing solution tailored for organizational use. It enforces IT policies, controls resource access, and provides monitoring capabilities for enhanced security. 

By integrating with the company's infrastructure, a secure enterprise browser restricts and monitors user activities according to predefined rules. Predefined rules can include processes like content inspection and access control. 

The enterprise browser isolates web processes to protect against threats, ensuring sensitive corporate data remains within a controlled environment. The segregation of corporate from personal browsing helps maintain security without infringing on user privacy.

Secure browsers often offer customization options to align with corporate branding, improving the browsing experience.

Enterprise Browser Use Cases

Secure enterprise browser applications and use cases may vary slightly depending on the solution and can include securing third-party access, VDI and DaaS alternatives, Zero Trust for web applications, and more.

In an enterprise context, the primary use cases for an enterprise browser include:

Contractor Access

Contractors need entry to select corporate resources while ensuring robust security measures are in place. With secure browsers, organizations can grant access to necessary webpages and SaaS applications, such as the company's Salesforce environment, with advanced security protocols. These browsers come equipped with mechanisms to prevent data loss and shield against malware from unmanaged devices, enabling contractors to perform effectively without compromising the integrity of the IT infrastructure.

BYOD

In a BYOD policy, employees use personal devices for work-related tasks. Enterprise browsers support this flexibility while providing a secure environment that separates corporate web use from personal activities, safeguarding company data on personal devices and maintaining a consistent, organization-wide security policy on any device.

Securing Critical Apps

Critical business applications are potential targets for cyberthreats. An enterprise browser can isolate these applications, ensuring access is secure and monitored, and that corporate data remains protected from web-based vulnerabilities and insider threats.

Enterprise Browser Features

Security

Enterprise browsers offer advanced security measures beyond standard browsers such as sandboxing and role-based access restrictions.

Centralized Control

Administrators can enforce uniform browser settings across an organization, which simplifies deploying security policies and updates.

Increased Visibility

Administrative tools in secure browsers provide insights into user behavior, making it easier to quickly identify potential security issues in real time.

Compliance Support

With built-in encryption and access controls, enterprise browsers can support adherence to compliance requirements.

Sandboxed Environment

Enterprise browsers establish secure connections, isolating end-user activity and maintaining endpoint security while adhering to corporate policies established by security teams.

Enterprise Browser Benefits

Improved User Experience

Secure enterprise browsers offer a seamless and intuitive interface for users, which improves productivity across an organization. By embedding advanced security functionality directly into familiar browser experiences, enterprise browser solutions deliver a responsive user experience.

Enhanced Security & Risk Reduction

Secure browsers help organizations prevent data breaches and protect sensitive information. They defend against data exfiltration and malware spread without requiring intrusive endpoint software or administrative privileges. This makes it easy for businesses to verify any endpoint’s security posture before granting users access to corporate systems and data.

Cost Savings

Secure enterprise browsers offer significant cost savings by reducing hardware and maintenance expenses. They also provide a superior user experience compared to traditional security solutions. Traditional methods often lead to user frustration due to their cumbersome nature, impacting productivity and potentially prompting users to circumvent security measures. Enterprise browsers streamline the user experience, facilitating rapid deployment and notable total cost of ownership (TCO) savings. This mitigates adoption barriers, preserves workforce satisfaction, and maintains adherence to security protocols.

Scalability

Enterprise browsers support a large number of unmanaged devices and users, which provides a cost-effective solution for organizations with a growing workforce. Organizations can quickly and easily scale up or down depending on workforce needs.

Comparing Enterprise Browser with Other Security Technologies

Enterprise Browser vs. SASE

An enterprise browser provides centralized management, enhanced security, and compliance features not typically found in consumer browsers. These features help manage access to web content, user activities, and prevent data breaches. The focus is on maintaining data integrity and efficient workflow within an organization.

In contrast, SASE (secure access service edge) is a cloud-native framework that merges networking and security services into a single service. It facilitates secure, consistent access to applications for remote and hybrid workers by connecting them to the nearest cloud gateway, rather than routing traffic through a central data center. SASE simplifies management, reduces complexity, and adapts to changing network demands and security threats.

While an enterprise browser centralizes control over web access within a company, SASE provides a broader solution that extends security and network functionality to support a dispersed workforce. It represents a shift from traditional network security models to a cloud-based platform that ensures security and connectivity across the organization.

Within the SASE framework, an enterprise browser acts as an additional security layer. It offers detailed control over web access and standardizes security policies across IT environments. Integrating a secure enterprise browser into SASE ensures secure, efficient web interactions for remote workforces.

What Is SASE?

Enterprise Browser vs. RBI

An enterprise browser integrates tightly with business operations and security frameworks, providing centralized control over web activities. This includes in-browser isolation techniques that keep browsing activities compartmentalized from the local device. The secure environment safeguards against data breaches while maintaining data integrity and streamlining workflows.

Conversely, remote browser isolation (RBI) secures by detaching the entire browsing activity from the user's device. It hosts the browser in a remote server, delivering only a visual stream to the user and ensuring any potentially harmful code remains offsite. RBI effectively minimizes the attack surface by preventing web-based threats from interacting with either the corporate network or local devices.

While both systems prioritize secure browsing, their isolation methods differ. The secure enterprise browser provides a local, user-centric isolation that allows for direct login to a secured browser account. RBI isolates the user's browsing session entirely from their device. Each offers unique protective measures, with enterprise browsers granting a more integrated and seamless user experience.

Enterprise Browser vs. VDI

A secure enterprise browser not only streamlines centralized management and security within a business but also features built-in isolation capabilities. Isolation shields the enterprise’s network by containing potential threats within a controlled browser environment, which is a step beyond standard consumer browsers that focus on user autonomy. The core objective of an enterprise browser is to secure organizational data and enhance workflow efficiency through managed, isolated browsing environments.

In contrast, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) delivers desktop virtualization, hosting desktop environments on a central server. This allows users to access a full desktop operating system and its suite of applications from various devices, decoupling the working environment from physical hardware. VDI's strength lies in providing flexible, remote desktop access with a focus on centralizing desktop management.

Both secure enterprise browsers and VDI serve to bolster security and streamline operations, but they do so in distinct ways. Enterprise browsers offer a more focused solution for secure, isolated web activity within an organization's network, directly confronting web-based threats. VDI, however, expands upon this by offering a comprehensive virtual workspace, where not just browsing, but all desktop interactions are contained within a remote and secure server environment. 

Each technology presents a strategic advantage, addressing specific requirements in the domains of secure web browsing and desktop virtualization.

Enterprise Browser FAQs