The Rising Popularity of Remote Browser Isolation

The Importance of Browser Isolation in a Remote Work Environment

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a seismic shift in the way we work, with remote work becoming the norm for many organizations. While this has brought numerous benefits, it has also presented new security challenges. In response, companies have turned to remote browser isolation as a solution. 

According to the "Innovation Insight for Remote Browser Isolation" report by Menlo Security, remote browser isolation is a rapidly evolving technology that is gaining popularity due to its ability to provide a secure browsing experience. In this blog, we will explore some of the key findings of this report and examine the growing importance of remote browser isolation in today's business landscape.

Amit Jain, who holds the position of Senior Director of Product Management at Zscaler, a cloud-based security company, suggests that due to the increasing number of remote employees utilizing cloud services, browser isolation has become essential in safeguarding both corporate cloud services and the employee's device.

He says, "For modern enterprises, the Internet is now the corporate network. This shift has enabled workers to work from anywhere while being able to access the information they need for their jobs through cloud-based apps and private apps via the Web, while this has provided maximum flexibility to workers, it has also significantly expanded the attack surface and has the potential to expose data."

Key Trends in Remote Browser Isolation: An Analysis of Menlo Security's Report

1. Growing Popularity of Remote Browser Isolation: It is quickly gaining traction as a key security technology, with many organizations recognizing its ability to protect against web-based threats.

2. Increased Need for Scalable Solutions: As more companies adopt remote work policies, the need for scalable remote browser isolation solutions has become more pressing. Many companies are exploring cloud-based solutions to meet this need.

3. The Importance of User Experience: Despite its security benefits, remote browser isolation can be challenging to implement in a way that provides a seamless user experience. The report highlights the importance of user experience in driving the adoption and suggests that solutions that prioritize ease of use are likely to gain traction.

4. New Threats and Attack Vectors: As with any security technology, remote browser isolation is not immune to evolving threats and attack vectors. The report discusses some of the emerging threats that remote browser isolation must contend with and suggests that ongoing innovation in this space will be critical in order to stay ahead of attackers.

5. Integration with Other Security Technologies: Remote browser isolation is most effective when integrated with other security technologies such as secure web gateways and endpoint security solutions. 

Browser Isolation Solutions: Will companies isolate?

Gartner says, "By 2022, 25% of enterprises will adopt browser isolation techniques for some high-risk users and use cases, up from less than 1% in 2017. By effectively isolating endpoints from browser-executable code, attacks that compromise end-user systems will be reduced by 70%, while eliminating the need to detect or identify malware."

Larger companies operating in regulated industries have tended to adopt remote browser isolation due to its ease of deployment and its physical air gap, which provides an additional layer of security. 

Small and medium-sized enterprises tend to opt for local browser isolation technology due to its flexibility. As expected, vendors have varying opinions on whether standalone or integrated solutions are preferable.

Mr. Jain from Zscaler said "The technology should be fully integrated into the zero trust platform providing threat protection for all Web activity and preventing data loss from sanctioned SaaS and corporate private apps. Moreover, HTML smuggling [and other] attacks can be better thwarted by an architecture which involves a tighter combination of browser isolation and sandbox technologies."

As cloud usage has increased, browser isolation has become even more important. Cloud services are often accessed through web browsers, and if a user's device is compromised, the sensitive data stored in the cloud is also at risk. However, using browser isolation significantly reduces the risk of a data breach.

Mark Guntrip, senior director at Menlo Security, said "It's not the fact of what we do — it's the fact that we do it without interfering with that digital experience of the end user." So they can interact with whatever they want. They can click on whatever they want, but we hold anything that's active away from them"