How do you ensure browser security in your organization?

If possible, use a browser with sandbox technology and a good supply of security updates. Avoid using active content if you do not need it - this applies in particular to technologies such as Java, which are provided by additional plugins and are not already directly supported by the browser. If you must use such active content, switch it off generally and only activate it on trustworthy websites. Activate the phishing and malware protection mechanisms integrated in all common browsers.

When you, as a company, choose a browser, it must be whitelisted and access to all others should be blocked. It is easier to secure one you have control over than many you have no overview of. This can be done through group policy (GPO) in Active Directory.

Since the browser is one of the main attack vectors on end-points, in addition to the celebrated one-clicks also of various phishing attacks, the collected data are used to do algorithmic profiling. So, it's critical to choose a secure, configurable browser compatible with the applications used by the organisation. Several times, as a tester, I found myself using legacy browsers for applications that were just as old and provided a particularly critical attack surface.

Since the browser is a great attack surface, we need to configure it properly and securely, both in terms of blocking javascript, ancillary protections such as Chrome's XSS filters, storage of passwords that are normally extracted by Stealers, and all the various APIs offered by HTML5 such as location access, notifications-which if left on could also provide useful information when the screen is locked, and so on. As always in these cases CISecurity benchmarks - for browsers - can help. Also another important element, I was talking about this with a person from Google a few weeks ago, is to configure automatic updates, the only way to make sure you have your systems up to date.

HTTPS has long been adopted by many websites around the world for security reasons. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and it is easy to see why it has gradually become the standard. Using HTTPS instead of HTTP is an effective way to protect user data while browsing through encryption. It has become indispensable for online payments, sending emails, direct messaging and logging into our many online user accounts. A common misconception is that if you only visit HTTPS websites, you no longer need a VPN because both are reliably encrypted. But it is not quite that simple.

An important aspect in enterprise policies is proxy configuration within the browser. Having worked in multinational corporations, I remember very long PAC (Proxy Auto Config) files that according to the network, office and company they belonged to would pass traffic to different points around the globe, this is a particularly interesting practice to use, net of using transparent proxies. Some browsers also support dedicated tunnels, by way of extension, but often considering working remotely people use a VPN managed directly through the operating system to navigate.

Ideally, your entire fleet should be in an MDM, from which you deployed that browser and can now see the version and push for the update remotely.

As mentioned earlier, browsers are often subject to attacks such as the infamous one-clicks, and it's a case of always keeping them up-to-date. This also applies to add-ons such as extensions if not to the operating system. These aspects can be easily handled through Policies such as GPOs on Windows networks and--in the most sensitive cases--through Network Access Control (NAC) systems that block access in case of missed updates.

Privacy browsers offer increased data protection by blocking tracking technologies and protecting your personal data. Because these browsers are less common and user-friendly, they are probably not suitable as primary browsers for most people. However, if protecting your data is particularly important to you, privacy browsers are an excellent second option on your computer. For general security on the Internet, it is not that important which browser type you use. Basically, the old rule applies here anyway: you as the user pose the greatest risk to yourself. With the necessary caution and one or two protection programs, you can easily avoid dangerous malware such as Trojans even with Chrome, Firefox and Co.