GigaOm Key Criteria for Evaluating Secure Enterprise Browsing Solutionsv1.0

1. Executive Summary

Secure enterprise browsing solutions enable users to access websites and web-based resources in compliance with corporate security policies and provide security modules to protect end-users against cyberattacks.

Considering that most work activities entail users visiting websites and consuming enterprise applications in a SaaS format, baking security functions into the web browser addresses the most important attack vectors used to target end users. This approach contrasts with consumer-oriented browsers that have not been designed with corporate security in mind.

Enterprise browsing solutions address three types of security categories within a single product: endpoint protection, identity and access management (IAM), and network security. In other words, they can detect and block processes executing through a browser, such as malicious scripts; integrate with IAM tools to inherit security policies and access controls; and filter ingress and egress internet and corporate traffic.

There are multiple ways of delivering this set of capabilities:

• Browser replacements: These solutions offer full standalone browsers that will be used for corporate activities instead of using consumer-oriented browsers.
• Browser extensions: These are add-ons that run on consumer-focused browsers and offer additional security controls without requiring users to migrate to a different browser.
• Cloud-based processing: These solutions sit between a user and web resources, inspecting ingress and egress traffic to perform analysis, and identify and block threats.
• Agentless browser controls: These manage browsing sessions on site by injecting a small file and enforcing security policies, such as those related to acceptable use and data loss prevention (DLP).

Browser security can deliver low-touch security controls for a wide range of end users, which can include on-location and remote employees using both managed and own-brought devices, as well as third-party contractors.

Business Imperative
Secure enterprise browsing solutions provide a single tool for addressing the most common attacks that target end-users, such as phishing and social engineering. Generally speaking, these solutions have the potential of becoming all-in-one security products for instances in which most of an employee’s activity revolves around the browser, such as visiting web pages and accessing web applications.

A number of other solutions have attempted to secure the end-user, such as remote browser isolation (RBI), virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), secure service edge (SSE), secure web gateway (SWG), and cloud access security broker (CASB). These can partly be replaced or embedded within the secure browser solution as a much simpler alternative.

Sector Adoption Score
To help executives and decision-makers assess the potential impact and value of deploying a secure enterprise browsing solution to the business, this GigaOm Key Criteria report provides a structured assessment of the sector across five factors: benefit, maturity, urgency, impact, and effort. By scoring each factor based on how strongly it compels or deters adoption of a secure enterprise browsing solution, we provide an overall Sector Adoption Score (Figure 1) of 3.2 out of 5, with 5 indicating the strongest possible recommendation to adopt. This indicates that a secure enterprise browsing solution is a credible candidate for deployment and worthy of thoughtful consideration.

The factors contributing to the Sector Adoption Score for secure enterprise browsing are explained in more detail in the Sector Brief section that follows.

Figure 1. Sector Adoption Score for Secure Enterprise Browsing

This is the first year that GigaOm has reported on the secure enterprise browsing space in the context of our Key Criteria and Radar reports. This GigaOm Key Criteria report highlights the capabilities (table stakes, key features, and emerging features) and nonfunctional requirements (business criteria) for selecting an effective secure enterprise browsing solution. The companion GigaOm Radar report identifies vendors and products that excel in those decision criteria. Together, these reports provide an overview of the market, identify leading secure enterprise browsing offerings, and help decision-makers evaluate these solutions so they can make a more informed investment decision.