The Rise of the Secure Enterprise Browser

A decade ago, the idea of doing all of your work within a few browser tabs was unthinkable. But the growth of cloud-based applications, the ubiquity of powerful SaaS platforms and the millions of people working remotely have all helped transform browser windows into de facto workstations. 

The convenience of this consolidated digital workplace comes with its own risks. Any platform with a large number of users will attract unwanted attention from bad actors—and browsers are no exception.

A 2023 Verizon report revealed that over 60% of security breaches hit companies through their browsers, the most of any access point. Flexible work is also creating new attack vectors: In its 2024 Browser Security Report, LayerX found that 62% of the workforce uses unmanaged devices to access company data.

With browsers on track to become the core platform for productivity and collaboration by the end of the decade, companies need to prepare and adapt. Employees require a more secure browser environment to do their jobs, and strapped IT teams must implement solutions that effectively manage access in today’s evolving digital landscape.

Secure enterprise browsers are emerging as a flexible solution for both companies and their employees. Unlike consumer web browsers, which are managed by an individual, secure enterprise browsers are managed by an organization’s IT team—giving them the ability to oversee its use and control what employees can and can’t access.

Philippe Rivard, Group Product Manager at Chrome Enterprise, believes that this level of browser control is becoming increasingly fundamental to organizations’ long-term success, because the companies that proactively protect their browsers will be best positioned to withstand existential threats.

“A data loss incident, particularly with customer data, can be hugely damaging,” says Rivard. “Employers have a responsibility to deploy the right set of controls.”

Those controls are central to Chrome Enterprise Premium, which launched in April of this year.

Chrome Enterprise Core, a free offering from Google, enhances the Chrome browser by integrating management capabilities—like extension management—along with tools and reports that provide visibility across a company’s fleet.

Chrome Enterprise Premium utilizes these same management tools as Core, but layers on an additional set of enterprise-specific security capabilities and controls, including the ability to deploy a Zero Trust environment for private applications, and context-aware data loss prevention, which can detect if an employee is inputting sensitive company data into an external site—such as when interacting with an AI chatbot—and block the action. 

“The fact that these controls are in the browser gives employers more protective power, but also gives employees enough flexibility to be able to get their work done,” says Rivard. 

Chrome Enterprise also uses the full force of Google’s security infrastructure to identify vulnerabilities and patch them faster than traditional networked systems—allowing organizations to adapt and increase resilience in the face of rapidly evolving security threats.

“There’s a new Chrome release every four weeks,” says Rivard. “If you have a security vulnerability in an operating system, it’s harder for an enterprise to push through large changes, such as an operating system upgrade.”

The era of browser-based work is only just beginning. Rivard predicts that as cyber attacks grow increasingly sophisticated, enterprises will seek out more adaptable security solutions from trusted vendors to protect their browsers, and adopt more highly regimented data control policies. 

Advancements in AI will also spur forward-thinking organizations to provide employees with access to these tools in the browser, and to seek means of managing the heightened risks of data sharing. Chrome Enterprise Premium offers the extra security controls they’ll need to enable that modernization, while ensuring that employees adhere to compliance standards.

“Enterprises will want to stay in lockstep with that transformation, in terms of the security tools they’re deploying, to make sure AI is used in a responsible way that protects enterprise data,” Rivard says. “And when a tool makes sense for your security officer, your IT leader and your compliance officers, all of a sudden you reduce internal friction, and you can roll out a solution.”