| Remote browser services redirect the act of internet browsing from the end user’s desktop into a remote server, either on-premises in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) or delivered as a cloud-based service. The user still browses the public internet, but attacks are kept isolated in the remote browser sessions. |
Browsing the internet opens every business to significant risk. 80% of web attacks are browser-born attacks that target users via malicious URLs.
A malicious URL is a web page that contains malicious code which runs on your desktop while you’re browsing that particular page. Malicious URLs can harm corporate and privately-owned computers alike by encrypting all the files or stealing personal data. When it comes to businesses and large corporations such as clinics, hospitals, banks, educational establishments and governmental agencies, the effect of this risk is much more devastating and can have cooperation-wide repercussions.
A single corporate user who browses the internet may, unintentionally, place an entire organization, along with its most sensitive corporate assets, at great risk. Multiply that single user by tens, hundreds or thousands of users and the risks that organizations face today by allowing their employees to surf the internet are practically incalculable.
1. Browser vulnerabilities while browsing legitimate web sites such as Facebook, Google, Salesforce Office 365 & malicious websites which are designed to attack their visitors.
2. Emails received containing malicious URLs
3. Files downloaded from the internet
4. Browser born vulnerabilities invoked from applications i.e. Adobe reader, flash, java and office.
Distribution by Type of Attack on Enterprise Users – Source: Kaspersky Lab
Security protection products are not enough against malicious code. It is only a matter of time before the enterprise network becomes compromised.
Solution Maximizing the benefits of a secure browsing solution requires the installation of a system that delivers a full range of key capability and usability features. The following, in particular, should be considered must-have features for secure browsing solutions undergoing evaluation for deployment in any organization:
1.Browsing Policy Enforcement: Virtually every enterprise on the planet has implemented policies that dictate employees’ activities and actions regarding internet access. These policies are designed, at least in part, to help prevent the occurrence of browser-based security breaches. Many organizations, however, do not actively enforce the policies, rendering the policies effectively worthless in providing a form of defense. A secure browsing solution should enable and facilitate the universal enforcement of organizational browsing policies.
2.Seamless User Experience: From the user’s perspective, secure browsing should be transparent. The experience should be identical to using a desktop-based browser. It is particularly crucial that the secure browsing solution enable personalization in a single browser environment.
3.User Identity Protection and Management: The solution should anonymously shadow user’s protection.
4.Browsing Performance Utilization: Though browser performance can suffer with some remote solutions, a secure solution should ideally enable performance that is on par with desktop-based browsers. Some secure browsing solutions can even enhance browsing performance by facilitating a range of cloud and on-premise options for accessing different websites securely. The best, safest platform should be automatically determined for URLs, users and location-based prioritization and scheduling management.
5.Cloud Internet Browsing: Maximum efficiency and user productivity are facilitated with solutions that enable internet browsing on any cloud system or data center.
6.Browser Compatibility: The solution should enable the use of a single browser for all different applications and URLs.
7.Regulatory Compliance: The ability to maintain 100 percent separation between the internet and sensitive enterprise data is a good policy for all companies, and a regulatory necessity for many companies.
Read more how Cigloo Cloud Secure Browsing can allow your organizations to maintain the necessary security levels of your business, without fear of cyber attacks through web browsers, email links and files downloads.
There are numerous players in the world of virtualization platforms and though each platform has it’s own fan base and likewise, its own detractors, Citrix is typically considered a leader in the space. And it’s easy to understand why; Citrixs’ main goal is to make the procurement of information as streamlined as possible, something which anyone in the high-intensity corporate world can appreciate. Citrix supports multi-platform clients, making it accessible for anyone at any time.
Though Citrix clearly has plenty to offer its users, one of the biggest challenges as the most advanced desktop and publish application host it has is protecting the desktop connectivity to the internet and protect browsers from malicious attacks by those seeking your data or hoping to disrupt workflow. Despite whatever collection of firewalls, sandboxing and endpoint solutions you might have deployed in your security operations center, new threats have the unfortunate ability to hit networks long before security vendors ever get the chance to create patches and signatures to fend them off, regardless of whether or not you’re using a virtualization platform.
If the recent spate of ransomware affecting enterprises of all shapes and sizes tells us anything, it’s that one of the most notable security concerns today lies in browser-born malware. Typically, ransomware, along with other threats like Trojans and injectors are delivered to devices via vulnerabilities in browsers. Citrix can help organizations to isolate the access to malicious URLs or from visiting websites that just happen to deliver drive-by zero-day threats. And considering that 20 percent of the top 1 million websites are running outdated software, users are never all that far away from potential danger.
Those pesky browsers harbor another pressing concern that using Citrix alone doesn’t address – they tend to leak more data than your old faucet leaks water. Although quick and easy access to information on the web is paramount to almost any working environment nowadays, every time a user opens a browser for internal and Internet browsing at the same time, they run a real chance of exposing mounds of data, such as location, connections, the hardware and software installed on the system, and more. The truth is that unless users are actively combating it, they are being tracked relentlessly by their browsers and scarier still, this information can be easily scraped by other websites and used in a myriad of nefarious ways. The tons of plugins, extensions and add-ons that users download do wonders to make an insecure situation even less secure.
So clearly, there are many privacy and security issues yet unaddressed even while using Citrix. To effectively combat this issue, Gartner recommends using Remote Browsing, which they call one of the “Top 10 Technologies” to watch in information security for 2016. Also referred to as Browser Isolation and Secure Browsing, this technology separates the browsing function from the remainder of the corporate network, preventing browser-borne malware from affecting any processes.
Remote browsing is the smart and effective way to secure your endpoints without creating friction for your users along the way. In an isolated browsing environment, all browsing activity is controlled and launched on a remote server, allowing users to surf the web anonymously, while isolating all internal secured application browsing, thus preventing malicious web content from affecting your network. It also isolates any email activity and allows for safe downloading of files. And since according the the Ponemon Institute, 55 percent of attacks today begin with browser insecurities such as delivering malware via email attachments, rogue URLs or infected websites, all this, in turn, reduces the attack surface from which attackers can launch their assaults.
Malicious actors understand that in order to get what they want, they need to revamp their tactics often – very often. Relying on point solutions that are dependent on signatures and updates gives them a significant advantage, one that no business can afford to risk. The key to real security is in physical and not only logical isolation; that is, complete separation from the threats that exist in the great wide openness that is the Internet.
To find out how you can create a truly secure Citrix environment, check out our comprehensive article addressing the top Citrix infrastructure challenges for secure browsing.
1. The great Flash problem
The main issue with Flash platform is that Flash is inherently insecure application integrated into inherently insecure web browsers (Google is now automatically disabling Flash ads in Chrome. Mozilla is blocking all Flash content in Firefox). So we are now facing with many vulnerabilities that are attacked by intelligent cyber criminals.
2. Zero day attacks
Those attacks are uses applications vulnerabilities that are undisclosed . If a cyber attacker hacks your browser system through a zero day attack he will have access data such user’s permissions for specific site, user private data and could make changes to the system using the user credentials.
3. Backdoors
A backdoor Trojan may give cyber attackers users remote control over the infected computer. They enable the creator of the virus control on anything they wish to do on the infected device such as – copy of sensitive data , delete files or shutdown the system.
Backdoors are often used to steal corporate data for the use of industrial espionage, the simple act of a user for clicking an unspecified link which seems legit can drive a download of a Trojan.
3. Social Engineering attacks
Today there is a great effort to educate users how to browse safely on the web and to think twice before opening links that may look suspicious. But still it is almost impossible to educate your “dummy” users to recognize attacks especially since many malicious sites who have been infected may seem very legit.
4. Drive By attacks
A ‘drive-by-download’ attack is a malware delivery technique that is triggered just because the user visited a website. Traditionally, malware was only ‘activated’ as a result of the user proactively opening an infected. These days malware can be delivered as hidden code lines inside the website content such as advertisements or banners, just the act of visiting the site is enough to get your computer infected or your private data stolen
Browser isolation products such as Cigloo can reduce dramatically the attacks on your private network as we can take all the web content out of your private data center to our cloud meaning no malware can enter your private network!