Keeping your organization safe in a cloud world: Chrome Enterprise's unique approach to endpoint security

As part of Safer Internet Week, we wanted to take a moment to dive into how Google continues to prioritize enterprise security and a safer internet with Chrome Enterprise.  

In 2019, the security information market is forecast to grow 8.7% to $124 billion according to research from Gartner, while the number of large-scale, targeted breaches in the U.S. is growing by 27% per year, according to research from Accenture. Yet many organizations spend time and resources on patchworking their security systems rather than looking at a holistic, solution-oriented approach to security. Chrome Enterprise is one way these enterprises can achieve that. Instead of managing a fleet of at-risk and reactive endpoints, they can take control of the threat by securing their endpoints with Chrome OS, Browser, and devices.

Helping you stay protected from phishing and identity theft

Safe browsing is your first line of defense in Chrome Browser and Chrome OS. Its built-in warnings and notifications help proactively prevent users from visiting infected sites. Enabling the Password Alert Policy in Chrome Browser also protects users from falling prey to corporate data breaches or identity theft due to the reuse of their corporate passwords on other sites. And Security Keys are also available to integrate with Chrome Browser and Chrome OS. This ensures that a physical piece of hardware is required to log in, preventing unauthorized access in the event your password is compromised.

Duo Security is one of many customers taking a proactive stance against phishing by taking a number of steps, including arming their recruiters with Pixelbooks—just one of the many Chrome OS options. “Teams that must frequently open files from strangers as part of their function are usually at higher risk of compromise,“ says Josh Yavor, Director of Corporate Security at Duo Security. "Because of this increased risk, we focused our efforts on deploying Chromebooks, most recently Pixelbooks, to higher risk teams because Chrome OS provides the safest overall experience.”

Avoiding ransomware and other types of malware

Chromebooks are cloud-native by design. Unlike traditional laptops, your files and customizations are primarily stored in the cloud, with very little information stored locally on your device. Each layer of security in a Chromebook works together to contain attacks, with sandboxing at the browser, application, OS and user data levels. With features like verified boot, your Chromebook can detect if your OS has been tampered with by a malicious party, and stop bootup to prevent further damage. Since two versions of Chrome OS exist on all Chromebooks, bootup can continue from the alternate version on the device. For Vertex, Chrome Browser’s built-in sandboxing was a huge plus. They found that Vertex employees were spending less time managing potential security threats and now have more time to build new features and inspect code in real time on the back end.

Updates that easily keep endpoints productive and secure over time

Chrome Enterprise provides continuous security through updates that run every few weeks in the background, so devices are protected without user downtime. This is one of the many reasons HackerOne uses Chromebooks at their organization. “A big reason people get breached is that their computers’ operating systems and applications aren’t up to date,” says Alex Rice, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at HackerOne. “Chromebooks auto-update from the first day you use them—users don’t even need to think about updates.”

Whether your enterprise needs to protect its data, workloads or devices, security remains critically important—and we hope our contribution to Safer Internet Week has shown more ways Google Cloud can help. Is it time to re-evaluate your enterprise’s security standards? Chrome Enterprise can help you maintain security that your customers and end users can trust, so your teams can be productive and focus on the things that will move your organization forward.