The biggest IT threat? That seemingly innocuous web browser – Computerworld

• Desktop vs. mobile. Some enterprises might need to consider standardizing on one browser for desktop and possibly a different browser for mobile. 
• IT political issues. Some of the browsers with major market share are deeply integrated with one vendor’s environments, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Depending on how your environments are integrated with different platforms, this could be an issue. 
• Compliance. Some of the browser makers are more aggressive at pushing privacy and other data boundaries, especially when generative AI is involved. Standardizing on one of those might lead to corporate compliance issues, especially if you have a substantial presence in Western Europe, Australia or Canada. 
• Geography. Beyond the compliance issues, there are language and other regional support issues to consider, especially if you have a major presence in Asia. 

That brings us to problem two. Browsers were never designed to be even a little bit secure in the early days — and not much has changed today. That’s why IT needs to insist that something act as a secure layer between your environment and any browser — even your hand-chosen favorite browser. 

Because the needs of every enterprise are different, there’s no one-size-fits-all browser security solution. The browser security layer must play well with your existing systems and your particular compliance needs — colored by geography and verticals — are critical factors.

“The browser is the number one app that everyone is using. The browsers of today are much more powerful than the older versions,” said Dor Zvi, CEO of security firm Red Access. “They allow you to run Javascript, login and tokens and render HTML. The browser today is so powerful that it acts almost like an operating system.”