Your company’s firewalls are hardened. Your servers are constantly scanned for vulnerabilities and viruses. Email virus and spam security are second to none. The individual desktop and laptop computers are covered with end point security. Yet, every now and then, some pieces of spyware will get through. How stringently is your web traffic monitored?
Even if there are triggers on your firewall and you are running some type of intrusion detection system, there is a possibility that something will sneak through via a web browser. This is especially true when an employee ignores an acceptable use policy and browses the dark recesses of the Internet. The problem here is not the equipment and applications, the issue lies with an element out of the technical staff’s influence.
One has to assume that at some point, policies will be skirted or outright ignored. Internet use is one area that can be a sticking point for some management staff, but trivial for others. Perhaps in your organization, it makes more sense to close the gap from a technological standpoint.
Instead of worrying about where and employee may go to pollute their computer, why not keep their browsing separate from their computer altogether? With all the recent boost in support for virtual computing environments, there has been an alternative browsing tool that helps facilitate this idea.
Virtual Browser (found here) keeps web browsing running on a virtual machine (by way of Microsoft’s Virtual PC 2007) and not on the actual Windows computer.
When you install Virtual Browser, what you are actually placing on your computer is a version of Windows XP Embedded, and Virtual PC 2007. The interface here does not have a Start button, or any normal Windows menus. The main focus of the Virtual Browser platform is the Firefox browser within the virtual machine.
The person using Virtual Browser can also do simple things like create folders, text and Wordpad documents. They can also adjust the volume settings and keyboard layouts within the virtual machine. However, outside of these limited abilities, Internet browsing will be the most used feature.
With Virtual Browser, the employees will not have accidental clicks resulting in screen savers that did not want, strange yellow smiling faces, and other garbage picked up when surfing the Internet. If they wander off into dangerous websites that your content filters miss, you can breathe easy knowing that nothing will happen to their actual computer, just the virtual machine.
Many system administrators worry about what employees are looking for on the Internet. Even with stringent web filters in place, there is room for error. The one type of site that an administrator never wants to see is the one below. However, this time around, there is a very simple fix.
First, keep in mind that the core computer is untouched. Upon inspection, the administrator sees that the Virtual Browser setup is fairly destroyed and unresponsive. To repair this malady, the administrator clicks on the following, on the core computer; Start, All Programs, Virtual Browser, and then Restore Virtual Browser.
This action will wipe and current settings, and roll back the virtual machine to its initial state, clear of any malicious items from the Internet. It only takes a minute or so for the Virtual Browser application to complete this process. A status window will appear while the reset is in progress and display a message when finished.
Keep in mind that implementing this type of software is not the most easily adoptable policy in some companies. This takes the web browser functionality away from the user’s computer, which may prove impractical depending on the nature of the business.
It also means that a computer will be running the extra load of a virtual machine on top of other programs in use by the end user. However, this type of software setup makes for a safer network environment overall, so each organization will have to weigh the pros and cons before rolling this tool out for widespread use. Enjoy!
“Virtual Browser (found here) ” – The link above is broken