Browser extensions, while offering valuable functionalities, can seem risky to organizations. One major concern is the potential for security vulnerabilities. Poorly designed or malicious extensions could compromise data integrity and expose sensitive information to unauthorized access. Moreover, certain extensions may introduce performance issues or conflicts with other software, leading to system instability. Therefore, many organizations find it crucial to have visibility into the usage of extensions and the ability to control them. Chrome browser offers these extension management capabilities and reporting via Chrome Browser Cloud Management. In this blog post, we will walk you through how to utilize these features to keep your data and users safe.
Visibility into Extensions being used in your environment
Having visibility into what and how extensions are being used enables IT and security teams to assess potential security implications, ensure compliance with organizational policies, and mitigate potential risks. There are three ways you can get critical information about extensions in your organization:
1. App and extension usage reporting
Organizations can gain visibility into every Chrome extension that is installed across an enterprise’s fleet in Chrome App and Extension Usage Reporting.
2. Extension Risk Assessment
CRXcavator and Spin.AI Risk Assessment are tools used to assess the risks of browser extensions and minimize the risks associated with them. We are making extension scores via these two platforms available directly in Chrome Browser Cloud Management, so security teams can have an at-a-glance view of risk scores of the extensions being used in their browser environment.
Extension controls for added security
By having control over extensions, organizations can maintain a secure and stable browsing environment, safeguard sensitive data, and protect their overall digital infrastructure. There are several ways IT and security teams can set and enforce controls over extensions:
1. Extension permission
Organizations can control whether users can install apps or extensions based on the information an extension can access—also known as permissions. For example, you might want to prevent users from installing any extension that wants permission to see a device location.
2. Extension workflow
Extension workflow allows end users to request extensions for review. From there, IT can either approve or deny them. This is a great approach for teams that want to control the extensions in their environment, but allow end users to have some say over the extensions they use.
We recently added a prompt for business justification for documenting why users are requesting the extension. This gives admins more information as to why the extension may or may not be helpful for their workforce, and can help speed approvals for business users.
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