Internet Isolation: Exploring Cloud Security Use Cases

You understand the technology and how it is engineered. Now let’s talk about how Internet isolation works in the real world. Once implemented, how does it protect users from specific cyberthreats that are common in today’s always-on, 24/7 world?

Use case #1: Phishing and attachment-based email attacks

Email and the web are the most critical business tools in use today, and companies are bending over backwards to implement digital transformation strategies that further cement users’ reliance on safe, dependable Internet access. Threat actors know this, of course, and increasingly target users through phishing and ransomware attacks.

Internet isolation does not monitor Internet traffic flowing in and out of the organization with the aim of identifying and stopping malicious content from gaining access to users’ devices. As you know, it does not rely solely on a detect-and-respond approach. Instead, the Menlo Security Internet Isolation Cloud assumes that all web links and attachments sent via email are malicious and keeps all content originating from the web far from end users’ devices.

By fetching and executing all web content in an isolated remote cloud browser, Menlo can make sure that any malware is stripped out and destroyed in a secure sandbox. At the same time, Menlo can prevent users from submitting their personal information or credentials on a bogus sign-in page by rendering all web forms in read-only mode. In addition, email attachments are wrapped and opened in the Internet isolation cloud while a safe PDF is sent to the user.

Use case #2: Cloud transformation vulnerabilities

The Menlo Security Internet Isolation Cloud provides users with secure web access for organizations migrating to web apps, cloud-based solutions, or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms as part of their digital transformation programs. That way, users can work productively from anywhere as long as they have access to an Internet connection. Menlo ensures that their machines are not infected by bogus websites or apps, and makes sure users are not tricked into providing their SaaS credentials to bogus web forms dressed up to look like the real thing.

Use case #3: Malicious file downloads and web Content

Menlo is an isolation-based Secure Web Gateway (SWG)—effectively replacing legacy web proxies while providing an air-gapped execution environment for web browsing sessions. While all web content is isolated, known malicious content is blocked. Menlo’s SWG can do this through website categorization or through policies—such as blocking social media sites and file uploads or disabling Java and Flash on all endpoints. Even if unknown malicious content gets through, users are still protected because Menlo isolates all content in the cloud—whether it is malicious or not.

Menlo Security works on a technical level and on a practical level. It’s time to put these cases for cloud-based Internet Isolation to use in your organization.