Secure Browser

Secure Browser

Product Line:  VERDE

As of VERDE 8.3.4, a new feature has been introduced:  Secure Browser (a.k.a. Containers),

Secure Browser/Containers Explained
The Secure Browser feature provides users with browser access to the Internet with profound protection against viruses and malware.  

The Container is a very lightweight VM that leverages the security of the KVM hypervisor. Containers are deployed using a stripped-down implementation of Ubuntu OS that includes only those modules
needed to support one of the supported built-in browsers (Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Whale Browser by Naver). There is no “desktop” interface included in the Container.

Due to the lightweight implementation, a VDI server can support many more Container sessions versus standard full desktop (e.g., Windows 11) VMs.

Here's a link to see some of the preliminary Optimization Scenarios:  https://support.ncomputing.com/portal/en/kb/articles/optimizing-secure-browser-containers

How to Enable/Implement VERDE Secure Browser
With most all aspects of VERDE, this new feature is controlled by Session Settings (Configuration/Session Settings) in the Management Console.  There's a new DEFAULT option entitled "Default Container".



Here's you will set the RAM, Virtual CPU's, which Browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Whale Browser by Naver)., Idle shutdown time and shutdown/abort time.  You can create a new Session Setting based on the Default Container setting.

And, once again, deployment of the Container is controlled by Desktop Policy.



In the Desktop Policy interface, select Container and all the superfluous options are eliminated.  If you have defined multiple Container Session Settings, they will be available in the drop down.

 Usage/Deployment

In order to use the Secure Browser/Container feature, users MUST delete previous versions of the VERDE Client (anything before 8.3.4), download the new version from the UC5 UI and install on the target workstation.

The browser session is deployed with the selected browser type in maximized window mode within the Container window. The user can navigate to any website and open multiple tabs.  Once again, for increased security, there is no access to the user’s local PC as the browser is hosted within the Container VM session. This keeps the user’s local PC and, by extension, the organization’s infrastructure, safe from viruses and malware associated with malicious websites.

For user convenience, the current state of the Secure Browser is maintained even when the user disconnects from the session. When the user reconnects, they are presented with the same tabs, sites, cache, history and even remembered passwords.

                                

The user can force a session refresh by using the Shutdown Action menu option available in the VERDE Software Client while connected to their Secure Browser session:

                                       

The Shutdown option closes the Secure Browser window and permanently destroys all cache, history, remembered passwords and any other data that may have been saved during the session. Next time the user launches the Secure Browser they are presented with a clean session. 

VERDE Secure Browser Desktop Icon Option

The IT administrator can configure the VERDE Software Client for Windows desktop/workstation/client to enable a “Verde Secure Browser” desktop icon.

To do so, the Desktop Policy used to assign the user to the Container must be enabled as follows:
                   

The user must then perform a one-time authentication by logging in to the VERDE Software Client for Windows using their credentials. Then, assuming the above checkbox is enabled, the user can add a desktop icon using the following Action menu option from the Software Client:
                

This creates a new desktop icon for the user:
        
Double-clicking this icon automatically launches the Container/Secure Browser assigned to this user without requiring further authentication. This is to provide quick access to the Secure Browser using a method familiar to most users – simply double-clicking a desktop icon.

Once again, here's the link for the Preliminary Optimization Scenarios:  https://support.ncomputing.com/portal/en/kb/articles/optimizing-secure-browser-containers






















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