New Chrome and Firefox extensions from Microsoft bring hardware isolation technology to more browsers

[The AchieVer]

New Chrome and Firefox extensions from Microsoft bring hardware isolation technology to more browsers 

 

Microsoft has created a new browser extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox users who care about security. The new Windows Defender Application Guard extensions for the two browsers provide the same hardware-based isolation technology found on Microsoft Edge on Windows 10, and they will automatically redirect users to an isolated Microsoft Edge session when they’re visiting untrusted websites.

 

Once the extension is installed, users will be able to open an Application Guard session anytime by just clicking the extension icon in the browser. “In the isolated Microsoft Edge session, the user can freely navigate to any site that has not been explicitly defined as enterprise-trusted by their organization without any risk to the rest of system. With our upcoming dynamic switching capability, if the user tries to go to an enterprise site while in an isolated Microsoft Edge session, the user is taken back to the default browser,” the company explained.

 

 

The new extensions for Chrome and Firefox require the configuration of Windows Defender Application Guard on Windows 10 PCs, plus the definition of network isolation settings by IT admins, as well as the installation of a new Windows Defender Application Guard companion app from the Microsoft Store. This app is the component that will allow Chrome and Firefox users to browse untrusted sites in the isolated Microsoft Edge environment.

 

Last year, Microosft previously released a Windows Defender Application for Google Chrome, but this one only provides a real-time indicator of harmful sites and website status to the browser. It can be used by all Windows 10 users, unlike these new Windows Defender Application Guard extensions which are designed first and foremost for the enterprise world. “We know that many of our customers depend on multi-browser environments to allow enterprise apps to meet various compatibility requirements and enable productivity,” the company explained today.

 

 

 

 

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