The next chapter of enterprise work. Introducing The Enterprise Browser.

We began our journey in enterprise security with a single goal in mind: to build a truly secure-by-design environment. Where work could thrive because security is naturally woven into the enterprise.

So we teamed up with some amazing people. Built anti-malware, DLP, proxies, CASB, firewalls, and many other enterprise security products that became industry standards. Even invented brand new technologies like browser isolation that carved a new path towards a safer enterprise. We were fortunate to build products that truly mattered.

But as the enterprise evolved in ways we couldn’t even imagine, the industry’s approach to securing it stayed more or less the same. An upgrade here. A plus-one there. These improvements were effective. But that’s exactly it - they were merely improvements - on an ecosystem designed years ago for a very different world.

Today, the most precious parts of most organizations live in the cloud. Our employees work in offices, coffee shops, living rooms, and beach chairs. And they use whatever device they want. Let’s face it - even the best versions of yesterday’s security tools weren’t meant to handle the size and scale of today’s modern enterprise. And as long as we were playing by the old rules, that vision of a secure-by-design work environment couldn’t become reality.

The teams we were privileged to lead solved some of the biggest challenges in our industry. Yet, the narrative hadn't changed. And it was becoming painfully obvious why. The one place where basically all our work takes place - where our users, apps, and all underlying data meet - that place was still fundamentally not in our control.

The browser.

The browser is the one application enterprises use more than any other on planet earth. By far. And yet, ironically, the browser isn’t even an enterprise application. It was built for consumers and advertisers. Optimized for content distribution and consumption. Organizations and employees? They were never part of the picture.  

But we knew this already, and we chose the consumer browser for work anyway. Its value to the enterprise was so immense that we ignored the fact that it was built for consumers. We embraced it for its amazing speed, rendering power, universal compatibility, and near flawless user experience. And we learned to live with the tradeoffs - the lack of control, visibility, governance, or privacy - the core elements of a safe work environment.

We accepted this as reality.

A reality where the centerpiece of our workplace wasn’t designed for work. Which meant the one place nearly all our critical data lived was the very place we couldn’t protect or even see.
And this reality forced us to treat our browser like a caged animal - surrounding with an endless stack of heavy, expensive, and inefficient tools just to keep it from working against us.

It’s not the browser’s fault. It just wasn’t designed for the enterprise.

Well, what if it was?

It was such a simple question. One that deep down we’ve all wanted to ask. What if there was a browser specifically designed for the enterprise? A browser that put the organization in complete control over how its users, apps, and data interact? A browser that let the enterprise in instead of shutting it out? A browser that integrated into your infrastructure instead of fighting against it?

And suddenly it hit us - That was it. The goal we’ve been working towards our entire careers, right before our eyes.

The ideal enterprise workplace. Security, visibility, and governance built right into the work experience, without getting in the way of work itself.

That vision of secure by design - finally realized.

Why hadn’t it been done before?

It seemed almost too obvious. Why hadn’t someone built this yet?

Three stars needed to align for the enterprise browser to seem like a viable idea.

1. The SaaS revolution. As work migrated to SaaS, work categorically shifted away from desktop services and towards the web-first experience. Critical apps were now available anywhere all the time, making the browser the center of enterprise work.
2. The Chromium effect. When the Chromium open source browser project was introduced - all major browsers suddenly became standardized. All fueled by the same technology, all providing the same powerful, yet enjoyable user experience. Which made it possible to build the core needs of the enterprise into the browser, while retaining the consumer-grade experience users have come to expect.
3. The rise of the endpoint. With widespread adoption of the remote workforce, the shift to SaaS and cloud services, and the explosion of network encryption, the endpoint suddenly became the best place to anchor our security operation. This new work reality not only brought about a greater need to secure the endpoint, but it created a major opportunity to leverage the endpoint to secure our critical data right where it was being accessed and used.

All the pieces were finally in place. The only thing left was to build it. So we did.

And we call it Island. The Enterprise Browser.

The Enterprise Browser fully integrates the browser into the organization, providing complete control and visibility over everywhere work happens. All while delivering the same smooth, powerful, nearly flawless experience users have come to expect. It’s work as it should be -  fluid, yet fundamentally secure.

And with it, the possibilities are endless. SaaS and internal web apps truly live anywhere without leaking data everywhere. Contractors and BYOD workers work freely while organizations keep the data they access fully secure. Consumer or risky apps can be safely introduced into the enterprise without compromising security posture. Users are naturally protected from the inherent dangers of the web. And this is all just the beginning.

For years we had one goal - to design the place where work naturally belongs.

Island is that place.

Welcome to the next chapter of enterprise work.

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