Weblife
The Dying War between Security and Privacy

"Privacy is the fountainhead of all other rights,”—Edward Snowden, former CIA employee and NSA contractor This quote and Snowden’s actions sparked a global debate over sacrificing privacy in the name of security. The privacy conversation has since expanded to personal rights at work. Enter the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which provides employees the right to private, unmonitored, personal web access at work. Unfortunately, Web browsing is the source of 90 percent of unknown malware entering organizations. Companies’ attempt to control this threat has created a stalemate between security needs and employee privacy rights. One company, Weblife, is diffusing the war between security and privacy.

Through the application of an emerging technology called remote browser, Weblife provides employees private, protected, pervasive internet access. While companies vary on how they address the employee web access threat, many have deployed extensive monitoring tools, which breed mistrust, and aggressive web filtering, which frustrates employees and inhibits productivity. Not only are these measures ineffective, but they create a culture of mistrust and can render companies non-compliant with regulations.

Through remote browser technology, which Gartner identified as one of the top 10 security technologies of 2017, Weblife delivers filtered and proxied secure internet service that both gives employees greater freedom and anonymity and strengthens organizations’ security postures. Weblife also helps organizations comply with regulations by allowing them to forego employee monitoring and protect the anonymity of sensitive employee data.

CEO and evangelist David Melnick founded Weblife because he wanted to empower organizations to grant employees safe, anonymous internet access while protecting their network. Says Melnick, “Segmenting and isolating - rather than just restricting - employee web use does more than reduce your risk from employees’ web activity. It diffuses it.”

With Weblife, administrators grant employees the ability to browse the internet freely while reducing their security risks. A fully cloud-based service, Weblife transforms all web content into safe HTML content.

Weblife also employs various policies that help isolate traffic from uncategorized sites or URLs with suspicious or potentially unsafe high-risk profiles.

Weblife’s ability to segment and isolate employee web use means organizations no longer have to choose between privacy and security

The Weblife environment also comes with various controls that allow IT administrators to choose whether employees should access inappropriate content. “The platform even allows administrators to decide how much time an employee should spend on various sites, which helps prevent cyberloafing,” adds Melnick.

When companies struggle to decide whether to grant or deny employees access to common malware portals such as webmail, for example, Weblife enables employees the full freedom and convenience of accessing webmail but in an isolated space. In the isolated space, an employee cannot upload or download files, allowing them to see the information they need without compromising organizational information.

Melnick explains an instance when, for security reasons, a large health sciences client had blocked employees’ webmail access. The aftermath was a mutiny of the user population, who demanded access. By implementing Weblife and establishing a policy that directed all personal web use to occur through Weblife, the client was able to restore webmail access for its employees around the globe. In doing so, the firm deferred its risk, all while restoring employee productivity, increasing morale and complying with GDPR requirements well in advance of the enforcement deadline in May 2018.

Melnick sees Weblife as a change agent and believes the days of choosing between security and privacy are over. He says Weblife’s ability to help companies resolve the security-privacy dilemma is resonating with technology leaders worldwide, regardless of company size, industry or location.