A Case for Chrome in the Enterprise

Transcription

1 A Case for Chrome in the Enterprise

2 CONTENTS Executive Summary Why Chrome OS? Shifting Computing Landscape Rethinking Security Built-in Management Chrome OS Does More Desktop Virtualization Kiosks Digital Signs Public Sessions Conclusion Executive Summary The traditional PC model is broken and outdated. Many organizations spend countless hours and dollars building, deploying and managing standard PC images. This involves installing, updating and patching the operating system (OS) as well as installing third party software, such as anti-virus, management and backup tools. But what happens when a new version of the OS or applications come to market? IT has to update, test and rollout the new image each and every time. With so many applications in use and technology changing so rapidly, it s not hard to imagine how quickly these updates can become very time consuming and costly. Constraints like these led Google to realize that the PC model is broken and that the time to re-think how operating systems should function had come. With this end goal in mind, Google launched the Chromium project, out of which came an operating system that is more secure, easier to use and faster. Known today as Chrome, this operating system was designed for the modern Internet and, a result, resolves the problems that plague the traditional model. When Google first launched Chrome OS in 2009, it called out speed, simplicity and security as three key aspects of the operating system. 1 Six years later, plenty has changed, but these tenets have remained at the core of Google s operating system. It is these core capabilities that make Chrome OS an ideal fit for the enterprise computing market.

3 Why Chrome OS? To say that a lot has changed in the enterprise technology landscape over the past few years would be an understatement. Three of these changes, in particular, have created the perfect storm for the rise of Chrome OS in the enterprise: 1. Shifting Computing Landscape In the old PC model, IT and/or users would install software onto company-issued PCs. This often meant that the PC had to be the right version and the right patch number and meet several other prerequisites in order to even install the software. Even then, much testing had to be done to ensure the new software did not interfere with any other installed applications. Today, this model is quickly falling by the wayside. As more and more applications move to the cloud and become accessible through a browser, applications are rarely installed on the PC anymore. According to independent analyst Gartner, we passed the tipping point where the majority of enterprise applications no longer depend on a specific OS or browser (Windows and Internet Explorer) in This OS-neutral trend is on track to continue at a rapid rate as more enterprises shift their workloads to the cloud. This shift from desktop applications to cloud applications sets the stage perfectly for Chrome s capabilities, which are based entirely in the cloud. Given this tight alignment, it should come as no surprise that there s been a dramatic uptick in the use of Chrome OS in recent years, with Chromebook sales increasing by 235% from 2013 to 2014 according to market analysis firm ABI Research. 3 TechWorld reports that this will be a continuing trend, citing analyst predictions that Chrome device sales will triple by Although the education sector is leading the majority of this current growth, Chrome devices will begin to play a greater role in the enterprise as organizations begin to adopt more cloud technology. That said, many organizations, particularly those in the banking and financial services, real estate and hospitality industries, have already started to take advantage of these cloudbased computing devices Rethinking Security As more applications move to the cloud, the security threats that enterprises face are changing. Viruses and malware are rampant in the cloud environment, and enterprises need a better way to deal with these threats. In addition to gaps in the actual technology, the security of the traditional PC model also has flawed expectations. That s because it depends on users to make a lot of the security decisions, and the typical user is not the best resource to determine whether or not a security-related event, such as elevated privileges, should be allowed or not. These decisions come in the form of pop-up windows that read something along the lines of Do you want xyz applications to access your computer? When all these users want is for the pop-up to go away, they click whatever they have to do to make that happen, and security often suffers as a result. In rethinking the operating system, Google started with a foundation of security. Chrome OS is designed to give users the most secure browsing experience possible, but also to be highly functional and simple to use. Google accomplished this by creating a series of layered security measures so that no single layer provides a point of failure for the entire system. One example of this layered security is Chrome s sandboxing methodology. Sandboxing completely isolates each browser tab as its own process that cannot access any other tabs or the core OS systems/files. So, in the event that a user falls upon some kind of malware or other malicious code, exposure is limited to that one tab and only that tab. Once the user closes the tab, the risk is eliminated, as each sandboxed tab remains isolated. This sandboxing methodology also expands to each user s session. In scenarios where more than one user accesses the same Chrome device, each user s profile is sandboxed into its own encrypted partition on the local drive. This user sandboxing ensures that if one user does something to potentially infect the system, the exploit will not be able to gain access to any other users information. This method stands in stark contrast to traditional operating systems, where once a user has local Administrator rights to the machine, they have control over the whole system. Another unique security aspect of Chrome OS is its verified boot solution. The goal of the verified boot is to ensure that when users boot the OS, they load a genuine, non-altered copy of the operating system. Verified boot starts on the device from readonly firmware that must successfully validate the OS before the boot process can continue. This validation ensures that the code is genuine in origin and does not contain altered code, such as keystroke loggers or other kernel level malware. In the event that the firmware cannot verify the OS, the boot process will exit and alert the user of the error. The system can then be completely recovered by following the Chrome OS recovery process. Think of this as completely reinstalling a fresh copy of your operating system. Chrome OS even goes beyond internal security testing and code screening to find and fix external exploits to the system. Google takes a unique approach to this external security by offering up monetary rewards, or bounties, for the different types of exploits users find. In the past, Google held these bounty hack-a-thons once a year, but it recently opened up the rewards program to be a year round offering. Of course just finding exploits is one thing, but being able to fix them and do so quickly is another. Once again, Google comes out on top here, having gained recognition

4 for fixing known exploits rapidly. 6 This speed to resolution is crucial for enterprises to ensure that their users computing environments are always up-to-date and as secure as possible. 3. Built-in Management Providing a secure computing platform for users is one thing, but being able to manage it is another. Whether you are managing a handful of devices or tens of thousands of devices, being able to manage devices easily and efficiently is crucial. In order to properly manage traditional PC devices, organizations must often deploy third party solutions or additional native platforms such as System Center. However, these solutions can be very costly to deploy and manage in and of themselves, never mind the systems they re actually in place to manage. For example, these solutions often require their own infrastructure and have associated client software that needs to be deployed to each computing device. This client software dependency then requires that machines connect to the corporate network to be deployed and to receive any policy updates/ changes. This setup can be somewhat problematic for users who are mobile and rarely connect (typically VPN) to the corporate network. Furthermore, in the event that a user s device is lost or stolen, IT typically cannot lock or wipe that device until it connects to the network. Many third party solutions do offer a capability for remote lock and wipe, however it comes at yet another additional cost. Chrome OS works differently. In the Chrome world, this type of management is built-in through a cloud-based portal where administrators can set either user policies or device policies. User policies are specific to the user, no matter what device they use, while device policies apply to the device, no matter who logs into the machine. A few examples of user policies are managing bookmarks, setting the homepage and implementing safe browsing settings. Examples of device policies include forced enrollment and remote lock. These last two policies ensure that, if a device is lost or stolen, a user cannot log into the device (remote lock) or even try to do a system recovery, as it will always try to enroll itself into the corporate domain (forced enrollment). And, because the devices are managed via the cloud, these policies are enforced 24x7, not just when a user connects to the corporate network. This constant connection means that, as policies change, IT can enforce these changes in real-time and ensure that all devices receive the updates in a timely manner. Another unique aspect of Chrome OS management is the Chrome Web Store. The web store allows administrators to install other SaaS applications as native Chrome applications or extensions with the push of a button. Administrators can pre-install, remove or deploy newly adopted applications to devices in real-time. Organizations also have access to their own domain-specific web store where they can build and deploy their own applications. In a traditional PC model, IT typically has to use a separate product to install software on users PCs, which, again, requires the users to be connected to the corporate network. In many situations, IT may even require users to bring their computers to the IT office to have the software manually installed. Both of these scenarios can lead to reduced user productivity while these installations occur. Chrome OS Does More In the early days of Chrome OS, people thought of it as a simple device to be used for basic internet browsing. However, the platform has evolved at a very rapid pace and now does much more than most people realize. Advanced yet simple to manage use cases like those described below make Chrome OS devices a perfect solution for a variety of enterprise needs. Desktop Virtualization Of course we are all aware of the end user computing scenario in which users only need a browser, but what about those situations where users need access to thick client applications? Chrome now supports virtualized desktops (VDI) and application virtualization. So, in instances where users rely primarily on webbased solutions but need a thick client application for a specific task, they can access that application either through native HTML5 or, in the case of Citrix, a native Chrome application. For example, if users need some aspect of Microsoft Office that Chrome s native Office compatibility is unable to handle, they can still use a Chrome device with Office as a virtualized application and have seamless access to whatever they need. Kiosks Through a simple device policy, administrators can place Chrome devices in kiosk mode. This mode allows the device to boot into a full screen application and locks the device down so that users cannot browse the web or change any settings, all they can do is execute the application into which the device boots. Some common use cases for this mode include kiosks in bank lobbies that allow users to securely access their account information, apply for a loan, etc. and kiosks that retail customers can use to lookup an item, see if it is in stock in the store and place an order online if it s not available in the store. Regardless of the use case, kiosks protect each user by erasing all of their information, including items such as user IDs or passwords, once they are done. Digital Signs Chrome OS now includes native support for digital signs as well as an application to help build those signs. 7 Chrome also supports several third party specialty software packages that allow for more sophisticated uses of digital signs, such as scrolling banners and multi-screen displays. And, because Chrome natively supports touch screen, you can also build interactive displays. Because Chrome devices are managed through the cloud, this means that IT can securely manage the devices and allow the content managers to update what the displays are showing. This management makes the signs more secure and makes it faster and easier to update the display content, thereby helping to ensure that this content is meaningful.

5 Public Sessions Chrome devices public session mode gives any user basic internet access for a period of time determined by the organization that owns the device. One common use case for this capability is in libraries, where computers are made available for people to browse the web, check their , etc. This functionality has also proved useful for hotels. Go into any hotel and you are sure to find an executive center that allows visitors to access their , check into their flights and print their boarding passes. Chrome devices provide a powerful, low cost replacement for the devices that are often found in these environments. A key feature of Chrome public session terminals is also the ability for any user information that may have been entered to be completely wiped from the device once user have completed their sessions. This capability creates a secure environment for both the user and the organization. Conclusion By resolving many of the issues, including application access, security and device management, the plague the traditional PC model, Google has positioned Chrome as a viable PC replacement for enterprise users. But it didn t stop there. Google has created much more than a PC replacement: It s created an operating system that extends far beyond traditional use cases, making previously high-cost, time consuming solutions easily attainable for organizations of all kinds. With advanced use cases like desktop virtualization, kiosks, digital signs and public sessions, Chrome OS has the potential to make a positive change in every aspect of the enterprise environment. The fact that all of these solutions, from the simple end user computing to the more advanced kiosks and signage, are all guided by speed, simplicity and security (three points that are highly valued by both IT and end users), make Chrome OS even more compatible with enterprise needs. The cloud is changing how we do business how we interact with one another, how we access content, where we work and everything in between. In the face of these significant changes, we need a new operating system model that can accommodate the new style of working. Chrome OS has proven itself to be that model.

6 Resources 1. Introducing the Google Chrome Os. Official Google Blog. July 7, Silver, Michael A. and David Mitchell Smith. The Decline of Windows Applications in Organizations Will Present Changes and Opportunities. Gartner, Inc. October 23, Dunn, John E. US Chromebook sales reach 5 million as Microsoft loses education sector. TechWorld. March 23, Claburn, Thomas. Chromebook Sales Surge. InformationWeek. August 11, Saran, Cliff. Chromebooks set to replace low-cost PCs. ComputerWeekly.com. August 11, Browser Security Comparison: A Quantitative Approach. Accuvant Labs. December 14, Nagarajan, Vidya. Screens go Google at the Digital Signage Expo. Official Google for Work Blog. March 11, 2015.

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