Browser Profile Separation for Managed Account Policy Enforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing browser applications do not effectively enforce organizational policies and settings when users sign in with managed accounts on unmanaged devices, allowing unauthorized access to organizational data.
Innovation Solution
A management system that requires users to set up separate browser profiles for managed user accounts, ensuring that organizational policies and settings are applied only to managed profiles by rendering a new browsing instance if a managed profile does not already exist.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users can access organizational data using personal browser profiles with managed accounts, then user convenience and accessibility are improved, but organizational policy enforcement and data security deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the browser profile into two distinct types: managed profiles and unmanaged profiles. When a user signs in with a managed account, the system creates a separate managed profile that is isolated from the unmanaged profile. This segmentation ensures that organizational policies are applied only to the managed profile, allowing users to access organizational data with proper policy enforcement while maintaining their personal browsing experience in the unmanaged profile.
2Reliability
If separate browser profiles are enforced for managed accounts, then policy enforcement and data security are improved, but user convenience and operation simplicity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism that automatically detects when a user signs in with a managed account and automatically creates the appropriate managed profile. The system monitors the sign-in process and intervenes to ensure a separate managed profile is created, prompting the user only when necessary. This intermediary approach maintains data security through profile separation while minimizing disruption to user convenience by handling the profile creation automatically rather than requiring manual user action.
3Reliability
If automated profile creation is implemented for managed accounts, then policy enforcement consistency is improved, but system complexity and processing requirements deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service mechanism where the browser application automatically detects when a managed account is being used and autonomously creates the necessary managed profile without requiring administrator intervention or complex system configuration. The system monitors the authentication process and self-manages the profile creation, reducing the complexity of system administration while ensuring consistent policy enforcement across all managed account usage scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an aspect, a method includes rendering a first window of a browser application on a computing device, where the first window has a first browser profile associated with a non-managed user account, and the first window displays a tab requesting an authentication credential to access a resource of the browser application. The method includes receiving, via the tab, an authentication credential of a managed user account to access the resource of the browser application, in response to the authentication credential being authenticated, determining whether the managed user account is associated with a second browser profile, and, in response to determining that the managed user account is not associated with the second browser profile, rendering a user interface (UI) object that prompts a user to create the second browser profile for the managed user account.