Microsoft announced Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps in November 2021 As an extension to the company’s Defender software security products and services series. In basic terms, it offers a suite of tools and features designed to protect a company’s cloud-based applications and the data they access.

Today, Microsoft announced that Defender for Cloud Apps is expanding its scope to include browser-based cloud apps through the Edge for Business browser.

in a blog postMicrosoft stated:

In-browser protection removes the need for proxies, improving both security and productivity, based on session policies applied directly to the browser.

Depending on the risk associated with the user, such as when they connect from an unmanaged device, administrators can restrict access to the application or create detailed policies that prevent downloads, uploads, copying, cutting or printing during operation.

After administrators configure Defender for Cloud Apps for Edge, the browser can block access to downloading suspicious files, along with blocking certain file uploads and more. The blog post reads:

Specifically, when a user tries to download a file containing sensitive credit card information from a SharePoint site through the Edge for Business browser, the Defender for Cloud app will enforce the activation policy to block this action. These restrictions are applied seamlessly for users without affecting their productivity.

Additionally, administrators need to do very little work to configure Defender for Cloud Apps for their company’s Edge browser, as it will use the controls built into that browser automatically.

If a business browser edge has been set up to use Defender for Cloud Apps, those users will be able to tell by seeing a new “lock” icon in the URL bar at the top.

So far, Edge for Business is the only browser that can use Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. There is no word if Microsoft plans to extend its support to other browsers, such as Google Chrome.