Turn browser visibility into classified risk, investigated accounts, and automated remediation.
In our previous post, we looked at a critical security blind spot where your identity provider (IdP) only manages a fraction of the applications your employees actually use, and how visibility from the browser can close it. However, the problem isn’t only that 57% of enterprise applications bypass the corporate IdP. It’s everything security teams lose sight of when they do: which account is being used, whether it is corporate, personal, or shared, who is using it, from which device, how access was authenticated, and what risk that access creates.
Your IdP knows what should happen. The browser sees what actually happens, and can act on it. Operating where users access applications and authenticate, Prisma Browser connects the complete chain: Application → Account → User → Device → Authentication → Risk → Enforcement, providing the context traditional identity tools miss. Available as a standalone enterprise browser, mobile application, or lightweight extension for existing browsers, Prisma Browser extends this visibility and control across the workforce.
That visibility is the foundation. Here is how Prisma Browser turns it into identity governance, from discovering applications and accounts to assessing identity, posture, governing risk, and real-time remediation.
Phase 1: Discover Applications and Accounts
As shown in our previous post, the journey begins with visibility into the actual application and account landscape, not simply the applications configured in the corporate IdP. Prisma Browser surfaces every app used in your organization, how often it is used, the accounts, number of users and tenants, and how they authenticate. In addition, trend indicators show what applications are gaining adoption.
To help filter out the background noise, pre-configured Spotlights automatically highlight areas that warrant attention. These include non-SSO applications completely bypassing your identity stack, high-risk tools with active users, and shadow generative AI (GenAI) tools that can leak sensitive data, and code assistants where IP may leak into public models.
Figure 1. The Application Usage screen shows every app running in your organization
Clicking on any application opens a granular dashboard featuring complete event timelines, SSO vs non-SSO authentication, usage patterns, user-group activity, data volumes, and the app’s security and compliance profile.
Figure 2. Clicking on an application opens a dashboard showing the application risk and user activity.
Phase 2: Assess Identity Posture
With applications and accounts discovered, security teams can now understand the identity posture behind that usage. Prisma Browser’s Account Inventory identifies risks such as shared team credentials, accounts completely bypassing corporate SSO, weak or compromised passwords, and dormant accounts that haven't been accessed in months. Each account receives a risk score based on how it is being accessed.
Admins can drill into any account to view the user, the device, how and when they authenticated, providing the context needed to distinguish normal usage from identity risk and make informed security decisions.
Figure 3. Audit specific user access for every application, including login timestamps and device context.
Phase 3: Classify Risk at Scale
Discovery and risk assessment need to translate into governance. Administrators can quickly classify discovered applications into three clear categories:
- Sanctioned
- Tolerated
- Unsanctioned
For Palo Alto Network customers with multiple products, this taxonomy maps across the entire platform, including Cloud Security and SaaS Security Posture Management. To speed up the process, any applications already federated through your corporate IdP are automatically suggested as Sanctioned.
For everything else, admins can classify apps individually or programmatically at scale via API. Once set, these classifications can be used across policy and risk calculations, turning application discovery into a consistent governance framework.
Phase 4: Remediate in Real Time
Traditional discovery often ends with analysts reviewing dashboards, exporting spreadsheets, opening tickets, and waiting for IAM or IT teams to make changes days or weeks later. Prisma Browser closes the gap between discovery and action. Depending on the finding, security teams can enforce controls immediately in the browser, trigger broader identity and IT remediation workflows, or use automation to accelerate the response.
Act immediately in the browser
Because Prisma Browser operates at the point of interaction, admins can respond to identity risk without necessarily blocking access entirely.
- Account Inventory flags a shared account: Tighten last-mile controls such as clipboard, downloads, and screen capture, allowing users to continue working while reducing the risk of data exposure.
- An application is classified as unsanctioned: Automatically make the application read-only, block access entirely, or apply additional controls based on organizational policy.
- A personal or unapproved account is used to access a corporate application: Restrict sensitive actions or block access based on account or tenant context, while directing the user to authenticate with their corporate identity.
Drive identity governance
Aggregated application and account insights can also reveal broader issues that require action beyond the browser.
- Corporate accounts are accessing applications outside of SSO: Identify applications that should be brought under corporate SSO and use the evidence to prioritize IdP onboarding.
- Shared or privileged accounts are discovered: Move credentials into the enterprise password manager or PAM solution and establish stronger ownership and access controls.
Accelerate governance with automation
Automation can accelerate this loop further. With Prisma Browser APIs, organizations can connect findings to security, identity, and IT workflows, while AI agents can help correlate signals, prioritize risk, and initiate remediation based on organizational policy. The result is continuous governance where visibility doesn't end in a dashboard, it leads to action.
From Visibility to Continuous Governance
Your web browser naturally understands the context that your IdP misses. By deploying Prisma Browser and its extension across your workforce, you can transition from a passive, incomplete view of your identity landscape to an active, automated governance program with native enforcement and built-in privacy protections.
Prisma Browser closes the entire loop, discover→ assess→ classify→ remediate, in the same platform already protecting browser sessions with enterprise DLP, threat prevention, and policy enforcement. Within days, you can see the applications employees use, the accounts they access, shared credentials, and SSO gaps, and act on those findings immediately.
The browser knows what your IdP, your firewall, and your CASB don't.
Now it can act on it.
See how many unsanctioned apps are hiding in your environment. Request a Prisma Browser assessment.