RBI Alone Isn’t Enough – How CDR Closes the File Security Gap

Every business relies on the web in one way or another—whether for communication, collaboration, or accessing essential cloud-based applications. But as essential as the web might be, it’s also one of the most exploited attack vectors for cybercriminals. Malicious actors use sophisticated techniques to turn everyday browsing into a launchpad for cyber threats, embedding malware in seemingly harmless downloads, exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications, and tricking users with phishing sites designed to steal credentials. If you haven’t been the victim of one of these attacks, you probably know someone (or an entire organization) that has. 

Despite advancements in cybersecurity, attackers continue to find ways to slip through the cracks left behind by a reliance on reactive solutions. While traditional security tools like antivirus, firewalls, and secure web gateways play an important role, they often fall short against modern threats.

The Growing Threat of Web-Based Attacks

Browser-based attacks have increased significantly, with attackers honing their ability to exploit everyday web activity, transforming simple browsing, document downloads, and email attachments into security liabilities. While phishing remains a dominant threat, the landscape has evolved beyond deceptive login pages. Cybercriminals now leverage sophisticated techniques like drive-by downloads, where malicious scripts execute in the background without user interaction, or weaponized files that appear harmless but deploy malware upon opening. Even something innocuous as an image file can be a carrier for hidden code, using steganography to bypass detection.

To combat the growing threat of web-based attacks, organizations require a proactive, layered defense that doesn’t rely on cleaning up a mess after a breach has begun. 

Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) – The First Layer of Defense

Many organizations rely on RBI as a first line of defense to counter risks. This is due to RBI’s ability to create a virtualized browser session, ensuring that web-based threats never directly interact with the user’s device. Instead of executing code locally, RBI streams a safe, rendered version of the web page to the user. This prevents malicious scripts, browser exploits, and drive-by downloads from infecting endpoints. Additionally, phishing attacks become far less effective as users engage with an interactive image of the page rather than the actual malicious site.

Pairing RBI with a tool like Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) creates a seamless, proactive security framework that ensures no threats make it through. While RBI isolates the browser and prevents immediate execution of malicious scripts, it doesn’t stop users from downloading infected files. With CDR, however, any file that bypasses RBI’s protections is automatically sanitized before it reaches the user, eliminating hidden dangers.

Moreover, RBI is limited to active browser sessions—it doesn’t address threats introduced through email attachments, cloud file transfers, or other sources. That’s where CDR technology comes into play, filling the security gap by ensuring that any file entering the organization is sanitized and threat-free before it can be opened or shared.

CDR – The Missing Layer in File Security

Unlike traditional antivirus or sandboxing solutions that rely on detection, Content Disarm and Reconstruction doesn’t need to recognize a threat to eliminate it. Instead, it deconstructs every file, removes potentially harmful elements like embedded scripts, macros, or malware payloads, and reconstructs a clean, fully functional version.

Here’s a simplified look at how the CDR process works: