Privacy and Control: Key Settings for Securing Microsoft Edge

The latest episode in Senteon’s security webinar series welcomes Brad Powell, co-founder of ThreatCaptain, for a deep dive into privacy-driven settings within Microsoft Edge. This week, the focus is on granular configurations that help businesses reduce exposure, maintain user privacy, and keep data secure. With thoughtful humor, Brad explains how adjusting even a few settings can make an outsized impact on security, especially when aligned with CIS Benchmarks.

For Brad, security isn’t a checklist—it’s a mindset shift. The episode guides viewers through privacy-first browser configurations to reinforce security fundamentals and introduce best practices across all user levels.

Controlling Access: Keeping Browsers User-Specific

Brad begins by breaking down why configurations, like disabling guest mode and profile creation in Edge, are essential for companies looking to limit browser access strictly to authorized users. These settings may seem minor, but they ensure that every action taken in the browser is traceable and prevent unauthorized users from accessing corporate data or bypassing security controls.

He uses a simple analogy to explain: Imagine your workstation as a “closed circle” where everyone in the circle is known and accounted for. Enabling guest mode or allowing unregulated profile creation breaks that circle, opening potential gaps in data logging and auditing. Restricting these features is an easy way to preserve an organization’s security without limiting productivity.

Disabling Tracking Services: Privacy at Every Click

Brad dives into privacy settings like disabling the “Follow Service” in Microsoft Edge, a feature that often collects browsing behavior data. While beneficial for personalizing experiences, this feature presents significant privacy risks in corporate settings. As Brad puts it, “If you don’t need it for productivity, why enable it for exposure?”

For Brad, tracking protection is about knowing who holds your information and ensuring that data doesn’t fall into unintended hands. By proactively disabling these tracking features, companies can secure sensitive business information, reinforce user privacy, and meet critical compliance standards. Brad underscores how these configurations align with GDPR and HIPAA requirements, further emphasizing why they’re invaluable to maintaining security in regulated industries.

Authentication Control: Locking Down Unnecessary Access

One of the most valuable configurations Brad discusses is disabling HTTP Auth Cache, which reduces the risk of stored credentials being accessed across different sessions. As he explains, this setting protects against an often-overlooked security risk: the reuse of login data that attackers can exploit if stored within the browser cache.

The caching analogy Brad uses—a hotel that hands out the same key repeatedly without changing it—makes the setting’s impact clear. By disabling this, organizations can ensure that authentication data isn’t reused, preventing bad actors from gaining easy access to otherwise secured spaces.

Streamlining Compliance through Privacy-First Configurations

Towards the end of the session, Brad highlights how each of these configurations provides a security benefit and contributes to a broader compliance strategy. For industries like healthcare, finance, and government that are subject to regulatory scrutiny, browser privacy controls are critical. Implementing CIS Benchmarks in Edge offers a proactive approach, aligning day-to-day technology use with mandatory compliance standards.

By reducing user tracking, restricting browser access, and securing authentication data, organizations can create a compliance-ready environment while building confidence in their security posture. As Brad puts it, “It’s about making privacy proactive, not just reactive.”

For the complete breakdown of Brad’s insights, watch the full episode here, and don’t forget to register for upcoming episodes here. Curious about your current setup? Request free internal and external reports by reaching out with “settings webinar” in the comments here to get started with Senteon’s assessment.