Why SquareX Thinks It Can Save You From Cyber Attackers And Fraudsters

“Conventional cybersecurity products don’t work well for consumers because they get in the way,” says Vivek Ramachandran, founder and CEO of Singapore-based start-up SquareX. “They are so unproductive that many consumers end up simply uninstalling them,” he warns.

SquareX, which is announcing a $6 million seed funding round today, is taking a different approach to mainstream cybersecurity products like antivirus software and firewalls. “Our motto is that we enable consumers to be fearless online,” says Ramachandran. “We will never block a document you want to download or a website you want to visit, even if it has a problem like malware.”

So how do consumers stay safe online? The answer is what SquareX describes as a single-use browser. Their technology works as an extension that you add to your existing browser of choice; every time you log in, you have the option to do so through one of SquareX’s one-time-use browsers; in this case, you’ll visit sites and open attachments in a safe space in the cloud, far away from your own device.

This approach is sometimes described as a remote browser by information security professionals. Conventional products work by blocking access to documents and sites deemed potentially suspicious. Conversely, with a remote browser, you can open anything you want, and even work on it, because you’re doing it remotely; the site or document never touches your device, so it doesn’t matter if it’s full of malware and other nasties.

SquareX believes that the advantage of the remote browser approach is that people can just get on with their lives without having to think about security. In an age where more people are working remotely than ever before, the way mainstream cybersecurity products prevent you from accessing what you need online is a growing irritation, he argues. “Safety and security should not come in the way of productivity,” adds Ramachandran. “They should just be there in the background.”

The company is also keen to present its solution as an alternative to the virtual private networks (VPNs) through which many internet users now connect. VPNs allow people to connect anonymously without their data being tracked, as well as access sites sometimes restricted to browsers in certain jurisdictions, but they can be slow and clunky. SquareX’s disposable browsers offer a different way to achieve the same goals.

If these ideas sound appealing, it’s worth noting that market analyst Gartner identified remote browsers as an exciting growth area for cybersecurity since 2017. “Information security architects can’t stop attacks, but they can contain damage by isolating the end user. Internet browsing sessions from endpoints and enterprise networks,” he notes.

So far, however, the concept has been relatively slow to take off, especially in the consumer market. A recent study suggests that the global remote browser market, dominated by corporate customers, is only worth $4.1 billion; however, the prediction is for average annual growth of 18% over the next decade, until the market is worth $22 billion by 2033.

Ramachandran believes that consumers can drive this growth. The big players in the consumer security market have no incentive to take a new approach; doing so would risk cannibalizing its existing market, but startups like SquareX can make a significant impact. The company’s focus will be on targeting young internet users and early adopters, with influencer marketing seen as a potentially important way to get the message out.

The business has a freemium model. Users can install the SquareX extension on their browsers for free and use it for up to one hour each day at no cost. Those who want to spend more time using the app will pay a monthly fee of between $8 and $15, depending on their exact needs.

It’s a value proposition that SquareX investors believe can gain traction quickly in this developing market. Today’s $6 million seed round is led by Southeast Asia’s Sequoia Capital, which hopes consumers will recognize that remote browsers offer more security.

“All the cyber security solutions out there are only probabilistically successful in protecting internet users, which is not very comfortable if they get hacked and lose money,” argues partner Anandamoy Roychowdhary. “SquareX is the first solution we’ve seen that takes a 100% protection approach, where no matter how novel and sophisticated the attack, it has no chance of infecting users.”