Enterprise-Managed Web Browsers

Private browsing, also known as 'incognito mode' among other terms, is a feature in modern web browsers that prevents the storage of browsing history, cookies, and site data on a subject's device. When private browsing is enabled, it ensures any browsing activity conducted during the browser session is not saved to the browser history or cache.

A subject can use private browsing to conceal their actions in a web browser, such as navigating to unauthorized websites, downloading illicit materials, uploading corporate data or conducting covert communications, thus leaving minimal traces of their browsing activities on a device and frustrating forensic recovery efforts.

The subject transfers sensitive, proprietary, or classified information into an external generative AI platform through text input, file upload, API integration, or embedded application features. This results in uncontrolled data exposure to third-party environments outside organizational governance, potentially violating confidentiality, regulatory, or contractual obligations.

Characteristics

• Involves manual or automated transfer of sensitive data through:
• Web-based AI interfaces (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini).
• Upload of files (e.g., PDFs, DOCX, CSVs) for summarization, parsing, or analysis.
• API calls to generative AI services from scripts or third-party SaaS integrations.
• Embedded AI features inside productivity suites (e.g., Copilot in Microsoft 365, Gemini in Google Workspace).
• Subjects may act with or without malicious intent—motivated by efficiency, convenience, curiosity, or deliberate exfiltration.
• Data transmitted may be stored, cached, logged, or used for model retraining, depending on provider-specific terms of service and API configurations.
• Exfiltration through generative AI channels often evades traditional DLP (Data Loss Prevention) patterns due to novel data formats, variable input methods, and encrypted traffic.

Example Scenario

A subject copies sensitive internal financial projections into a public generative AI chatbot to "optimize" executive presentation materials. The AI provider, per its terms of use, retains inputs for service improvement and model fine-tuning. Sensitive data—now stored outside corporate control—becomes vulnerable to exposure through potential data breaches, subpoena, insider misuse at the service provider, or future unintended model outputs.

The subject initiates or configures access to a system using Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance via a web browser interface, often through third-party tools or services (e.g., LogMeIn, AnyDesk, Chrome Remote Desktop, Microsoft RD Web Access). This behavior may indicate preparatory actions to facilitate unauthorized remote access, either for a co-conspirator, a secondary device, or future remote exfiltration. Unlike traditional RDP clients, browser-based remote access methods may bypass endpoint controls and often operate over HTTPS, making detection more difficult with traditional monitoring.

This method may be used when traditional RDP clients are blocked or monitored, or when the subject intends to evade installed software policies and gain access through externally hosted portals. While some web-based tools require agents to be installed on the target machine, others permit remote viewing or interaction without full installation, particularly when configured in advance.