Guide: How to Enable/Disable Site Isolation in Chrome Browser
As the name suggests, Site Isolation is a Chrome-specific security mechanism that helps to protect data from being accessed by malicious applications and websites. Essentially, it creates a barrier between the user’s data and any applications or websites that they don’t explicitly allow access to. This is done by isolating these applications and websites from each other, meaning that if one of them tries to access the data of another, they will be met with an error message. This feature has been available in Chrome for some time now, but it seems that Specter may have made it even more important. After all, if malicious applications and websites can’t access the data of unsuspecting users then they are much less likely to cause any damage. ..
Chrome now defaults to Site Isolation, a security feature that helps mitigate speculative execution attacks. This feature is quite adept at mitigating these attacks, as it uses a sandboxing process to help protect your computer from potential attacks.
Chrome’s site isolation feature is a great way to keep your online presence safe. However, some people may find the trade-off in security worth it. Let’s find out if disabling site isolation is worth it for Chrome users.
Specter and location isolation
Google Chrome allows you to open multiple websites with different tabs, which is a common way to share processes. Before the implementation of Site Isolation, tabs were used to share common processes – which makes sense since duplicate tasks would be a waste of system resources. However, that’s a situation that’s ideal for a malicious attack based on flawed CPU design – Specter. ..
A recent study found that malicious code can exploit speculative execution to steal sensitive data from the CPU cache of a microprocessor. This allows the attacker to improve their overall performance by reducing the amount of data that is stored in the system memory.
If you have malicious intent, your browser could potentially access your bank account’s data even if you’re not currently logged in.
A recent attack on a computer system that used limited CPU cache resulted in the theft of data from the system. This was due to the difference in CPU compare access speeds, which allowed malicious code to determine what data to steal.
When the Specter vulnerability was discovered, browsers started using various workarounds (such as lower resolution timers to reduce the accuracy of determining CPU access speeds) in an effort to throw off targeted attacks. However, these workarounds are not a perfect means of countering Specter-based threats, which is why Site Isolation is important. ..
Site isolation is a browser feature that completely isolates tabs from each other by creating separate processes for all iframes (embedded external links), including the processes common to other tabs. Since shared processes play a large role in helping Site Isolation monitor and read information from other tabs, Site Isolation’s use of independent processes works well in mitigating such vulnerabilities. ..
Site isolation is a security feature that helps protect your bank account portal from unauthorized access. This feature minimizes the chance of stealing information in the event of a breach.
Increased memory
Site isolation can impact performance because of the extra system memory used up through each independent process – browser tab. According to Google Online Security Blog, the security implementation uses up up to 10-13% more RAM than when the feature is not active in the first place.
This figure is inaccurate in practice because it only shows websites that use iframes. If site isolation is enabled, the screenshot below shows some websites that use many different iframes.
In Chrome, the built-in Task Manager lets you see how much time is spent on various tasks. To access it, open the Chrome menu, point to More tools, then click Task Manager.
The screenshot below shows the same pair of tabs with Site Isolation enabled. The number of additional processes has increased significantly, as has the amount of memory used by each site. Additionally, similar processes are further split into two to reduce the chances of a successful speculative execution attack. Doing the math (without considering the Browser and GPU process tasks) will terminate both sites up use about 33% more memory.
Google’s 10-13% figure for memory usage is significantly lower than what is reported by most sites. However, it is important to remember that this figure is an average and can vary depending on the site and individual page. This means that the above scenario could be considered an outlier.
The site isolation feature of a web server results in a significant increase in the amount of memory that is used by the server.
Security versus performance
Chrome’s ability to manage available memory can help improve performance on devices with a low system memory. However, there is no definitive answer to whether turning off site isolation will improve performance on devices with a high system memory.
Manually managing tabs from clogging up memory can be done with extensions such as The Great Discarder and The Great Suspender. ..
Chrome will eventually have to disable its existing countermeasures against Spectre attacks, which will make the browser even more vulnerable to malicious attacks. ..
We assess the risks and benefits of disabling Site Isolation in order to protect users from potential vulnerabilities. Unless users are surfing on a low-end machine and do not use any personal data, disabling Site Isolation is the best decision.
Turn off site isolation
- Log in to your account and click on the “Settings” button on the top left corner of your screen.
- Scroll down and click on “Security.”
- In the Security section, under “Site isolation,” select “Turn off.”
- Click on the “Apply” button to turn off site isolation.
If you turn off Site isolation in your browser, you may not be able to use personal browsing data on any website. The same goes for storing sensitive information in Chrome.
Step 2: Type –enable-gpu-benchmarking and press Enter to enable the flag. Step 3: Type –disable-gpu-benchmarking and press Enter to disable the flag. Chrome flags can be used to experiment with different settings or to diagnose problems. By enabling the flag for GPU benchmarking, you can see how your computer performs when using graphics intensive tasks. Disabling the flag will stop these tests from being run. ..
Step 3: Click on the link to the page that you want to view. Step 4: The Site Isolation window will open. Step 5: In the Site Isolation window, type your desired information into the text field and click on the “Submit” button.
If you’re using Chrome, you should see two flags named “Strict Site Isolation” and “Site Isolation Trial Opt Out.” If you don’t see them, your browser is not configured to use HTTPS.
Disable site isolation: This is set to Disabled by default. If so, you don’t need to do anything. Logout: This is set to Logout (not recommended) by default. ..
If you’re having trouble with your computer, you can try restarting it. ..
Step 5: Site isolation is now disabled. Type chrome://process-internals in a new tab to verify this, then press Enter.
Disable Site Isolation to indicate confirmation. To enable Site Isolation at a later date, go back and change the flags to their original state and restart Chrome.
No, it is not worth the risk
Disable a critical Chrome protection feature such as Site Isolation can reduce memory usage, but it’s not guaranteed to provide marginal performance improvements. So, you shouldn’t look for marginal performance improvements that might come at the expense of your personal information. If you’re struggling with performance, you can always consider using an alternative browser like Firefox Quantum, which has a much smaller memory footprint compared to Chrome, before rushing into anything. ..
How to Enable/Disable Site Isolation in Chrome Browser: benefits
Faq
Final note
If you’re using Chrome browser, you can easily enable or disable site isolation in order to keep your online activity private. This guide will show you how to do this in a simple and easy-to-follow manner.
If you have any questions about how to enable or disable site isolation in Chrome browsers, please comment below or contact us directly. This guide is for educational purposes only. If you want to correct any misinformation about the guide, please contact us. If you want to add an alternate method, please contact us. Our contact page is here if you need help. You can also use our social and accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp for your questions. We answer questions within 24-48 hours (weekend off). ..
