How To Enable Strict Site Isolation In Chrome Browser Tutorial

What is Strict Site Isolation?

Strict Site Isolation is a security feature in Google Chrome that enhances the browser's security by ensuring each website runs in its own isolated process. This feature prevents malicious websites from accessing sensitive data from other open websites, thereby protecting against various security vulnerabilities, including Spectre and Meltdown.

Benefits of Strict Site Isolation

Enhanced Security: By isolating each website in its own process, Strict Site Isolation creates an additional security boundary that makes it harder for malicious websites to steal data from other sites.
Protection Against Spectre and Meltdown: This feature helps mitigate the risks associated with Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, which can allow attackers to access sensitive data across different processes.
Stability: Isolating each website in a separate process also improves the stability of the browser, as a crash in one tab will not affect other tabs.

How to Enable Strict Site Isolation via Chrome Flags

Open Google Chrome: Launch the Google Chrome browser.
Access Chrome Flags: Type chrome://flags in the address bar and press Enter.
Locate Strict Site Isolation: Press Ctrl+F and search for "Strict Site Isolation" or "Disable Site Isolation" depending on your Chrome version.
Enable the Feature: Click on the drop-down menu next to the feature and select "Enable" or "Default" if available.
Relaunch Chrome: Click the "Relaunch Now" button at the bottom-right corner of the page to apply the changes.

How to Enable Strict Site Isolation via Chrome Properties (Windows Only)

Right-click the Chrome Shortcut: Right-click on the Google Chrome shortcut and select "Properties."
Modify the Target Field: In the "Shortcut" tab, add --site-per-process at the end of the address in the "Target" field, ensuring there is a space before the flag.
Save Changes: Click "OK" to save the changes. This will enable Strict Site Isolation whenever you launch Chrome using this shortcut.

Considerations and Drawbacks

Increased Memory Usage: Enabling Strict Site Isolation can increase memory usage by approximately 10-20%, which may be a concern for devices with low RAM.
Performance Impact: The increased resource usage might affect the performance of your device, especially if you have multiple tabs open concurrently.

Additional Security Features

Isolate Additional Origins: Besides Strict Site Isolation, Chrome offers another experimental feature called "Isolate Additional Origins," which allows you to process specific website origins separately. This can be enabled by searching for "Isolate Additional Origins" in the Chrome flags page and selecting the "Enabled" option.

By following these steps, you can significantly enhance the security of your Google Chrome browser, protecting your data from potential threats and ensuring a safer browsing experience.