Venn’s Blue Border™ is the first purpose-built software for securely enabling BYOD workforces. Similar to an MDM solution but for laptops – work lives in a company-controlled Secure Enclave installed on the user’s PC or Mac, where all data is encrypted and access is managed. Work applications run locally within the Enclave – visually indicated by the blue border – isolating and protecting business activity from any personal use on the same computer. Company data is secured without controlling the entire device while guaranteeing end-user privacy for everything outside Blue Border.

At a high level, Venn does these three things:

• Protects work applications and application data
• Protects work files
• Protect work-related internet traffic

Venn has strict boundaries in place to separate work-related and personal activity data collection. To learn more about the data that Venn collects and review answers to FAQs about personal privacy when using Venn, see the Venn Privacy and Data Collection Guide.

How Venn Protects Work Applications and Application Data

Any work apps or websites that you launch from the Venn app will open in the Secure Enclave with a blue border around them.

You can see in this example that the person has an email app open inside Blue Border and a music streaming app open outside of Blue Border.

Applications that you launch outside of the Venn Launcher (for example, from the Start Menu or from your Desktop on Windows or from Finder or the Launchpad in your Dock on Mac) are personal and will launch without a blue border. They are completely isolated from work (Blue Border) applications, almost as though they were running on separate computers.

Learn more about using work apps and websites in Blue Border.

Every application that you have open in Blue Border will have a round Badge on the side of the application window when the window is active. If you click on the Badge, you can see a list of your company’s Data Loss Prevention policies that manage what you can and can’t do within Blue Border. For example, your company may set a policy that ensures that anything you download from the internet while working in Blue Border will automatically be saved in a secure folder.

Learn more about Data Loss Prevention Policies.

How Venn Protects Work Files

When you install Venn, a virtual, encrypted, local drive is created within the Secure Enclave called Venn Disk. This is where all of the data related to the applications you use in Blue Border will live. The Venn Disk is only accessible when you’re logged into Venn. 

Venn Disk is also the place where you can securely access the file systems that your company uses to store files: 

• On Windows, you can access your Workplace Drive, OneDrive, or Google Drive folders within the Venn Disk (V:) drive under This PC in Files.
• On Mac, you can access your Workplace Drive or OneDrive folders under Locations in the Finder.

If your company uses another file storage solution such as Box or Dropbox or if you use Google Drive on a Mac, you can securely use the web version of your file storage solution in Blue Border. 

How Venn Protects Work Internet Traffic

Any app or web browser that you open in Blue Border sends internet traffic over a separate, encrypted connection called your Private Company Gateway before it is routed to and from the internet or your company’s corporate network. This process takes milliseconds but ensures that your company data is protected.

Apps you open outside Blue Border use your personal internet connection as normal and do not pass through the Private Company Gateway. Venn does not see internet traffic outside of Blue Border, including what websites you visit.