Developing Browsing Forensics UI at Menlo Security

Overview

Browsing Forensics is an enterprise security product by Menlo Security that provides deep, session-level visibility into user browsing activity. The application enables security and SOC teams to replay and analyze browser sessions to investigate phishing attacks, policy violations, and suspicious user behavior.

I joined the project as an Angular developer and contributed to building the front-end application using the latest version of Angular, focusing on performance, scalability, and usability for security analysts.

Key Features

• Session Replay Interface: Built core UI components that allow analysts to view and inspect recorded browser sessions, presenting complex forensic data in a clear, timeline-based interface.
• High-Volume Data Visualization: Implemented performant views for rendering session metadata, events, and contextual details, ensuring the application remained responsive even when handling large datasets.
• Modular Angular Architecture: Structured the application using modern Angular patterns (standalone components, reactive forms, RxJS) to ensure maintainability and ease of future extension.
• Security-Aware UI Design: Worked closely with product designers to translate security workflows into intuitive UI patterns, balancing detailed technical information with usability for SOC analysts.

Collaboration & Process

The project was developed in close collaboration with a cross-functional team, including:

• Product Management: Aligning UI behavior with real-world security investigation workflows.
• Backend Engineers: Integrating APIs that deliver session recordings, event streams, and forensic metadata.
• Product Designers: Refining interaction patterns, layouts, and information hierarchy.
• QA Team: Supporting testability, bug fixing, and validation of complex edge cases related to session playback and data accuracy.

Regular design reviews, sprint planning, and QA feedback loops ensured high quality and consistent delivery.

Technologies Used

• Angular (latest version): Primary framework for building the front-end application.
• TypeScript: For strong typing and maintainable code at scale.
• RxJS: Managing asynchronous data streams and state updates.
• REST APIs: Integrating forensic data and session metadata from backend services.
• Enterprise UI Patterns: Focused on accessibility, performance, and security-oriented UX.

Challenges and Learnings

One of the main challenges was presenting complex forensic data in a way that is both precise and easy to analyze under time pressure. This required careful component design, thoughtful state management, and close collaboration with designers and product stakeholders.

Another key learning was building Angular applications optimized for enterprise-scale security use cases, where performance, clarity, and reliability are critical for day-to-day operations in SOC environments.

Outcome

The resulting application delivers a robust and scalable UI for browsing forensics, enabling security teams to quickly understand how incidents occur and respond with confidence. The Angular-based architecture supports ongoing feature development and has become a core part of Menlo Security’s Secure Enterprise Browser platform.