Beyond Security Software: Hardware-Based Security for Computers

As a business or IT manager, you are no doubt focused on the security of all your company devices on an ongoing basis. Anti-virus programs and other software offer important protection against malware. But, it’s also important to take a look at hardware-based security methods to secure the integrity of your business assets.

This is increasingly important as more businesses shift to working remotely. There are so many security threats, including ransomware and viruses, to be aware of and defend against. Thus, it is important to have a well-rounded security system in place to cover all your bases.

The Importance Of Security Features

As we all know, IT assets and systems are under constant threat of hacking and data breaches. This makes security for your computers paramount as you never know when a threat might present itself.

Online hackers are often sophisticated in their methods. Since they understand the workings of computers too, it’s important to stay a step ahead of them. You need to make sure that you equip yourself with all the security features necessary to protect your information and your devices.

With the rise of remote work, and bring your own device (BYOD) policies, it has become even more crucial to safeguard the assets of your business. This includes your online communication systems and networks.

While there is no need to be paranoid, putting security measures in place is a fundamental part of an IT strategy. It will serve your business in the long term even as technology continues to evolve.

Hardware-Based Security vs. Software Security

All IT assets and systems will use a combination of hardware-based and software security. However, even though software security is important, it is still vulnerable to threats from outside sources. In addition, it can be corrupted.

Thus, it’s essential to have a holistic strategy in place that looks at your computer as a whole and evaluates all the opportunities for threats to come in – even before you’ve even opened your computer for the first time.

For this reason, hardware-based security is critical as devices can even be tampered with before they’ve even been sent to a customer. By paying attention to hardware-based security measures, however, you can detect this immediately.

This type of security can also protect a user’s computer through fingerprint scanning and other means. This ensures that no one can gain access to your computer or files in the first place.

In a shared working environment, or in distributed teams, this is something to consider – especially because it isn’t always possible for the relevant IT team members to keep track of all the information that each computer processes at all times within the company.

Advantages Of Hardware-Based Security Features

There are many advantages to using hardware-based security systems. The most central of which is being able to offer a core wall of defense against any kind of threat, whether a user is simply logging into a computer or browsing the internet.

Over the years, HP has been developing a range of Elitebooks with embedded features that fight against all kinds of malware, including ransomware. This very concerning form of threat is a top priority when it comes to overall business information integrity. So, HP’s Elitebook range aims to combat this kind of risk with a number of key features:

HP Sure Start

As we’ve discussed already in this post, it’s critical to have security features built into the very fundamental structures of your IT system. The basic input/output system (BIOS) is a core element of a computer’s processing system. Therefore, it needs constant checking to detect any damage.

To combat this, HP Sure Start Gen4 inspects the device’s BIOS and automatically self-heals. This means that it addresses any potential damage done by malware, rootkits, or corruption at a fundamental coding level.

HP Sure Recover

Despite the best efforts of an IT team to maintain a consistently secure infrastructure, breaches and problems do occur. These may mean that they would need to restore systems – sometimes across an entire fleet.

Thanks to HP Sure Recover, the ability to restore a machine quickly and securely to the latest image is built into the system hardware and firmware.

HP Sure Click

Browsing online is a routine task that is an essential part of many jobs. But, it’s also an easy way to make your device vulnerable to malware and other threats as you interact with information across seemingly infinite shared connections.

However, HP Sure Click provides a hardware-enforced security protection system that isolates web content into a CPU-isolated virtual machine. Here, any malware is contained and limited from contaminating any other browser tabs, applications, or the operating system of the device itself.

HP Image Assistant

Implementing optimal security across an entire fleet is a consistent work in progress. This includes developing and maintaining a solid software image. With HP Image Assistant, you can achieve this consistently across new and existing devices.

HP Image Assist helps to make sure that your devices are updated regularly with the latest patches and upgrades. It also diagnoses and identities any issues with the image and recommends solutions.

The Bottom Line

Many businesses know how important it is to have software-based security, like a good anti-virus application. However, many neglect the hardware-based security aspect. Having a combination of the two is essential for businesses as it enhances the overall security and ensures the protection of an organization’s data.

As the world continues to evolve and change, remote work becomes more common. This makes this kind of approach to security highly beneficial as there are all sorts of threats that come with remote working. As seen with the HP Elitebooks, the hardware-embedded security features make identifying and solving problems much easier for your remote workforce.

Having these security features ensures that your remote workers are equipped with the best security possible. In the future, these kinds of measures will also support your overall company resilience as your business and your teams continue to grow.

MNJ and HP are delivering the solutions you need to manage your remote workforce successfully – Contact us to learn more at sales@mnjtech.com.