Dell Moves to Secure Windows PCs

There’s no doubt that security at the endpoint has become a much bigger problem these days; it’s just that not everybody is quite sure what should be done about it. Some organizations want to lock down endpoints, while others try to circle their IT wagons at the network perimeter.

Locking down endpoints, however, often proves impractical, while trying to defend the perimeter usually winds up being little more than an expensive exercise in futility.

As party of an effort to give IT organizations a reason to buy systems from Dell, for the first time Dell will be bundling a security application that prevents malware from infecting any system it runs on.

Based on virtual container technology developed by Invincea, the Dell Protected Workspace software comes bundled on Dell PC systems. According to Brett Hansen, Dell executive director for client software planning and management, the goal is to give customers a set of software that first lowers the cost of ownership of Dell notebooks by eliminating a raft of security issues.

In addition, Hansen notes that when deployed with Dell Data Protection Encryption software, the two offerings together make Dell notebooks compliant with any number of regulations that IT organizations are likely to encounter.

The Invincea software works by executing every program in isolation. Once any anomalies are detected, the Invincea software makes it impossible for any potential malware to affect any element of the Windows operating system or any other application running on that system. In addition to the virtual container, Invincea provides security intelligence services based on the information its virtual container collects about different types of attacks.

Rather than over-investing in network security infrastructure, Invincea CEO Dr. Anup Ghosh says the primary goal should be to extend security defenses to the client devices that most often are hit by attacks, which then get distributed across the rest of enterprise.

Obviously, one of the side benefits of providing better security software for Windows is to reduce the number of support calls made to both Dell and the internal help desk of the IT organization. In addition, it should make more organizations more comfortable with Windows systems in an era when rival platforms from Apple are perceived to be more secure.

While it’s not clear if other PC manufacturers or even Microsoft itself will follow suit with other forms of container software, the one thing that is for certain is that from a security perspective, relying on anti-malware software alone on the client simply doesn’t cut it anymore.