HP Wolf Security: 5 Big Things To Know

The PC and printer giant has launched a newly integrated security offering as endpoint protection becomes a greater focus for businesses of all sizes, HP’s PC business head tells CRN.

HP Inc. is expanding its efforts to enable strong endpoint security for customers and partners with the launch of the newly integrated HP Wolf Security offering, the company’s PC business head told CRN.

HP Wolf Security brings together new and existing HP security solutions for both PCs and printers, with the aim of boosting endpoint security for the hybrid workforce, the company said.

[Related: HP President Alex Cho On Why The Rise Of The PC Is A ‘Structural Change’]

Endpoint security has become a greater priority for businesses of all sizes as the workforce has become distributed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to HP.

“Data points right now are emerging that show that the number of attacks per endpoint are growing tremendously,” said Alex Cho, president of the personal systems business at HP, in an interview with CRN.

The offering includes HP’s portfolio of Sure-branded security offerings, such as Sure Start self-healing BIOS, Sure Click malware protection and Sure Sense deep learning-based protection. Wolf Security also adds a new solution for protecting applications from malware, Sure Access Enterprise.

“We think that Wolf Security is extremely meaningful for our partners, because it allows them to participate in supporting customers in a growing threat area,” Cho said.

What follows are five key things to know about HP Wolf Security.

Integrated Offering

HP Wolf Security combines hardware-enforced security that’s built into the endpoint with isolation and deep learning-based protection technologies, as well as with cloud-based contextual threat intelligence, Cho said — calling it a “holistic” approach to endpoint security.

“It’s really bringing these three things together that is the value of the total Wolf Security offering,” he said.

While the Wolf Security solutions are geared toward working with HP devices—which include key hardware security capabilities that enhance the solutions—the Wolf Security software offerings can also be used to protect Windows 10 devices from other manufacturers, Cho said.

The branding for the new offering originated with HP’s marketing campaign, “The Wolf,” featuring actor Christian Slater.

Solutions Portfolio

Along with offering solutions for consumer users, HP Wolf Security includes three distinct solutions for businesses.

HP Wolf Security for Business features the company’s hardware-enforced security capabilities, and will be included with all HP business PCs.

A second solution, HP Wolf Pro Security, includes software and services focused on meeting the needs of small and mid-sized businesses.

HP Wolf Enterprise Security is the third solution under the umbrella of the new offering, with a focus on providing software and services to enterprise and government customers.

Sure Access Enterprise

The newest HP security solution to debut as part of Wolf Security, Sure Access Enterprise, will be part of the HP Wolf Enterprise Security offering.

Sure Access Enterprise leverages HP isolation technology to protect applications from malware that is present on a user’s device. The solution works by creating micro-virtual machines to safeguard applications by “forming a virtual air gap between the application and the host PC,” HP said.

The application and data are thus fully isolated from the device’s operating system, and protected from “any malicious actors that may have breached it,” the company said.

Benefits of the Sure Access Enterprise solution include providing security for tasks such as remote sysadmin activity, while also enabling secure browser-based access to key apps and work on multiple virtual Privileged Access Workstations using a single device.

In terms of Sure Access Enterprise, “we think it’s very much differentiated” from other offerings on the market, Cho said.

SMB Security

For the HP Wolf Pro Security Edition platform, aimed at small and mid-sized customers, key capabilities include threat containment using micro-virtualization that fully isolates threats that are delivered by common threat vectors, HP said.

Other capabilities include malware prevention using AI-based technologies such as deep learning as well as behavioral analysis to provide predictive detection, the company said.

Additionally, the solution includes identity protection to guard against credential phishing attacks in browsers, the company said.

Partner Opportunity

HP Wolf Security is aimed at resonating with channel partners that are looking to enhance endpoint security for their customers, Cho said.

The offering is a growth opportunity for partners because it “adds more value to any kind of hardware that they are selling from HP,” he said. “It also allows them to offer solutions that go beyond being tied to a hardware sale.”

HP will be offering trainings and resources to HP Amplify partners around Wolf Security, Cho said. The company is also planning a series of virtual “road show” events for partners about the offering, he said.

Ultimately, with HP Wolf Security, “we really have some unique, differentiating and meaningful assets,” Cho said. “We do want to make sure that our partners can be active participants in that.”