Sophos and Qualcomm want to secure the new generation of 5G PCs

Sophos has announced that it will provide its Intercept X endpoint protection software for 5G PCs powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon compute platforms.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon compute platforms build on smartphone technology to deliver improved performance and efficiency to 4G and 5G equipped business laptops.

Through deep learning AI and anti-ransomware capabilities, Sophos Intercept X protects advanced computing systems and endpoints and the company expects its software for Snapdragon compute platforms to be available during the second half of this year.

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Chief Technology Officer at Sophos, Joe Levy explained in a press release how Snapdragon compute platforms provide the performance of a PC along with the benefits of mobile computing devices, saying:

“An always on, always connected, interactive computing environment that combines smartphone and PC technology delivers unique security capabilities and opportunities. Mobile devices historically have experienced far fewer security incidents than PCs powered by traditional architectures. It’s certainly not because they aren’t ubiquitous, but rather because of their modern architecture that offers overall predictability relative to PCs, enabling application vendors to design high-performance and secure software. Snapdragon compute platforms mark a major step forward because they provide all the utility and performance of a PC, but with many of the benefits associated with modern mobile computing devices. Security loves predictability, and Sophos is excited to be a part of securing this next-generation computing platform.”

Securing 5G PCs

Sophos Intercept X will also be able to leverage Connected Standby for continuous communication with a fleet of Snapdragon powered PCs. This helps make the work of security teams easier as their investigations will not be impeded by unknowns as data won't be missed due to devices being offline.

The cybersecurity company's endpoint protection software will even use AI acceleration through the Qualcomm AI Engine to compile AI-dependent software in real-time on devices with optimizations to run faster and more power efficiently.

At the same time though, Intercept X will be able to harness hardware-level root of trust to ascertain device and cryptographic integrity.

Senior Director of product management at Qualcomm Technologies, Migue Nunes praised the company's partnership with Sophos and explained how it will improve security across the board for 5G PCs, saying:

“Now, in addition to enabling always on, always connected PC experiences, our 5G-enabled Snapdragon compute platforms bring next-generation security innovation rooted in our advanced AI and 5G connectivity capabilities. By working with Sophos, we are taking on-device security to a new level by enhancing their industry-leading endpoint protection with AI accelerated threat detection on our solutions. We’re excited for Sophos to transform computing with next-generation enterprise-grade security on 5G powered Snapdragon compute platforms.”

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