HP Innovation Journal Issue 09: Spring 2018 | Page 36
Reinventing Go-to-Market
The number and sophistication of cyberattacks is set to
rise again this year. Successful hacks are causing lasting
damage to privacy, trust and corporate reputation—three
prerequisites of connected commerce.
There are several reasons for this escalation in cyber-
crime. Firstly, as more data is digitized, it becomes more
susceptible to hacking. The expanding ecosystem of
connected devices has increased the number of access
points to this data and into networks. Finally, and most
maliciously, cybercriminals of various motivations are
inventing new ways and tools to expose private and sen-
sitive information.
Many cybercriminals have turned their attention
to “endpoints”—connected devices at the periphery of a
network, like printers, laptops, and phones. They house
valuable data and their usage and portability make them
vulnerable to external threats, often yo-yoing in and out
of the protection of corporate firewalls.
As depicted by our miniseries The Wolf and The Fixer,
networked printers have become a particularly popular
target for endpoint attacks. Data thieves have learned
to bypass network security controls and copy sensitive
documents straight from a printer’s memory, revealing
closely guarded corporate secrets.
Endpoint security has already become a critical
battleground in the fight for privacy. The Ponemon Insti-
tute’s 2017 State of Endpoint Security Risk report stated
69% of organizations believe the endpoint security risk
has significantly increased.
In this escalating war between those protecting pri-
vacy and those wishing to profit from its demise, I am
proud to say HP is taking a leading role. We are devel-
oping transformative digital technologies providing
safeguards against data intrusions. HP is fighting back
against cyber thieves on three fronts:
1. Endpoint Security
When we think of hacking, we often imagine quick-
ly-typed code, supercharged computer towers and
ominous aliases. But that’s only part of the story. End-
points are susceptible to a variety of threats. For example,
“visual hacks” require only for a third party to read secret
information over an employee’s shoulder.
36
The solution is Endpoint Security, a range of cutting-edge
defenses built for, and into, the endpoint device itself.
Without interfering in a device’s normal functionality,
endpoint security software protects vital functions from
malicious interference, authenticates software loaded
onto the device, and vigilantly monitors for external
attacks. Further precautions, like screen shields and
print queue management, negate other vulnerabilities.
2. Device-as-a-Service (DaaS)
In appreciation of worsening cybersecurity threats, DaaS
providers like HP are making cybersecurity protection
a core part of their offering. There are many benefits to
the DaaS model, in which companies lease productivity
hardware from a specialist device provider. It ensures
faster device upgrade cycles for hardware and software,
meaning office hardware is equipped with the latest
cybersecurity defenses.
By allowing standardization across device fleets,
DaaS also helps companies better manage their IT
environment. DaaS solutions allow IT leaders to mon-
itor an entire fleet of devices, empowering them to spot
and address anomalous activity and ultimately thwart
emerging cyberattacks.
3. Managed Print Services (MPS)
In a Managed Print Services arrangement, a company’s
print operations are managed by an external provider.
Armed with print-specific expertise, MPS providers such
as HP are best suited to protect a company’s print fleet
from cyberattacks.
Today, with the help of expert cloud analytics part-
ners, HP has transformed the MPS value proposition
from that of a basic service to a strategic business tool.
Companies can now gain powerful insights into print
costs, printing behaviors, and printer utilization to
drive efficiencies and streamline business processes to
enhance productivity.
The threats posed by cyberattacks are worsening, but
HP is rising to the challenge by building technologies
and solutions ready to tackle and repel the next wave of
cyber threats.