Dell’s Most Secure Commercial PCs Enhanced with Off-Host BIOS Verification

Today, companies of all sizes have the luxury of choosing from a broad selection of fixed and mobile devices to deploy across their workforce. In the past, the debate was whether to deploy secure and manageable devices that please IT, or thin and light devices that please employees. With the introduction of Dell’s new Latitude portfolio recently launched at CES 2016, we eliminated all compromises by introducing a lineup of commercial laptops and 2-in-1s that are secure, manageable, reliable and beautiful. Now company-issued devices are products that employees are proud to own and enable them to be productive no matter where they are.

Kirk Schell introduces Dell's new Latitude line at CES 2016

To help ensure all of the great content being generated by the mobile workforce remains secure, we just announced the availability of the Dell Data Protection | Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise. This new commercial PC security suite incorporates Cylance machine learning technology which is designed to proactively prevent malware, as well as a new BIOS verification solution designed to protect devices during the boot process. This BIOS test helps ensure devices remain free from malware by using a secure cloud environment to compare and test an individual BIOS image against the official measurements held in the Dell BIOS lab. Our customers can now be assured that the post-boot image is not compromised as the testing takes place in a secure cloud platform, and not on a potentially infected device.

We’ve already heard rave reviews of this new functionality, as well as our vision for future updates to BIOS and UEFI protection solutions. Not only this, but our customers have also expressed their excitement at the wider integration of Cylance technologies into our portfolio. Many of the customers we’ve spoken to – including valued friends at Citation Oil & Gas – have seen the benefits of Cylance first hand and can attest to the benefits in accuracy, visibility and control the technology can provide, and have seen malware incidents that have required direct support from the IT departments drop dramatically.

The addition of this security suite also enhances our portfolio of award-winning commercial PC solutions and serves to reinforce our commitment to delivering the most secure commercial PCs available. The BIOS verification feature will be available on Dell’s range of commercial PCs with a 6th Generation Intel chipset, including our new Latitude portfolio, and we’ll be expanding this feature within select Dell Precision, OptiPlex and XPS PCs and Dell Venue Pro tablets. Customers can now leverage best-in-class endpoint security solutions from the Dell Data Protection suite, including comprehensive encryption, advanced authentication and leading-edge malware protection from a single source – and now BIOS verification.

Dell’s strength is in our heritage of delivering the world’s most secure, manageable and reliable commercial PCs along with the industry’s most comprehensive service and support. We are dedicated to driving further innovation for these technologies, and at the forefront, is our commitment to enhancing security. By providing the most comprehensive suite of security solutions, we know our customers will continue to trust Dell as a reliable partner for generations to come.

About the Author: Kirk Schell

Kirk Schell is senior vice president of Dell’s Commercial Client Product Group. In this role he is responsible for overseeing strategy, planning, launch and sustaining programs, brand and messaging for Dell Latitude commercial client products and Dell’s Internet of Things edge computing portfolio. Mr. Schell has held multiple leadership roles in his 18 year career at Dell. Previously, he led the Marketing organization for Dell’s Business Client Product Group and was responsible for product strategy, product planning and management, messaging and overall business performance of the Latitude, OptiPlex and Dell Precision brands. Before that role, he served in Shanghai, China as director of the Vostro Product Group for Dell’s Small and Medium Business (SMB) division. In that capacity he was responsible for the Vostro desktop and notebook product line and Emerging Market products in Dell’s portfolio of SMB products worldwide. Before joining Dell, Mr. Schell served as an officer in the United States Navy in the US Navy Nuclear Power Program. He also served as the United States Navy Liaison to Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in Devon, England. Mr. Schell holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from The University of Michigan. He now lives in Austin, Texas after repatriating in June 2010 from Shanghai, China and the Dell China Design Center.