Cybersecurity has become critical to almost everything we do . As individuals , businesses , and societies , we depend even more on technology . This has made our computing systems and devices targets of choice for criminals , and created a cyber-battleground where defense requires higher levels of investment and foresight to successfully thwart increasingly sophisticated attacks .
HP has long realized that cybersecurity would become one of our industry ’ s leading challenges , and for over 25 years HP Labs has worked to improve cybersecurity capabilities in computing systems . In that time , cyber threats have transformed into a major priority for the technology industry . From trusted systems design to the economics of security , HP Labs has a long track record of industry leadership with security innovation . Today at HP Inc ., cybersecurity remains central to our delivering the most secure products , leading institutional security innovation , and inventing security solutions for key future technology disruptions such as 3D printing , the digitization of manufacturing , and the emerging cyber-physical world around us .
The evolving threat landscape
The landscape of cybersecurity threats is shifting rapidly , with accelerated innovation increasing both the supply and demand for cyberattacks .
• As our societal and economic dependency on technology increases , so does the motivation for malicious groups to use cyberattacks for economic gain , activism , espionage , and propaganda . These groups are increasingly professional , more aggressively funded , and better-equipped .
• The number and types of devices used by people or deployed to instrument the
10 Innovation Journal · Issue 5 · Winter 2016 physical world is growing rapidly , often without applying well-established IT security best practices . This results in many new products reaching the market with gaping vulnerabilities . Unfortunately , a device with poor security design or poor management can open a whole network up to attack . As a result , malicious actors have a larger attack surface than ever before .
This changing threat landscape means that HP can never afford to stand still . We must continue leading research and innovation in security for current and future products and solutions .
Endpoint devices — at the heart of a growing cybersecurity challenge
HP ’ s product portfolio is very much focused on ‘ edge ’ devices and corresponding device ecosystem solutions ( such as workplace PCs or print fleet management ) that define a boundary between our physical and digital worlds . Existing technologies such as PCs and scanner-printer-copiers sit between people and cyberspace , but so do 3D printers , immersive devices , and sensors and actuators that provide novel on-ramps and off-ramps between those domains .
At HP , we have long considered endpoint edge devices the frontline of the cybersecurity battle ground . As ever more devices collect data from , and work to change or configure , the physical world , the security of endpoints , and their ecosystems will only become more critical to any organization ’ s cybersecurity , whether in the context of logistics , healthcare , transportation , manufacturing or other industries .
“ Printers are sophisticated embedded edge computing devices that receive and reproduce sensitive information and must be trusted with these functions . Many printers these days are outfitted with smart capabilities that communicate with cloud infrastructure . We must therefore ensure that they are not abused by attackers to gain access to customer networks and digital assets . This is why we are continually focused on improving the security of our printers and print infrastructures .”
— Glen Hopkins , Chief Technologist for
Print , HP
A research agenda to secure tomorrow ’ s endpoint ecosystems
HP ’ s Security Lab pursues original systems security research to ensure that we deliver safe and assured products , services and experiences , and lead the industry in raising the bar in cybersecurity . Our solutions will help secure key future technologies such as the 3D ecosystems that promise to revolutionize manufacturing . To that end , we focus on three core research themes : device security research ; infrastructure security research for endpoint ecosystems ; and security management research , focused on attack detection and manageable remediation across endpoint ecosystems .
Security innovation is a team sport
But cybersecurity can only be addressed comprehensively by working in partnership with others . Security architectures and innovation must come at an affordable cost and match user needs . This makes our customers