Windows 10 on ARM PCs are about to become more secure

Sophos and Qualcomm are working together to improve the security of 5G PCs.

What you need to know

• Sophos technology will be used to help protect 5G PCs powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.
• The protection will come through the Sophos Intercept X.
• Sophos expects Intercept X for Snapdragon PCs to arrive in the second half of 2021.

Sophos announced plans to bring its endpoint protection technology to 5G PCs powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon compute platforms. The technology, called Sophos Intercept X endpoint protection, will provide security for always on, always connected PCs.

The Sophos Intercept X uses deep learning AI and anti-ransomware capabilities to stop cybersecurity threats. Sophos expects its Intercept X to arrive on Snapdragon compute platforms in the second half of 2021.

"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," says Joey Levy, chief technology officer, Sophos. "Security loves predictability, and Sophos is excited to be a part of securing this next-generation computing platform."

Levy explains why PC's built on Snapdragon compute platforms can help them be more secure:

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.

The Sophos Intercept X will leverage Connected Standby to stay connected to a fleet of Snapdragon-powered PCs. This will help provide context and data for security investigations. It will also use AI acceleration through the Qualcomm AI Engine to optimize AI-dependant workloads to improve device efficiency.

Sophos did not specify which PCs will include the technology, so we'll have to wait to see which Windows 10 on ARM PCs utilize it.