Musa Masungwini, senior system engineer for data protection solutions at Dell Technologies South Africa.
Research shows a growing trend of attacks on PCs, and according to a CrowdStrike report, file-less malware that frequently targets memory on the PC comprises 75% of attacks.
So claims Musa Masungwini, senior system engineer for data protection solutions at Dell Technologies South Africa, who adds that the payoff for a single successful breach can be enormous for threat actors.
In addition to the security concern, the situation is exacerbated by the fact that support for Windows 10 will end in 2025.
“According to Microsoft, 400 million PCs risk losing updates,” says Masungwini.
“AI has arrived on devices, expanding innovation as well as the attack surface. With hundreds of models and AI features now in the mix, sensitive data is now at risk of exposure to applications like GenAI. Given the challenges, it begs the question: what does effective endpoint security look like today, and how can you build a hardware-optimised approach to improve overall security strategy?”
No organisation can block every cyber attack, Masungwini adds. “Instead, blend a proactive defence strategy with the ability to adapt quickly when a breach occurs. To do this, you must hurdle over one major risk: the unknown. Unknown vulnerabilities, unknown access, unknown intruders. Truly secure technology today must be built to catch and address anomalous activity when it happens, wherever it happens – down to the BIOS and silicon levels.”
Dell Technologies South Africa believes commercial AI PCs can mitigate risk and protect against cyber attacks.
Masungwini explains that these devices are built with advanced security features that assume attacks are inevitable and layer defences accordingly. These features include device-level ‘below-the-OS’ security, security software ecosystem integrations and manageability.
“Rigorous controls and assurance protects organisations from the growing risk of supply chain attacks. BIOS tamper detections alert on suspicious activities – helping ensure foundational, device-level security while in use,” says Masungwini.
“To bolster this at the silicon level, Dell activates additional Intel hardware root of trust, memory encryption and virtualisation-based security configurations used by Windows 11.”
Dell advocates hardware-assisted security, where below-the-OS insights from Dell and Intel enrich threat hunting in platforms without the complex, resource-intensive integration work falling on IT and SecOps.
“The cost of IT and security is rising rapidly. Work with partners to improve long-term cyber resilience and get more value from your technology investments as you refresh. Upgrade to PCs that are future-proofed for the AI revolution – PCs that are already re-architecting endpoint security as we know it.”
