Dell Refreshes Commercial PC and Workstation Lineup with Extended Security Options

Dell has updated its broad portfolio of commercial PCs and workstations and is helping partners upsell the new systems with updated data classification and advanced encryption options.

The company will showcase its new lineup of Latitude laptops, OptiPlex desktops and all-in-one systems, and its Precision family of mobile and desktop workstations at Dell Technologies World, set to take place in Las Vegas next week. The new client devices, slated to start shipping in late May, include Dell’s highest performing systems to date, with Intel’s new 8th Generation Core Processor and for its workstations, the latest 6-core Xeon CPUs.

While all the new systems deliver more power, improved performance, more convenient form factors and sharper displays, the company is emphasizing the upgraded enterprise security options. Dell has upgraded its Data Guardian advanced security-management offering to enable integration with existing data-classification systems to ensure encryption policies are automatically enforced.

Data Guardian can determine if there’s personally identifiable information (PII) and enforce data-loss protection policies and encryption when files are shared internally and externally. It lets users set permissions based on the sensitivity of data and restrictions on how files can be shared and stored.

In addition to working with third-party data classification tools and supporting predefined permissions and policies, the management interface validates that files were encrypted, which is critical if a device is stolen or breached, said Brett Hansen, VP of Dell Data Security.

Brett Hansen

The other key improvement is the company’s Dell Data Encryption Enterprise, now available with file-based or full-disk encryption – or both – which experts say will be necessary in the next few years when quantum computing arrives and makes it possible to crack AES 256-bit encryption.

“We determine at the sector-based level whether it requires a hardware- or a software-based approach and then you encrypt it at the actual file level so that you can have a 256 on top of a 256; you have to break both simultaneously, which once again will take years even quantum computers,” Hansen said. The new Dell Encryption supports the National Security Agency’s Commercial Solutions for Classified Program (CSfC), which requires dual encryption.

Hansen said the Data Guardian and Dell Encryption options are additive to the advanced threat protection software the company offers. The Dell Endpoint Enterprise Suite also is an option for Latitude, OptiPlex and Precision systems that uses machine learning to protect against malicious threats in partnership with Cylance.

“We’re very committed to our partnership with Cylance,” Hansen said.

Among the new PCs and workstations Dell has introduced, scheduled to start shipping May 22, are:

Dell posted a link with specs for all of the forthcoming systems.