Sophos Group plc today announced a partnership with Qualcomm Inc. to provide its Intercept X endpoint protection to 5G personal computers powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon compute platforms.

Qualcomm’s main 8cv compute platform, unveiled in December 2018, offers a seven-nanometer central processing unit designed for Windows 10 PCs. The platform enables 5G connectivity built on smartphone technology to deliver premium performance and efficiency to 4G and 5G cellular-connected thin and light fanless laptops.

With Sophos Intercept X endpoint protection, users of the Snapdragon compute platform will have access to next-generation security. Intercept X is designed to protect advanced computing systems and endpoints, stopping cybersecurity threats through deep learning artificial intelligence and anti-ransomware capabilities.

Sophos Intercept X will also offer Snapdragon-powered PCs leverage connected standby for continuous communication with devices, allowing security investigators to have fewer unknowns so that data won’t be missed due to devices being offline; the use of AI acceleration through the Qualcomm AI Engine to compile increasingly AI-dependent software real-time on devices with optimizations to run faster and more power efficiently; and the ability to harness the hardware-level root of trust to ascertain device and cryptographic integrity in order to create strong identity bindings.

“An always-on, always connected, interactive computing environment that combines smartphone and PC technology delivers unique security capabilities and opportunities,” Joe Levy, chief technology officer at Sophos explained. “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.”

He added that Snapdragon compute platforms mark a “major step forward” because they provide the utility and performance of a PC, but with many of the benefits associated with modern mobile computing devices. “Security loves predictability,” Levy said.

Sophos expects Intercept X for Snapdragon compute platforms to be available in the second half of 2021.

Image: Qualcomm