Brave VMs to destroy themselves, any malware they find on HP's new laptop

HP has announced plans to integrate Bromium's virtualization technology into a laptop as a defence against malware.

The soon-to-be-launched EliteBook x360 1030 G2 will feature virtualization-based security built in to the hardware in the form of a feature called Sure Click, which will go on general availability in Spring. The tech was launched at RSA Conference.

Sure Click means that each tab launched in either Chrome or Internet Explorer will launch as its own, fully contained micro-VM. If a malicious site is visited, all users have to do is close the tab, destroying the virtual machine and the malware along with it. The technology is designed to prevent the malware escaping a micro-VM.

The technology is built in, so there are no add-ons to install or added costs. HP Sure Click will début as a web download for the HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2 in Spring 2017 and will be available as a standard feature on Elite PC platforms launching in the second half of the year.

HP is the first PC/laptop maker to sign a deal agreeing to embed Bromium's virtualisation-based isolation technology directly in its hardware.

Bromium told The Register that "Sure Click only protects against malware from visiting a dodgy website or clicking on a suspect link in an email. The technology is essentially a stripped down version of the full Bromium secure platform, which also protects against malicious documents (i.e. a dodgy Word doc / PDF on a USB stick/attached to an email) along with a host of other threats. The full fat technology also bundles sensor, monitoring and ‘virtual honey-traps’ absent from what HP will be offering." ®