Boost Security with Windows 11 and HP Core Ultra

Sixty percent of small organizations that fall victim to a data breach will go out of business within six months of the attack. These companies often lack the IT staff needed to continuously monitor their environments for anomalous behavior, or to effectively respond to incidents and mitigate damage.

Due to these staffing constraints, small and midsized organizations also tend to take a while to upgrade their IT environments. But with the end-of-support deadline for Windows 10 looming in October 2025, it’s time for these companies to start migrating to a newer generation of devices running Windows 11 Pro. The good news is that this refresh will result in a tangible return on investment for most businesses, and those that upgrade to modern Windows 11 Pro devices now will see the benefits right away.

When I say that companies will achieve a return on investment, I’m not speaking in hypotheticals. In a study last year, Forrester found that companies that made the move to Windows 11 Pro — specifically on modern hardware such as HP Core Ultra notebooks — realized financial benefits that resulted in a six-month payback window, with a 250% return on investment over three years.

Some of this is owed to increased productivity and employee satisfaction. But I would argue that security benefits alone make it worth migrating now instead of waiting. Companies that move to Windows 11 Pro on modern hardware see a 58% drop in cybersecurity incidents, a massive reduction in identity theft, and a huge decrease in firmware breaches.

These benefits are particularly important for small and midsized businesses, which often must rely on embedded security features (as opposed to complex and costly add-on solutions) to keep their environments safe. I’ve worked with business leaders who think their companies are under the radar of attackers due to their modest size. This mindset sometimes contributes to less active security postures, potentially making small and midsized organizations more attractive targets to cybercriminals than their better-protected counterparts in the enterprise space.

The combined feature set of Windows 11 Pro and modern devices such as HP Core Ultra notebooks make these impressive security benefits possible.

Windows 11 Pro offers safeguards that protect companies against phishing attacks, even when employees click on malicious links. The operating system can detect when a user is heading to a site that isn’t what it purports to be, and then isolate the web browser to prevent any viruses from making their way onto the end-user device or traveling throughout the corporate network. Windows 11 Pro also offers multifactor authentication with Hello, extending this security feature to even third-party app and site secure logins with biometric-enhanced passkeys, and a presence sensing feature can automatically lock devices when users step away (especially useful when employees are working in public settings such as coffee shops). Additionally, we require all hardware manufacturer partners to meet firmware security standards that ensure a hardened, secure BIOS.

HP’s Core Ultra notebooks come equipped with Wolf Security’s endpoint protection and resiliency platform. Wolf Security offers threat containment, a self-healing BIOS and a suite of unique security features that combine to make HP “the world’s most secure and manageable PC.” Together, Windows 11 Pro and modern hardware from HP offer enormous security upgrades over older operating systems and devices.

As the end-of-support deadline for Windows 10 approaches, organizations will need to transition to Windows 11 Pro unless they want to pay for costly extended support. By making the switch now, companies can reduce their risk and begin reaping the rewards of their investments immediately.