HP recently put out a press release to announce the launch of their Spectre 13 device for the year 2019, and that did bring some excitement to the market.
To be honest, this is an expected move from the company since they are known to launch refreshers of already existent units. What they did to spice it up for everyone who could be aiming to get this unit, though, is beef up the security profile of the device itself.
Why HP is focused on user privacy and security
The stats on cybersecurity are there, and we don’t like what we are seeing. Hackers have started to gain the upper hand on users for a while now, and they are going very strong. If we didn’t know any better, we would say there was simply no way to stop the riot run that these people are on.
When hackers are not at the other end of things, companies and even the government have been caught in the act too. This pits the average consumer who does not even know their data is being siphoned against the world, so to speak.
Given, not everyone is tech-savvy. While Microsoft will try its best and patch vulnerabilities in the system, the software alone cannot account for all the protection that the average user needs today.
HP sees all of that, and they came up with one of the best solutions they have developed in a while – the laptop that cares.
What makes the HP Spectre x360 13 special?
So, how does the HP Spectre x360 13 address common issues at all? Some of the things we personally love are:
1. LastPass Integration
Password habits are something users need to focus a lot on these days.
It is shocking to see that there are more and more poor passwords being created on a daily basis, even though the awareness seems to be going strong against such. The introduction of biometrics is not doing the market a lot of good either. After all, over-reliance on these forms of account access is making users create lax passwords instead.
All that, and we have not talked about the dangers of using the same password for multiple accounts.
LastPass addresses all of these issues in one fell swoop. Starting with the in-built password generator, users can now create very strong passwords for their accounts. While that is great, LastPass also understands that users won’t be able to remember one, let alone multiple, of these passwords.
Thus, it brings a state-of-the-art password management feature on board too.
On top of that, the service provides a simple way to login to all of your accounts from right within the app. That is perhaps not as impressive as the unique model of credit card and payment method protection which this software enables users.
2. ExpressVPN Installation
On the HP Spectre x360 13, HP teamed up with ExpressVPN to bring its users the first and foremost consumer-grade VPN solution in the market.
For those who are familiar with VPNs from before, they will know this is an app that allows the changing of the virtual location at will. What you might not know is that it does a lot for your privacy and security too.
On the one hand, connecting to public Wi-Fi networks have been shown to be one of the most dangerous acts a user can involve themselves in. Yet, many people do so with reckless abandon.
Layering such connections over a VPN, you eliminate the threats of man-in-the-middle attacks, get the upper hand over data snooping and monitoring, and much more.
3. Webcam Kill Switch
You have probably heard about the possibility of having your webcam hacked to spy on you.
This is not just a conspiracy theory. In fact, many internet users claim to have found videos and images of themselves on the deep web – and they never made such footages or took the images.
This is so big an issue, even Edward Snowden – a former NSA contractor turned whistle-blower – admits that the government can spy on you with your own webcam.
Well, HP brought the physical kill switch on for that purpose.
Once engaged, the webcam is impossible to access, even by the user of the laptop. Toggling off the kill switch will be required to get it working again.
Conclusion
Again, the announcement and launch of this laptop are not as impressive as the security features which HP packs onto it. Besides the cutting-edge specs that ship with this flagship, they still find a place for consumer privacy and security. More than anything, that makes this laptop worth considering for us.
Hello, Wishlist; meet the HP Spectre x360 13!
