We’ve become heavily dependent on the Internet for most of our work. While the number of things you can do on the Internet has gone up exponentially, so have the security threats. Organizations need to protect their sensitive data from them, for which they need the services of security experts. Cybersecurity has therefore become a very lucrative profession and laptops for security experts, an absolute necessity. 

Whether you’re just getting into a career in cyber-security or are a seasoned practitioner, you must have the right laptop for the job. Regular laptops won’t suffice because security experts run multiple tools that can be very resource hungry. Moreover, they need to run them on multiple Operating Systems, be it different versions of Windows or Linux distributions. 

Essential Specs

If the laptop doesn’t have the right specs, it will come down to a crawl in no time. So, here’s some advice on what to look for in a laptop if you’re into cyber-security.

CPU and RAM: Let’s start with the bare minimum specs. Security experts should not go for anything less than an Intel Core i5 CPU, though an i7 would be good to have, and an i9 is recommended. When it comes to RAM, don’t go for anything below 16 GB so that you can easily run multiple security tools and switch between them smoothly. A good display is ideal for the security professional, preferably Full HD, to do the coding and to have clear visibility while running network monitoring tools.

OS: Operating systems are very important for a security expert and one should always go for Windows 10 Pro as it comes with better and more professional features along with a stronger firewall for keeping the data secure and avoid any kind of data breach and leak.

Network Connectivity: While many professionals would be happy to have only Wi-Fi connectivity on their laptops, the same is not the case with cybersecurity professionals. They should ideally go for a laptop that has an RJ45 port. Plus, they should go for a laptop that supports WiFi6 standard at least, so that they can plug in their laptop to wired as well as wireless networks for experiencing faster speeds and connectivity.

Battery Backup: Good battery backup is essential. If you need to connect your laptop at a network point that’s far away from an electrical outlet, which can happen often, your laptop’s battery should have enough juice to keep it running as you run your diagnostics tools. As these tools consume a lot of resources, they tend to drain out the battery quite rapidly. Programs like Heimdal for instance, need to download multiple resources and additional software along with domain access for running smoothly and this can really stretch the laptop. Nowadays, laptops can have batteries that last more than 12 hours. 

Storage: An SSD is a must for security professionals so that applications don’t take forever to load, especially when they’re scanning through huge volumes of data like virus signatures, or looking for suspicious code hidden in tons of files. HDDs would take forever to run those tools. 

Graphics: For graphics, prefer dedicated graphics over integrated ones. A minimum of 2 GB of graphics is important. This can come in handy for things like password cracking. Cyber SecurityCybersecurity professionals may have to perform this to gauge the password strength of various enterprise applications.

Virtualization: Another Key Requirement

Most cybersecurity professionals would like to run multiple operating systems because not all their favourite security tools would be available on a single OS. Plus, they may also need to run virtual machines to set up, say honeypots on networks to attract hackers. Virtualization is the best way to run multiple Operating Systems on the same system, but if a laptop’s specs aren’t powerful enough, it will just not work.

Some Laptops for Security Experts

There are multiple options that can fulfil these requirements. Take the HP ZBook Firefly 14 G7 Mobile Workstation for instance. It’s a powerful laptop with the latest Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD. There are multiple upgrades that can be done in the laptop and with the powerful Nvidia Quadro P520. It’s lightweight and only 12.73mm thin, which makes it highly portable. If you need even more computing power, then check out the Zbook series of laptops with Intel Xeon processors. 

So, there you have it. Ideal specification for laptops for security experts. If you go for a laptop with these specs, you’ll be able to focus on your work instead of worrying about the laptop falling out because of poor specs.

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