Hitachi puts firewalls on its laptops

Japanese electronics firm Hitachi launched a range of security optimised notebooks Monday, providing a personal firewall and other data protection technologies for workers on the move.

Hitachi says that nothing less than a firewall will protect modern mobile workers and sensitive company data from malicious computer hackers. The HN83000, HN7300, and HN7200 notebook feature security solutions developed by Hitachi Software Engineering, including a pre-configured firewall, a secure network solution and email scanning.

Hitachi predicts that firewall protection will become standard on future laptops. "Just as modems have advanced from being optional accessories into a necessary component of every notebook, so will firewalls and intruder detection utilities," says Farid Khan, sales and marketing manager with Hitachi Software Engineering in a release.

Computer hackers may not be the greatest threat to mobile workers, however. A number of laptops have been stolen from government officials carrying sensitive data, although some security experts suggest that most laptop thieves are more interested about making a quick buck than capturing delicate data.

The laptops will come with between 500Mhz and 750MHz Pentium III processing power and Intel's SpeedStep technology. The machines will cost between £1,140 and £1,881.

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