The IT Nerd

HP Inc. today released its latest Threat Insights Report, providing analysis of real-world cyberattacks, helping organizations keep up with the latest techniques cybercriminals are using to evade detection and breach PCs in the fast-changing cybercrime landscape. Based on millions of endpoints running HP Wolf Security*, notable campaigns identified by HP Wolf Security threat researchers include:

• Fake AI Trading Agents Lure Crypto Users into Malware Trap: Cybercriminals are capitalizing on interest in Agentic AI by advertising fake AI trading agents to trick users into infecting themselves with malware. Once downloaded, victims’ browsers are scanned for crypto wallet extensions like Coinbase and MetaMask, replacing them with malicious lookalikes that harvest any credentials entered.  Once harvested, attackers have easy access to steal crypto holdings.

• QR Phishing Remains a Common Credential Theft Route: Attackers are using QR codes to move victims from PCs to less-protected mobile devices. Victims receive PDFs with content supposedly “blurred for security”. They are then prompted to scan a QR code with their phone which redirects to phishing sites that may otherwise be blocked on their PCs, putting login credentials at risk.

• Phantom Stealer Ecosystem Expands: Researchers identified Phantom Gate, a new malware loader, that appears to extend the Phantom Stealer campaign. Combining Phantom Stealer malware, which is openly marketed as legitimate penetration-testing software, with the Phantom Gate loader mechanism, makes it easier for threat actors to build and scale attack campaigns.

By isolating threats that have evaded detection tools on PCs – but still allowing malware to detonate safely inside secure containers – HP Wolf Security has insight into the latest techniques used by cybercriminals. To date, HP Wolf Security customers have clicked on 60 billion email attachments, web pages and downloaded files with not reported breaches.

The report, which examines data from April-June 2026, details how cybercriminals continue to diversify attack methods to bypass security tools, revealing that:

• At least 10% of email threats identified by HP Sure Click bypassed one or more email gateway scanner.
• Executable files were the most popular malware delivery type (40%), followed by archive files (38%) and PDF documents (7.5%).

Please visit the HP Threat Research blog to view the report.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the main findings from HP’s latest Threat Insights Report?
   The report shows attackers exploiting interest in Agentic AI tools to lure victims, using QR codes to shift credential theft onto less-protected mobile devices, and continuing to invest in specialized malware capability modules like the Phantom Gate loader to expand existing malware campaigns.

• How are attackers using interest in Agentic AI?
  In this report, we find that attackers are advertising fake AI trading agents to cryptocurrency users. When installed, the malware scans browsers for crypto wallet extensions such as Coinbase and MetaMask, replaces them with malicious lookalikes, and harvests credentials entered by victims.

• Why does QR phishing remain a concern?
  QR phishing moves users from PCs to mobile devices that may have weaker protections. HP researchers observed malicious PDFs claiming content was “blurred for security” and prompting users to scan QR codes for authenticated access, redirecting them to phishing sites to steal login credentials.

• What does Phantom Gate reveal about the cybercrime ecosystem?

Phantom Gate is a new malware loader that shows how threat actors are investing in specialized modular components to make attack campaigns, like Phantom Stealer, easier to build and scale. Phantom Stealer is sold to attackers as “legitimate” penetration-testing software, showing how cybercrime-as-a-service blurs the line between legitimate tools and malware.

• What should organizations take from the report?

The report shows how Agentic AI momentum expands opportunities for attackers to trick users into downloading malicious software. We also see continued threat actor investment in developing tools to scale phishing and malware deployment. This tells us that organizations should assume malicious links, files and downloads may evade traditional detection. It highlights the importance of integrating isolation and containment into a zero-trust approach to prevent untrusted clicks and downloads from becoming endpoint compromises.

About the Data

This data was gathered from consenting HP Wolf Security customers from April-June 2026, with investigations conducted by the HP Threat Research Team.

About HP Wolf Security

Built on more than 25 years of security research and innovation from the HP Security Lab, HP Wolf Security provides comprehensive endpoint protection and resilience across the stack, starting at the hardware level and extending across software and services.

To date, HP Sure Start has protected more than 200 million endpoints against compromised firmware. HP Sure Click has isolated more than 60 billion^[2] risky user activities across documents and web pages, with zero reported breaches resulting from those isolated activities.

With the most secure hardware at its core, future-ready security for continuous up time, and visibility, control, and resilience at scale, HP Security is built for the future of work.

At InfoComm 2026, HP Inc. introduced AI-powered communication and collaboration solutions designed to transform how work gets done.
 
As organizations operate across increasingly distributed environments, HP is advancing its collaboration ecosystem — powered by the HP Workforce Experience Platform (WXP) — to deliver better experiences focused on connecting people, workspaces, and solutions.

Unified Insights and IT Management

HP is giving IT teams unified visibility and control across collaboration spaces, compute, and print solutions through a single pane of glass with the integration of HP Poly Lens and WXP Collaboration (formerly Vyopta) into the HP Workforce Experience Platform (WXP). This expanded offering provides greater visibility across workspaces through an interactive digital replica of the environment called HP Poly Lens Room VisualizerAI.

With these expanded collaboration focused experience analytics and room management capabilities, WXP is transforming isolated data points into actionable insights that empower IT to improve performance, optimize spaces, and enhance employee productivity.

Future-Proof Video Collaboration and Multi-Camera Experiences

HP is future-proofing meeting rooms of all sizes with its next-gen Windows based collaboration engine, HP Poly Studio Room Compute, for Microsoft Teams Rooms and for Zoom Rooms. As the first collaboration compute solution powered by the latest third generation Intel® Core™ Ultra processors with integrated NPUs, this solution is built to support emerging AI-assisted collaboration experiences while enabling long lifecycle support and streamlined room deployments.

The HP Poly Studio 5 and 7 Room Compute will be certified for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms. These solutions are designed to simplify setup with color-coded ports, dedicated PoE port for the Poly TC10 touch controller, automatic pairing, quick magnetic mounting and can be easily managed with Poly Lens as part of the HP Workforce Experience Platform. The Poly Studio Room Compute devices are made up of at least 60% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics.
 
HP Poly VideoOS 5.1 delivers an elevated hybrid meeting experience while simplifying management for HP Poly’s next-gen video conferencing solutions. Designed to make hybrid collaboration feel more natural and engaging, Poly DirectorAI multi-camera technology intelligently switches between cameras to capture the best view of in-room participants. By capturing the right perspective, remote attendees feel more connected to those in the room, resulting in conversations that flow more freely across distributed teams.
 
HP Poly VideoOS 5.1 also delivers simplified setup and connectivity for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android with HP Touch Controller Direct Connect, reducing complexity and helping organizations keep rooms up and running. Plus, a redesigned WebUI offers a modern, unified admin experience, making it easier to monitor and manage devices.

Immersive Audio and Productivity Tools for Hybrid Work

HP’s latest product innovations are purpose-built across the ecosystem, designed to work seamlessly together and deliver a consistent experience across every touchpoint. The new HP Poly Focus 6 Series Bluetooth headsets provide an immersive audio experience powered by Acoustic Fence 2.0, hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC), and spatial audio to help users stay focused throughout the day, across work environments.

The HP Poly Focus 6 Series offers up to 25 hours of talk time with ANC on, and wireless charging capabilities. Plus, the HP Poly Focus 6 Series is available in a sleek, foldable version for even greater flexibility and portability throughout your day. The HP Poly Focus 6 Series is certified for Google Meet, Google Voice, Microsoft Teams Open Office, and Zoom.  Bluetooth Direct certifications with Microsoft Teams and Zoom ensure full functionality without a dongle.
 
To extend product life, the HP Poly Focus Series offers replaceable batteries and ear cushions for improved shelf-life and sustainability. The HP Poly Focus 6 Series headsets are TCO 10 certified to meet a wide scope of sustainability criteria, covering both environmental and social responsibility in the supply chain and throughout the product life cycle. 
 
The HP Collaboration Keyboard, the world’s first programmable collaboration wireless keyboard with adjustable tilt, enhances productivity and control throughout the day. This device features dedicated keys for microphone mute, camera control, and screen sharing, plus customizable shortcuts and cross-platform compatibility provide greater flexibility. This keyboard is made with up to 75% post-consumer recycled plastic by total plastic weight.

Designed for the Future of Work

HP is empowering organizations by providing a seamless, unified collaboration experience across its ecosystem of personal devices, room solutions, productivity tools, and platforms — allowing people to connect and do their best work.

HP will be showcasing its comprehensive suite of collaboration solutions designed for the future of work at booth #C8137 and will host HP Dimension with Google Beam demos at booth #C8037.

Pricing and availability

• HP Poly Focus 6 Series Bluetooth headsets will be available in July, on HP.com starting at $379.95.
• HP Poly Studio Room Compute for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Zoom Rooms will be available in July through select resellers, starting at $2,499 for HP Poly Studio 5 Room Compute, and $3,699 for HP Poly Studio 7 Room Compute.
• Poly VideoOS 5.1 is expected to be available in Q3 2026.
• HP Collaboration Keyboard will be available in September 2026 for $59.99 on HP.com.
• HP Poly Lens integration into the HP Workforce Experience Platform (WXP) is now underway, with additional capabilities rolling out throughout 2026.

Canada’s first innovation hub dedicated to accessibility startups and technologies is launching its flagship location today in Toronto today. With the support of HP Inc., the Access to Success (ATS) Innovation Hub will bring together entrepreneurs, corporations, international networks and government agencies to accelerate connection and unlock new pathways for capital, procurement and technology adoption. 

Located on Toronto’s waterfront at 130 Queens Quay East, the ATS Innovation Hub offers a shared environment that fosters the exchange of ideas, partnerships and problem solving. The hub unites innovators developing solutions across disability sectors including mobility, sensory, cognitive, neurodiversity, and mental health; and thematic areas such as the Future of Work, Active Mobility, Aging in Place and more. With the backing of HP, participants have access to integrated workstations equipped with laptops, monitors, docking stations, printers, and essential workplace technology. This robust infrastructure helps reduce technology access barriers and enables users to focus on building and scaling impactful accessibility solutions. 

The hub will not only drive innovation but also support policy dialogue, promote accessibility technologies, build capital partnerships, and strengthen procurement pathways to speed up market entry in Canada and internationally. It shows how public-private collaborations can boost inclusive innovation and deliver expandable benefits for people with disabilities. 

Representing the first major initiative in an expanded partnership with HP, this launch supports HP’s global mission to accelerate the Future of Work for 150 million people by 2030. The effort began in 2024, when Access to Success was selected for the HP’s Accelerator. Following the success of that program, Access to Success and HP established a long-term strategic partnership focused on expanding accessibility training, advancing inclusive technology standards, and equipping people with disabilities with the skills needed to thrive in the Future of Work. 

For more information, visit accesstosuccess.ca 

Today, at HP Imagine 2026, the company launched HP TPM Guard – the first hardware solution to stop physical TPM bus attacks, delivering the world’s first business notebook to prevent physical-access attacks that defeat BitLocker drive encryption. HP also announced enhancements to its HP Wolf Security PC portfolio and brought quantum resistance to a broader range of HP printers.

Closing the BitLocker Security Gap with HP TPM Guard

PCs are at the center of modern, hybrid work, storing vast amounts of sensitive information – from confidential documents and credentials to customer and employee data. With the rise of AI applications processing voice, video and screenshots, the volume of sensitive data held on PCs is only increasing.

BitLocker has been widely used by enterprises to protect this data if PCs are lost or stolen, but vulnerabilities uncovered in recent years can enable an attacker with physical access to a device to bypass BitLocker and extract the data. Commonly referred to as “TPM bus attacks”, this technique relies on attackers intercepting communication between the certified Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and CPU, and can be performed in under a minute, using just $20 of hardware with minimal training. 

HP TPM Guard protects against this threat by introducing an encrypted link between the TPM and CPU, preventing interception and probing attacks. The TPM is cryptographically bound to the device, rendering it inoperable if removed or tampered with – closing this industry wide security gap, without adding complexity for IT teams.

HP TPM Guard is the latest in a long series of security innovations to come out of the HP Security Lab over the last 20 years. HP proactively identifies emerging threats, creates solutions for HP products, and then works with industry standards bodies to ultimately raise the bar for the whole IT ecosystem. With this in mind, HP has already submitted a proposal to the Trusted Computing Group to contribute TPM Guard technology as an industry standard.

To read about the engineering behind HP TPM Guard please visit this blog.

New HP Wolf Security Capabilities to Reduce Cost and Risk for Businesses

HP is also strengthening security across its commercial PC portfolio by announcing new HP Wolf Security capabilities. They are focused on increasing the synergy between Workforce Experience Platform (WXP), HP Wolf Security, and the enterprise architecture to reduce operational overhead and cyber-risk. These new capabilities include:

• Wolf Controller / WXP Integration to lower risk and operational friction
• Next Gen Wolf Connect cellular card to deliver better accuracy with less power consumption
• Broader Sure Recover platform support at lower cost
• Centralized security log collection on the Wolf Controller

Quantum Resistance – The Future of Print Security

Experts predict that the possibility of a quantum computer breaking existing asymmetric cryptography is up to 34% by 2034 driving the urgency for quantum-resistant protections. With printers increasingly targeted as an entry point into networks, HP is expanding quantum-resistant cryptography to a wider range of devices:

• New HP LaserJet Pro 4000/4100 Series: The world’s first SMB printers with quantum-resistant protection alongside tamper-resistant toner chips, firmware, and packaging. HP Workforce Experience Platform, and optional HP Security Manager, also enable streamlined security compliance and fleet-wide device management under one umbrella.
• New HP LaserJet Enterprise 5000/6000 Series: The world’s first enterprise printers shipped from the factory with protection against quantum computer-based attacks^[iv],reducing the risk of exposure. The series is also powered by HP Wolf Enterprise to detect, isolate, and automatically recover from cyberattacks and features the only printers with zero-day threat detection and recovery during memory code execution.

The HP LaserJet Enterprise 5000/6000 Series will also feature Automated Guided Redaction, which detects and removes sensitive information, such as personal data or financial details, helping organizations support compliance requirements without adding extra review steps for IT.

More information on today’s news at HP Imagine can be found here

As CES 2026 concludes in Las Vegas today, here’s a recap HP’s presence at the show along with a few highlights. From AI-powered PCs to gaming and everyday computing, HP announced a range of updates focused on how AI is showing up more meaningfully across work and life. 

• Shaping the future of work: HP introduced a new generation of AI-powered PCs and devices, including the industry’s first AI PC built directly into a keyboard, alongside refreshed EliteBook and OmniBook portfolios designed for hybrid, AI-intensive workflows. 
• Reimagining the desk: HP unveiled new desk-centric products at CES, including the EliteBoard G1a Next-Gen AI PC, the world’s first full PC built into a keyboard, and the HP Series 7 Pro 4K Monitor with Neo:LED display technology, designed to support more flexible and visually immersive work setups. 
• Driving intelligent work forward: From Microsoft Copilot integration at the printer to enhanced IT management and recovery tools, HP expanded its AI ecosystem to help simplify workflows and improve the employee experience.  
• The future of play: HP unified OMEN and HyperX under a single gaming vision, introducing new hardware and experiences built to deliver uncompromised performance for gamers and creators. 
• Powering everyday life: HP announced updates across its consumer and creative portfolio, including new OmniBook notebooks, the OmniStudio X 27 All-in-One desktop, refreshed Chromebook models, and expanded software experiences, reinforcing its focus on AI-enabled devices designed to support how people live, work and create every day. 

HP today issued its latest Threat Insights Report, revealing how attackers are refining campaigns with professional-looking animations and purchasable malware services. HP Threat Researchers warn that these campaigns mix convincing visuals, well known hosting platforms like Discord, and regularly updated malware kits to evade detection by users and detection tools. The report provides an analysis of real-world cyberattacks, helping organizations keep up with the latest techniques cybercriminals use to evade detection and breach PCs in the fast-changing cybercrime landscape. Based on the millions of endpoints running HP Wolf Security, notable campaigns identified by the HP Threat Research Team include:

• DLL sideloading slips past endpoint security scanners: Attackers impersonating the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office emailed fake legal warnings to targets. The lure directs users to a fake government website, which displays a slick auto-scroll animation guiding targets to a “one-time password”, tricking them into opening the malicious password-protected archive file.
  • The file – once opened – launches a folder that includes a hidden, maliciously modified dynamic link library (DLL). This installs PureRAT malware in the background, giving attackers full control of a victim’s device. The samples were highly evasive. On average, only 4 per cent of related samples were detected by anti-virus tools.
• Fake Adobe update installs remote access tool: A fake Adobe-branded PDF redirects users to a fraudulent site that pretends to update their PDF reader software. A staged animation shows a spoofed installation bar that mimics Adobe. This tricks users into downloading a modified ScreenConnect executable – a legitimate remote access tool – which connects back to attacker-controlled servers, so they can hijack the compromised device.
• Discord malware dodges Windows 11 defences: Threat actors hosted their payload on Discord to avoid building their own infrastructure and piggybacked off the positive domain reputation of Discord. Before deployment, the malware patches Windows 11’s Memory Integrity protection to bypass this security feature. The infection chain then delivers Phantom Stealer, a subscription-based infostealer sold on the hacking marketplaces with ready-made credential and financial theft features that update frequently to evade modern security tools.

Alongside the report, the HP Threat Research Team has published a blog analyzing the threat of session cookie hijacking attacks, the use of stolen credentials in intrusions and the proliferation of infostealer malware. Rather than stealing passwords or bypassing multi-factor authentication (MFA), attackers are hijacking the cookies that prove a user is already logged in, giving them instant access to sensitive systems. HP analysis of publicly reported attack data found that over half (57%) of the top malware families in Q3 2025 were information stealers, a type of malware that typically has cookie theft capabilities.By isolating threats that have evaded detection tools on PCs – but still allowing malware to detonate safely inside secure containers – HP Wolf Security has insight into the latest techniques used by cybercriminals. To date, HP Wolf Security customers have clicked on over 55 billion email attachments, web pages, and downloaded files with no reported breaches.The report, which examines data from July – September 2025, details how cybercriminals continue to diversify attack methods to bypass security tools that rely on detection, such as:

• At least 11% of email threats identified by HP Sure Click bypassed one or more email gateway scanners.
• Archive files were the most popular delivery type (45%), seeing a 5% point rise over Q2, with attackers increasingly using malicious .tar and .z archive files to target users.
• In Q3, 11% of threats stopped by HP Wolf Security were PDF files, growing 3% points over the previous quarter.

Please visit the Threat Research blog to view the report.

Attackers will accelerate their investments in cookie theft

Ian Pratt, HP Global Head of Personal Systems Security

Generalized MFA deployment will accelerate threat actors’ switch to stealing cookies and tokens instead of passwords. This means threat actors will need to act swiftly from time of theft, utilizing the stolen cookie before it expires to insert backdoors that then grant them persistent access. Online marketplaces will expand to enable this with rapid trading and exploitation.

Defenses against cookie and token theft are not mature and are inconvenient for users. This means that we will see attacks involving such theft becoming increasingly commonplace. This is particularly serious for privileged users such as sysadmins, who frequently use web browsers to access high value administrative web sites, such as EntraID, InTune, or AWS web portals, where cookie theft creates an easy path to a catastrophic enterprise breach.

Issuing sysadmins with a second PC, a Privileged Access Workstation (PAW), is today’s recommended best practice, but is far from universally implemented, and there are plenty of examples where PAWs themselves have become compromised.

For critical applications, enterprises are going to need to look toward additional layers of defense, such as strong isolation and application security posture attestation.

Cybercriminal Groups Will Rely on AI Agents to Automate Reconnaissance and Target
Organizations

Alex Holland, Principal Threat Researcher in the HP Security Lab

“In 2026, we expect to see organized crime groups automate workflows and outsource more tasks using AI agents in their attacks, especially preparatory tasks like researching victims to target. Beyond this, rapid improvements in large language models and agentic AI systems are expanding their role in the attack lifecycle. Threat actors will no longer limit their AI use to basic automation or phishing content creation. They will also start using AI to assist with complex tasks like vulnerability discovery.

“AI assistance will help threat actors to scale their operations, making campaigns more efficient by reducing the resources and skills attackers need to breach targets.

“Against a barrage of AI-assisted attacks, even the best detection tools will miss some threats. Instead, organizations need to ensure threats can be contained, isolated and remediated, safeguarding their fleets, maximizing uptime and ultimately securing the future of work.”

Physical Attacks on Devices Will Become Cheaper and Easier for Cybercriminals

Boris Balacheff, Chief Technologist for Security Research and Head of the HP Security Lab

“Hybrid work is accelerating the commoditization of attacks enabled by physical access to devices. This is because devices are more exposed as employees are more mobile and distributed, and the tools needed for device tampering become increasingly accessible and affordable. Next year, IT leaders should anticipate this will continue, with easy-to-use exploitation kits and investment by threat actors into new physical attack techniques. In response, security auditors will increasingly focus on how organizations deploy best practices to protect data and device integrity across their fleets of devices.

“Employees today work in cafés, bars, hotels, and conference centers across the globe, using shared infrastructure and peripherals, and giving threat actors ample opportunity to tamper with a device when its owner steps away. With physical tampering, threat actors can seek to exfiltrate data, grasp control of compromised devices to gain broader access to enterprise networks, and even mount destructive attacks to brick devices that are not designed with self-healing built in from the ground up.

“To ensure the Future of Work is secure, organizations will need to prioritize hardware with security and resilience built in at every level. They will need to look for device security capabilities to help protect hardware and firmware integrity, as well as data security, from physical attacks, and learn to integrate hardware-level authentication and attestation into their zero-trust architecture strategies.”

Organizations will Finally Take Notice of IoT, Edge, and Print Security After a String of Attacks

Steve Inch, Global Senior Print Security Strategist at HP Inc.

“After a year of high-profile attacks against connected devices, organizations will finally prioritize security for devices at the network edge. For example, security vulnerabilities allowed for remote takeovers of printers, highlighting the risks of leaving printers unprotected.

“For too long, printers have been the lowest priority on every security team’s list. Many organizations lack basic visibility and control over print infrastructure. This creates security blind spots – from exploitation attempts to insider threats, outdated firmware, malicious updates and misconfigurations, such as open ports or unchanged default credentials.

“These security gaps give threat actors a potential launchpad to not only compromise a printer and the data it holds but also other devices on the network. In the year ahead, organizations and governments will demand that endpoint devices like printers come with continuous and active system monitoring throughout their lifecycle.

“To defend the Future of Work, organizations need to secure their complete device ecosystem, including their printers. They should prioritize the ability to automate print fleet security compliance and automatically assess fleet firmware vulnerability status, minimizing IT overhead in 2026.”

Quantum Resistance will Become a Vendor Requirement

Thalia Laing, Principal Cryptographer at HP Security Lab

“A year on from the introduction of new NIST standards for quantum-resistant asymmetric cryptography, public sector and critical infrastructure companies are going to accelerate planning and vendor engagements to chart a path towards migration. This process will reveal the scale of the challenge: with NIST intending to deprecate RSA-2048 by 2030 and all RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography by 2035, many vendors are likely to seize the opportunity to move directly from RSA 2048 to quantum resistant algorithms, particularly in critical industries and long-life systems, such as hardware.

With ongoing advances in quantum computing, the prospect of a quantum computer capable of breaking asymmetric cryptography within a decade is becoming increasingly plausible. The US government’s decision to set a quantum-resistance deadline of 2027 for new National Security System devices signals this urgency.

“To become quantum resilient, organizations must start by preparing their long-lived hardware, including their printers and PCs. With a typical commercial PC refresh averaging at just over 4 years and an even longer lifespan for office-class commercial printers – devices procured in 2026 have the potential to be in use within the timeframe of a cryptographically relevant quantum computer.

“From 2026 onwards, quantum resilience will increasingly influence hardware procurement decisions. This will increase pressure on device manufacturers to future-proof their devices by embedding quantum resistant cryptography into their products, while pushing for the protection of long-life data. By embedding quantum resilience now, organizations can maintain trust in the
technologies shaping the Future of Work.”

The Spotlight draws over Identity, Provenance, and Persistent Control

Peter Blanchard, Document Workflow Security Strategy Principal at HP Inc.

“In 2026, we’ll see efforts within enterprise security shift from fragmented identity frameworks and perimeter-based controls to a unified, data-centric model. Today’s zero-trust implementations often create complexity and fatigue, with identity scattered across users, apps, and devices. This fragmentation leads to blind spots, inconsistent enforcement, and poor user experience. The next phase will prioritize consolidation: centralized identity orchestration that simplifies access, strengthens governance, and reduces operational risk.

At the same time, we’ll see security move from focusing on point of entry, to managing the custody of data throughout its lifecycle. Organizations will need visibility into where data originates, how it is used, and who has access – even after it leaves their boundaries. Identity and policy will travel with the data, embedded through persistent controls, telemetry, and rich metadata. Dynamic permissions such as ‘can I share this?’ will evolve into continuous oversight, ensuring compliance online and offline.

Provenance and lifecycle control will become critical in the age of AI, where transparency and trust are non-negotiable. By embedding identity, custody, and governance controls into the core of digital ecosystems, organizations will achieve stronger, adaptive security that protects without adding friction, safeguarding the Future of Work.”

As AI adoption accelerates across Canadian workplaces, a new study from HP Canada reveals that most organizations are discovering that productivity isn’t just about the tools they have but about how effectively teams can use them.

The survey of 501 Canadian business leaders demonstrates strong enthusiasm for AI, but inconsistent integration, uneven training, and a lack of role-specific applications are creating friction in day-to-day workflows.

• 92% of leaders using AI say it saves time, but many admit that time often goes underleveraged. Without clear guidance on how to apply AI-supported efficiencies, teams default back to routine work instead of higher-value tasks like problem solving, strategy, or innovation.
• 89% of leaders say their company provides the tools employees need to be productive, over half (54%) remain uncertain about its impact
• 72% believe productivity would rise with more role-relevant AI tools
• 55% say their company is behind when it comes to adopting modern technology and innovation
• 49% say “productivity” has become more of a buzzword than a real outcome

You can read more here: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/beyond-the-buzzword-hp-uncovers-what-really-drives-productivity-in-canadian-businesses-836159531.html

HP Wolf Security just released its September Threat Insights Report highlightinig how attackers are modifying and improving old techniques to bypass detection and fool users.

By chaining living-off-the-land (LOTL) tools, using advanced visual deception to boost phishing success, and hiding malware in less obvious file types, like images, attackers are sharpening their edge.

Notable campaigns highlighted in the report include:

• Fake Adobe Reader invoices – ultra-realistic upload screens (see image below) – including a fake loading bar – used to hide a reverse shell inside a small SVG image, giving attackers remote access to user devices.
• Malware Hidden in Image Pixels – malicious code embedded in pixel data of Microsoft Compiled HTML Help files, with PowerShell and CMD used to execute and then delete evidence.
• Resurgent Lumma Stealer – spreading through IMG archive attachments, using LOTL and image-based delivery to bypass filters despite a law-enforcement crackdown earlier this year.

The report is here and there is a blog post as well for your reading pleasure.

As hybrid work becomes the norm in Canada, a growing tech disconnect is fueling employee frustration and burnout. With an explosion of new devices and digital tools, two-thirds of employees report they regularly struggle with workplace tech yet only half feel adequately supported by their IT teams.

This gap is taking a toll on productivity and morale, not just for frontline staff but also for the IT professionals tasked with holding it all together. As Canadian businesses push to modernize, the message is clear: improving the digital employee experience is no longer optional.

HP’s Workforce Experience Platform (WXP) is more than just IT support, it’s a strategic solution that streamlines workflows, resolves issues before they surface, and helps teams thrive in a complex, always-on world.

Some key ways WXP helps IT and security teams reshape the modern workplace:

• AI Sentiment Analysis: WXP now includes AI capabilities to assess and improve employee experience by analyzing sentiment data, allowing IT teams to identify and address issues before they impact productivity.
• Smarter Insights, Less Guesswork: Integration with Vyopta allows businesses to monitor and optimize collaboration environments with integrated insights into video and telephone endpoints, enhancing user satisfaction and performance.
• Fleet Explorer: A new AI-powered tool that uses natural language processing to help IT managers quickly access fleet data. Instead of sifting through reports, they can ask questions like “Which devices had the highest memory over-utilization in the past 30 days?” and get instant insights—enabling faster issue resolution before employee performance is affected.

To learn more about the HP Workforce Experience Platform, visit here.