Hewlett-Packard has launched new business desktops, including one with HP's first embedded security chip. The other is its first post-merger thin client.

The HP Compaq d530 desktop features the optional security chip, developed with German chipmaker Infineon Technologies, and follows specifications set out by security standards organization Trusted Computing Group.

IBM pioneered similar chip-based encryption-decryption hardware in its notebooks and desktops, starting in 1999.

The new security chip, dubbed the ProtectTools, helps process algorithms used in public key infrastructure (PKI) and other encryption modes, according to Infineon.

The chip works with built-in Windows security features, as well as third-party applications such as PKI suites and virtual private networks. It can be used, for example, with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes to help encrypt and decrypt e-mail.

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