Your final number of Impact for this task is halved, rounded up. This applies to secondary tasks as well. 

Clarifications:

• Protected takes effect after all additional Impact has been added together, immediately before resolving the base effect of the task.
• Protected only halves Impact. If you directly remove Secrets, obtain support markers, deal Damage, or place Hacking Cubes via an effect, Protected does not apply.
• If your final number of Impact is 1, you still apply the base effect of the task once (because of rounding up).