Intel and AMD CPUs to embed new Microsoft Pluton security technology

Microsoft developed Pluton, a new security technology intended to be embedded on CPUs. The software giant claims Pluton will make it harder to hack computers. Compared with software-based protection, this new hardware-based layer will require physical access to the machine to hack in.

The technology is similar to what Microsoft uses on the Xbox to protect the platform against piracy. Intel and AMD have announced that future processors will support Pluton, but these are still a couple of years away;

“You’re now talking about maybe a few people in the world that have the tools and expertise” to hack a system using the new Microsoft technology, said David Weston, a partner director working on enterprise and operating system security at Microsoft.

Even when chips are currently used to protect passwords and other essential information, they are often separate from a PC’s central processor unit, or CPU. The link between those two chips has been identified by hackers as a potential vulnerability. By building the security circuitry into the CPU itself, that connection isn't needed, meaning there's one less area open to illicit access.

Via: Bloomberg