What You Need to Know When Implementing Confidential Computing
Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2025 10:56 am
The confidential computing market is expected to change significantly as it evolves over the next few years. Initially, each implementation will likely require its own chip-level hardware and software to manage it. There is every reason to believe that growing consumer demand will force chip makers to standardize their chips so that end users have a single method for protecting the data they process. It will also push the software industry to innovate faster to improve the manageability and interoperability of confidential computing with other security management systems.
Because confidential computing has yet to enter the market, security professionals should consider how to deploy TEEs for mission-critical enterprise applications, recognizing that these will vary depending on the hardware required to implement a given solution. For example, if a TEE is running in a data center, the environment controls should be philippines mobile database by the hardware vendor that partners with the enterprise. Hardware-assisted methods called secure enclaves are used to run this type of TEE, providing enhanced security assurances for code execution and data protection. Examples of hardware enclaves include Trusted Platform Modules (TPM), Intel Secure Guard Extensions (SGX), ARM Trustzone, and AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV). However, enterprises that use cloud services typically use TEEs that are provided as a service by the vendor, such as Azure Confidential Computing powered by Intel SGX and Google Cloud Confidential Computing.
While hardware security modules (HSMs) can take advantage of confidential computing, they are still a separate piece of complex and expensive hardware that must be managed. Software key managers, on the other hand, can run on any hardware offered within an existing TEE, allowing them to take advantage of confidential computing that is as secure as hardware-based solutions but at a lower cost.
Because confidential computing has yet to enter the market, security professionals should consider how to deploy TEEs for mission-critical enterprise applications, recognizing that these will vary depending on the hardware required to implement a given solution. For example, if a TEE is running in a data center, the environment controls should be philippines mobile database by the hardware vendor that partners with the enterprise. Hardware-assisted methods called secure enclaves are used to run this type of TEE, providing enhanced security assurances for code execution and data protection. Examples of hardware enclaves include Trusted Platform Modules (TPM), Intel Secure Guard Extensions (SGX), ARM Trustzone, and AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV). However, enterprises that use cloud services typically use TEEs that are provided as a service by the vendor, such as Azure Confidential Computing powered by Intel SGX and Google Cloud Confidential Computing.
While hardware security modules (HSMs) can take advantage of confidential computing, they are still a separate piece of complex and expensive hardware that must be managed. Software key managers, on the other hand, can run on any hardware offered within an existing TEE, allowing them to take advantage of confidential computing that is as secure as hardware-based solutions but at a lower cost.