Microsoft Pluton Processor – A security chip designed for the Future

Microsoft just shed some light on its latest project in terms of security which it has been working on for quite some time now. Dubbed the Microsoft Pluton Processor – it is a next-generation processor that is directly built into the future CPUs.

Why are the next-generation consoles so difficult to pirate these days? Well, that is partly because of the new technology that Microsoft, at least, has been using to secure them. The previous CPUs had a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that was used to secure the hardware and cryptographic keys being used.

However, some hackers had successfully exploited the TPM to access the data while it was being transferred from the CPU to the TPM posing serious security concerns. Coming back to the Xbox One, it already has this technology making it more robust to be able to run pirated games. Microsoft is now aiming to introduce this on normal Windows PCs.

Microsoft is working with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm to combine them into future CPUs. David Weston, Director of Enterprise and OS security at Microsoft, says, “We shipped the Xbox which has this physical attack protection, so people can’t just hack it for games, etc. We learned principles of effective engineering strategies from that, and so we’re taking those learnings and partnering with Intel to build something for the PC that will stand up to that emerging attack vector.”

The Pluton security processor complements the work Microsoft has done with the community like Project Cerberus by providing a secure identity for the CPU that can be attested by Cerberus, thus enhancing the security of the overall platform.

The Pluton processor does this by storing sensitive data like encryption keys securely within the Pluton processor, which is isolated from the rest of the system, helping to ensure that emerging attack techniques, like speculative execution, cannot access key material. Pluton also provides the unique Secure Hardware Cryptography Key (SHACK) technology that helps ensure keys are never exposed outside of the protected hardware, even to the Pluton firmware itself, providing an unprecedented level of security for Windows customers.

Image Source: Microsoft