Intel to put security on a chip

In his keynote address at the Fall 2002 Intel Developer Forum, Otellini said that beginning in 2003, Intel processors would feature new technology that would better safeguard data from hackers and viruses.

Code-named LaGrande Technology (LT), the initiative involves integrating security features into processors and chipsets to provide a more secure computing environment.

"LaGrande delivers a hardware-based foundation for security," Otellini stated in his keynote address. "It includes protected execution, protected memory, and protected storage."

Otellini said Intel is working with the industry to ensure that applications and operating systems can take advantage of the security features and to determine how best to secure data. He said that technologies such as Microsoft's Palladium initiative could take advantage of LT to provide more stable and secure computing platforms.

LT will protect data in a kind of vault as soon as it enters a PC, preventing it from being accessed by hackers. LT also establishes secure pathways to safeguard data as it enters, moves through, and is stored on a system.

Intel says part of the impetus behind LT is providing a more secure environment for e-commerce. LT would ensure that all business transactions conducted on a PC are secure because it protects the data as it is being entered and stored. Hackers would not be able to use programs to spy on keystrokes to find passwords, for example, or intercept other transmissions as they were displayed onscreen.

It's an ambitious initiative and one that takes an important step forward in improving computer security.

Network impact
If Intel achieves the objective of further safeguarding data on PCs, it could also have an impact on network security, since the endpoints on a network are most vulnerable. The secure vault concept of protecting data as it's processed could mitigate the risks introduced by user behavior.

Visiting suspect Web sites, for example, would no longer pose the same risk because data stored and being processed on LT-equipped machines would be guarded against infection or hacker attacks. Hackers would have a much more difficult time stealing information because data moving between the computer and the keyboard, and between the computer and monitor, would also be protected.

Viruses would no longer pose the same kind of threat as they currently do. Though enterprises likely won't toss out their antivirus programs any time soon, Intel's LT could reduce the number of infections on computers and thus eliminate much of the hassle associated with isolating the damage and cleaning up afterward.

Intel's LT will certainly not make computers invulnerable, but it could make it easier to secure networks by reducing the danger from endpoint and end-user vulnerabilities. The true effect of this technology on network security remains to be seen, but if Intel achieves its goal and delivers on its promise, LT's impact, regardless of how big, could be a welcome development.

Will Intel's LaGrande technology improve network security? TalkBack below or e-mail us with your thoughts.