For most people, the so-called Intel evokes hardware. Intel has played a central role in the explosion and evolution of processor generation over the past 50 years and remains a dominant player in the hardware space. However, at Intel Vision in Dallas last week, the company shared a select edition of “Intel In,” which also includes the equation software.
In his keynote address on Day 2 of the event, Greg Lavender, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer; The general manager of Intel Software and Advanced Technology Group, began by expressing his appreciation for Michael Faraday’s contributions and described himself as “software, captured in the electromagnetic box of hardware. “
He spoke about virtual transformation and the benefits of new technologies, but added a caveat: “Every innovation brings new challenges. It is true that the perfect integration of the generation into our lives allows us to do more than ever. But at the same time, it creates an attack surface and attack vectors on a scale never seen before.
This laid the groundwork for discussing the importance of confidential computing and the projects Intel is undertaking to build and improve cybersecurity for all.
I spoke with Lavender at the Intel Vision event about its keynote presentation and Intel providing a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for developers to optimize application performance. Or, provide an “easy button,” as he explained.
Intel is in a position to perceive how the hardware works. They designed it. As such, Intel also knows in detail what hardware is capable of and how to optimize performance.
In contrast, Lavender noted that there are about 25 million software developers, with about a million added last year. Many are not deep and experienced programmers. The arrival of low-code and no-code progression teams has lowered the access bar. they need an app that works, is secure, and can scale, but they don’t necessarily have the wisdom or skills to know how to make this all happen.
Hence the “easy button”.
There may also be significant pricing related to poor performance. Cloud platforms and installations are billed based on resource consumption. Apps that use those resources inefficiently can generate an impactful bill at the end of the month.
Intel has acquired Aggregate, a company focused on optimizing cloud functionality. Aggregate automates the process of identifying problems and bottlenecks, as well as solves inefficiencies in functionality and reduces costs.
Intel provides a flexible initial profile and recommendations. However, for most companies, the software is frequently adjusted. DevOps practices and CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) teams have accelerated the progression cycle. For consistently optimal functionality, Intel offers functionality analysis as a service under a subscription license. through Intel Developer Cloud.
Another initiative shared through Intel with Intel Vision is “Project Amber. “
Trust makes the global pass, especially online. Our world is increasingly dependent on technology and revolves around it. Connecting to platforms and services, interacting with applications, and communicating between devices or people requires accepting as true with: accepting as true that the entity at the other end is valid and that all communications and knowledge between point A and point B will be safe and secure against interception or unauthorized access.
He’s how to get that trust.
Simply put, you will have to follow 3 steps for confidential computing. First, request an example from the cloud. Second, the example is built in a secure execution environment (TEE). Third, based on that attestation and trust, deploy sensitive workloads in the cloud.
It sounds simple, but there are demanding situations. I spoke with Nikhil Deshpande, Intel’s director of product development, about the demanding situations of relying on online interactions. He noted that, in many cases today, the cloud platform from which you request the Example attests to the reliability of your own TEE. This self-certification is a challenge for some clients, especially in strictly regulated sectors.
Another challenge organizations face is that many have hybrid environments that span multiple cloud platforms. They can get certified from a cloud platform, but it’s limited to that infrastructure. If you run workloads on 3 other cloud platforms, you end up with 3 other certifications and no uniform way to ensure they are accepted as true across the environment.
Finally, Deshpande said a third challenge is that some organizations seek to solve the first two demanding situations by building their own certification framework, but it is complex. It costs a lot to build and a system that works.
Intel hopes to address those demanding situations with “Project Amber. “The “Amber Project” shall be an independent authority trusted by third parties. an independent third party providing the certificate guarantee. “Project Amber” will do the same for trust.
Within a system, a TEE is usually based on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a physical or integrated generation that lives on the motherboard or processor. TPMs use cryptography to purchase critical and critical data securely and enable platform authentication. The main query I have about “Project Amber” is: “How do you get to that point of accepting as true with in the cloud?How do you know you can accept as true with the authority to accept as true with? »
Deshpande explained that one detail of “Project Amber” is a feature called Trusted Authority Integrity Verification. “We will have the verification capability so that end users can link up and see how ‘Project Amber’ has verified linked things. Our goal is to be very transparent, because security wants transparency, and we must be transparent with everyone. Therefore, there are features built into the service to give the user “Amber Project” the assurance that this is how this certificate has been protected.
The initiative is lately in its early stages. Deshpande explained that Intel plans to launch a pilot of “Project Amber” until the end of this year, in order to move to GA (general availability) until early 2023.
This is just the tip of the Intel Vision iceberg. Intel executives have shared more about the roadmap and. . . well, a vision of what lies ahead. However, these two facets stood out to me as examples of a company that is synonymous with PC hardware pursuing new horizons and exploring how software can make hardware bigger and more secure.