[3827] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
FW: Intel's Security Plans Worry PC Builders
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (salzr@certco.com)
Mon Dec 21 11:51:40 1998
From: salzr@certco.com
To: <cryptography@c2.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 11:16:49 -0500
> http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19981214S0008
>
> Intel's Security Plans Worry PC Builders
>
> (12/14/98, 3:49 p.m. ET)
> By Rick Boyd-Merritt and Mark Carroll, EE Times
>
> Intel will add new security and software functions to future
> chip sets in
> a move that will boost the profile of its upcoming Katmai
> processors as
> key silicon for multimedia and e-commerce. But the plan is raising
> concerns among software, semiconductor and systems companies
> that fear the
> processor giant could wind up encroaching on their markets,
> extending its
> own reach deeper into the PC architecture.
...
> Intel would not comment on its unannounced products. However, the key
> features of the chip are beginning to come to light based on
> reports from
> multiple sources. The firmware hub is "basically a flash chip
> with locks
> on its read and write capabilities that can be opened using a
> cryptographic protocol," said another source briefed by Intel.
>
> Hardware security functions include a cryptographic engine to
> authenticate
> digital certificates Intel or a third party could load in.
> The chip could
> hold multiple certificates, each with permission to grant specific
> features, such as to permit an operating system or an MPEG
> player to run.
> They would also ensure a software program licensed to one user was not
> copied and run on another machine, a common practice. In addition, the
> certificates will act like unique serial numbers, identifying a given
> machine in any Internet or corporate network transaction,
> sources said.
