Microsoft Pluton will build Xbox security into AMD, Intel, Qualcomm CPUs

Pluton, a technology Microsoft and AMD co-developed to prevent the Xbox from being hacked, will be added to Windows PCs via the CPUs themselves. 

According to Microsoft, Pluton helps greatly eliminate the chance that the PC’s Trusted Platform Module (TPM) will be compromised. The TPM creates a root of trust, governing a number of critical functions within the PC: guaranteeing that it will securely boot with the trusted combination of hardware and software, for example, and securely update to trusted firmware. Windows’ BitLocker disk encryption system uses the TPM, as do other Windows components.

Traditionally, the TPM has existed outside of the processor, connecting to it via an external bus. Now it will be integrated within AMD, Intel, and Snapdragon CPUs itself—though when, and in which processors, remains very murky for now. What this means, however, is that there will be a third-party logic block built into an Intel Core or AMD Ryzen system-on-chip, which will create its own secured channel to Microsoft’s Azure service to manage trusted updates. Microsoft is also seizing the opportunity to manage your PC’s firmware updates, which sounds like it could mean that the firmware your motherboard and PC supplier provides could be replaced with Windows Update.

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