AMD annuncia una partnership tecnologica sulla sicurezza con ARM

TrustZone nelle future APU!

AMD annuncia che integrerà una nuova soluzione per la sicurezza all’interno dei suoi prodotti, per garantire ai clienti consumer e business un accesso sicuro ai propri dati e la possibilità di effettuare transazioni online in tutta sicurezza.

Grazie a una partnership tecnologica strategica con ARM, AMD integrerà quindi la tecnologia ARM^® TrustZone^® sulle future unità di elaborazione accelerata (Accelerated Processing Units, APU) attraverso una nuova metodologia progettuale system-on-a-chip (SoC).

Questa collaborazione favorirà dunque la creazione di un ampio ecosistema di supporto attraverso l’unione dell’hardware x86 con l’ambiente di sicurezza più diffuso in ambito mobile. Grazie all’adozione della tecnologia TrustZone, AMD e ARM saranno inoltre in grado di fornire un approccio coerente alla sicurezza di miliardi di dispositivi connessi a internet, come dispositivi mobili, tablet, PC e server – siano essi basati su processori ARM o su APU x86 di AMD. Il lancio delle prime APU che integreranno la tecnologia TrustZone è previsto per il 2013, con una progressiva estensione a tutta la gamma delle APU di AMD nel corso del 2014.

La tecnologia ARM TrustZone costituisce un elemento chiave dell’architettura ARM, integrato nella famiglia di processori ARM Cortex-A. Presentato nel 2004, TrustZone è il risultato di uno sviluppo congiunto portato avanti da ARM in modo costante insieme a un ampio numero di aziende, ed è stato nel corso degli anni implementato in diversi dispositivi.

Di seguito il comunicato ufficiale in dettaglio:

AMD Strengthens Security Solutions through

Technology Partnership with ARM

– Industry-first collaboration to extend ARM TrustZone security technology into x86-based AMD offerings, enabling more secure computing experiences and significantly expanding the security ecosystem–

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — June 13, 2012 — AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced it will integrate a new security solution into its future products to meet the increasing need to provide consumers and businesses with secure access to their content and worry-free online transactions. Through a strategic technology partnership with ARM, AMD will integrate the established ARM^® TrustZone^® technology into future Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) via a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design methodology.  This industry-first collaboration will help accelerate broader ecosystem support by aligning x86 hardware with the world’s most broadly-adopted mobile security ecosystem.

By adopting the industry-standard approach to security that TrustZone technology embodies, AMD and ARM will provide a consistent approach to security spanning billions of Internet-connected mobile devices, tablets, PCs and servers − whether they are powered by ARM processor-based solutions or AMD x86 APUs. AMD plans to provide development platforms that have TrustZone security features on select APUs in 2013, expanding further across its product portfolio in 2014.  In a presentation this week at the AMD Fusion Developer Summit 2012 (AFDS), AMD Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Mike Wolfe described AMD’s vision to advance computing security by enhancing AMD’s existing security technologies. This is expected to include developing a platform security processor using an ARM Cortex™-A5 CPU that features TrustZone technology, to monitor and help protect against malicious access to sensitive data and operations at the hardware level.

“With AMD’s support for, and inclusion in, the expanding TrustZone ecosystem, consumers and businesses can rest assured their data and content are secured by an industry-standard security solution that spans a multitude of devices and operating systems,” said Wolfe. “This example of AMD’s ambidextrous strategy, which leverages our history of x86 and graphics innovation while also embracing other technologies and intellectual property, will help drive a more secure computing experience for our consumer and businesses customers.”

“As technology becomes more important to our everyday lives, security needs to be present in every single device. The challenge that the industry faces is how to make this a reality,” said Ian Drew, executive vice president, strategy, ARM. “Through this partnership with AMD, and the subsequent broadening of the TrustZone technology ecosystem, we’re making another important step in helping to solve the challenge. The aim is to make security accessible and consistent for consumers and business users across all computing devices. This will improve our everyday lives as device-level security brings convenience to payments, enterprise access and premium content.”

Industry Support Demonstrates Market Need

In recognition of the first time hardware will be aligned to an industry-standard security solution between multiple processor architectures, the technology partnership has garnered wide support from industry leaders and influencers.

“At Alipay, we strive to provide safe and reliable online payment services to hundreds of millions of registered users for the tens of millions of transactions they make every day,” said Stephen Zhu, senior director, Alipay. “By incorporating security at the hardware level, AMD and ARM are providing an added level of protection and taking us one step closer to achieving this goal.”

“Hardly a week goes by without the emergence of another scary story regarding stolen identities or some other computer-related security breach – such as last week’s hack of social career networking website LinkedIn that resulted in millions of stolen passwords,” observed Nathan Brookwood, Research Fellow at Insight 64. “The bad guys have figured out that it’s easier to steal money from a bank’s computers than from the bank itself. AMD’s move to integrate ARM’s TrustZone technology into future APUs will allow systems containing those APUs to attain the same level of hardware-enforced security as today’s most advanced devices, and will allow the users of those systems to sleep more soundly at night.”

ARM TrustZone Brings Security to Millions of Devices

ARM TrustZone technology – a system-wide approach to security – is a key component of the ARM architecture and is integrated into the ARM Cortex-A processor series. Launched in 2004, TrustZone is a result of ongoing co-development that ARM carries out with a wide range of companies and has been implemented in a wide array of devices to date. The aim of the TrustZone ecosystem is to drive industry alignment and scalability. This will enable billions of TrustZone technology-based devices to meet the system security needs of consumers, service providers, enterprises and device manufacturers.

Supporting Resources

• Visit AMD.com to learn more about AMD and its products, or AMD Blogs for the latest on what’s going on in and around the company
• A live video webcast of the AFDS presentations, with recorded playback, can be accessed at http://www.inxpo.com/events/amd/afds-d
• Follow all the news from the AMD on Twitter at @AMD_Unprocessed or like us on Facebook
• For more information on ARM TrustZone technology and ARM Cortex Series processors