Microsoft Partners with AMD, Intel, Qualcomm on Pluton Security Processor for Windows Systems

Microsoft, in partnership with AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, has announced a new security processor, which it claims will help secure future generations of Windows systems: Microsoft Pluton.

"Our vision for the future of Windows PCs is security at the very core, built into the CPU, where hardware and software are tightly integrated in a unified approach designed to eliminate entire vectors of attack," says Microsoft's director of enterprise and OS security David Weston. "This revolutionary security processor design will make it significantly more difficult for attackers to hide beneath the operating system, and improve our ability to guard against physical attacks, prevent the theft of credential and encryption keys, and provide the ability to recover from software bugs."

"Windows PCs using the Pluton architecture will first emulate a TPM [Trusted Platform Module] that works with the existing TPM specifications and APIs, which will allow customers to immediately benefit from enhanced security for Windows features that rely on TPMs like BitLocker and System Guard. Windows devices with Pluton will use the Pluton security processor to protect credentials, user identities, encryption keys, and personal data. None of this information can be removed from Pluton even if an attacker has installed malware or has complete physical possession of the PC."

While Microsoft's plan to put Pluton at the heart of its Windows operating system is new, the hardware itself isn't: Pluton was first publicly released back in 2013 in the semi-custom AMD accelerated processing unit (APU) which drove the company's Xbox One console family. The company has also been using the same technology within Azure Sphere.

"At AMD, security is our top priority and we are proud to have been at the forefront of hardware security platform design to support features that help safeguard users from the most sophisticated attacks. As a part of that vigilance, AMD and Microsoft have been closely partnering to develop and continuously improve processor-based security solutions, beginning with the Xbox One console and now in the PC," explains AMD's head of product security Jason Thomas. "We design and build our products with security in mind and bringing Microsoft’s Pluton technology to the chip level will enhance the already strong security capabilities of our processors."

More information on the Pluton processor is available on the Microsoft blog.