Microsoft, working with Intel, is offering a cloud-computing service with more powerful encryption to secure data from hackers, and protect it from secret government data-gathering, according to Bloomberg.
Called Azure confidential computing, the technology encrypts data while it is in use - which is when most security breaches occur, according to Azure Chief Technology Officer Mark Russinovich. The new product works by placing customer information in a virtual enclave, essentially a black box that keeps anyone outside the customer, including Microsoft itself, from accessing the data. That can keep cyberthieves, malicious insiders and governments from getting in without customer authorization.
The new service also means that Microsoft won't have the capability to turn over data in response to government warrants and subpoenas, an issue at the heart of a current Microsoft lawsuit against the U.S. government fighting the requirement to turn over client data, sometimes without the customer's knowledge. The confidential computing service is intended to reassure customers that are considering moving data and applications to Microsoft's cloud that the switch will not open them up to hacks, spying and secret subpoenas.
Azure confidential computing, which enters a preview phase with initial customers, will offer two ways to create these secure enclaves. One is based on Microsoft’s own server software, while the other uses Intel chips with that company’s built-in security features. Russinovich persuaded the chipmaker to speed that up, said Rick Echevarria, an Intel vice president and general manager of the platform security division. The technology isn’t exclusive to Microsoft and will be sold to other customers.
Between customer needs and the ever-evolving skills of hackers seeking to penetrate networks, Microsoft and its rivals have been rushing to add layers of security. Google has been working on its own chips, called Titan, that offer a different type of security against hackers in cloud networks. That effort makes sure that when machines boot up, every piece of Google software is valid and hasn’t been tampered with.
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