Which client processors provide the security foundation your business needs?
Your Client PCs Need Hardware-Based Protection
Until recently, CIOs could plan and define their cybersecurity strategies separately from their client-PC purchasing decisions, but those days are now gone. PCs today need a multi-layered approach to security that is rooted in hardware. If adequate security isn’t built into client systems from the CPU upwards, no amount of software can later fix that fundamental weakness.
Below-the-OS Attacks
The most direct reason for this change is that malware attacks are increasingly targeting the system below the operating system (OS), making them “undetectable” to applications that run above the OS. For example, the recently reported TrickBot botnet seeks out and exploits firmware vulnerabilities.
To block attacks such as these, that take aim below the OS, organizations need acomprehensive security model rooted in hardware. First, the integrity of the hardware must be validated to establish a root of trust. The hardware must then adequately defend the firmware against tampering and attest to its integrity. Acting through the established chain of trust, the authenticated firmware must then adequately protect the operating system and hypervisor and attest to their integrity. Only then does software have a chance to protect the operating system and the applications that run on top of it.