IBM Adds Security To Hardware

IBM has developed technology that adds hardware-level encryption to data on a range of electronic devices. Researchers at the company said that the technology, called Secure Blue, encrypts and decrypts data as it passes through a processor. Data are encrypted in RAM, as well, resulting in a high level of security for devices such as personal computers, cell phones, digital media players, and electronic organizers. The flip side to the protection that Secure Blue provides to users is a new level of control offered to other owners of content, such as media companies. Digital rights management (DRM), which dictates how content may be used, could be bolstered by IBM’s new technology, allowing music producers, for example, another tool to restrict unauthorized usage of their intellectual property. Secure Blue has been demonstrated with IBM’s PowerPC processor and is said to be compatible with processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, though IBM said it is not currently in talks with those companies to add the technology to their chips.

ZDNet, 9 April 2006