Intel Xe graphics card with GPU SGX support
Since the announcement that Intel will be developing its discrete graphics card, the progressive world has been eagerly waiting for plans to turn into something tangible. There are still few technical details known, but today we can share something specific and important. It has become known that the future Intel graphics card will support a technology similar to , for super-reliable storage of particularly important content — it’s called GPU SGX.
We recently mentioned Intel Software Guard Extensions in connection with . Intel SGX extensions are a set of CPU instructions that allow applications to create enclaves, protected areas in the application’s address space, ensuring confidentiality and integrity even in the presence of malicious programs with privileged rights.
But it’s not only the executing code that needs protection; user data must also be secured. Legions of attackers dream day and night of stealing your photos, then deleting or encrypting them. How can you avoid losing your most important memories? Here, Intel SGX, in its GPU SGX variant, can also come to the rescue. In this case, it works as follows.
The key role in this technology, as the name suggests, is played by the graphics processor. "What does the graphics card have to do with data storage?" — you may ask. The thing is that despite the respect we have for Intel SGX, the number of processors that support this technology is significantly less than those that do not. Therefore, it was decided to shift the execution of SGX-dependent code to the GPU, similar to how it’s done in the already mentioned Intel SGX Card. The graphics card also has another advantage: its design allows for a large volume of flash memory, which can be used as local secure storage.
The GPU SGX works by storing photographs of your beloved pet and other highly sensitive data on the local storage of the graphics card using specialized Intel software. Intel SGX protection operates at the filesystem driver level. The same specialized software then synchronizes the storage contents with a cloud service in one of the user-selected modes. Unlike other cloud services, the Intel client cannot be compromised, as it places sensitive code areas in SGX enclaves. Thus, your data receives multiple degrees of protection against theft and destruction.
What happens if the Intel software stops functioning for any reason, and the data becomes literally locked in its storage? Intel plans to share its technology with third-party companies based on strict certification and oversight. So there will be an alternative. However, the system itself will not hit the market until the graphics cards are released — the timeline is still unclear. But we will be waiting.
Source: habr.com
