Intel-McAfee pushes chip security

By Robert Westervelt, News Director, SearchSecurity | Aug 30, 2010

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When Intel Corp. announced its acquisition of McAfee Inc. last week, the silicon giant said it would help boost its strategy of integrating security into its chips. But analysts and experts say the technology has a long way to go before it will gain widespread adoption in the enterprise.

Like its chief competitor, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel manufactures chips that support the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The tiny chips are built into many PC motherboards with the goal to improve security by acting as the device's sole key and identity repository. With more than 300 million TPM chips deployed today, only a tiny fraction are enabled, admits Brian Berger, director of the Trusted Computing Group (TGC), the organization that produces open standards for the TPM.

"A large percentage of [TPMs] are not being used today, but there's been a strong emphasis on getting enterprises to start using these for network access," Berger said. "There's been a gap, but we're finally seeing full penetration of TPM within organizations."

When the $7.7 billion acquisition of McAfee was announced, Intel executives signaled that it could integrate some of the security vendor's technology into its Atom processors used in netbooks, smartphones and consumer electronics, such as televisions. The announcement was seen as a boon to hardware security advocates like Berger, who say the technology makes identity management and authentication more efficient and further locks out attackers from gaining access to the network.

"Security is as applicable in the data center and PCs as it is in embedded and other Internet-connected devices, even cars that might be connected," said Renee J. James, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Software and Services Group, on a conference call with analysts and media last week.

TCG's Berger, who is also executive vice president of sales and marketing for Lee, Mass.-based Wave Systems Corp., a firm that makes software which uses TPM technology, said Intel helped broaden the scope of how hardware-based security could be used.

"I think it's an endorsement of hardware and software working together to provide enhanced security in areas where it's difficult," Berger said. "Intel articulated the value proposition around hardware security and software to enable that."

Still, some analysts were left scratching their heads over the Intel acquisition. Mike Rothman, analyst and president of research firm Securosis LLC, said he doesn't see any enabling technology from McAfee that would help Intel move forward with its strategy of integrating security into its chips. Pete Lindstrom, a research director at Spire Security agrees.

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