Chris Preimesberger1
Q1: What are the key facets of confidential computing that separate it from conventional security?
Bruce Kornfeld
Typically, "conventional" security typically address protection against threats before they make it into a system and/or protecting data at rest. Confidential Computing is all about protecting data while it is being processed inside a computer. So its another layer
Chris Preimesberger
@brucekornfeld So Bruce, does this mean CC has to be embedded inside chips?
Bruce Kornfeld
Kinda of. It doesn't have to be completed embedded inside chips. But there is a hardware (chip level) component to CC. This is where the extra security and processing power comes from.
Bruce Kornfeld
Two examples of chip level options would be TPM and SGX.
Pete Jarvis
Confidential computing entails Security, Encryption, Auditing, and Verification of use of the data for me. You have to be able to control access, be able to see what is being accessed, and verify by whom.
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Pete Jarvis
A key aspect of this is technologies such as homomorphic encryption.
Pete Jarvis
Homomorphic encryption - Wikipedia
Homomorphic encryption is a form of encryption allowing one to perform calculations on encrypted data without decrypting it first. The result of the computation is in an encrypted form, when decrypted the output is the same as if the operations had b...
Homomorphic encryption is a form of encryption allowing one to perform calculations on encrypted data without decrypting it first. The result of the computation is in an encrypted form, when decrypted the output is the same as if the operations had b...
Chris Preimesberger
@TechnoPhobe01 I'm thinking, Pete, that we wil be looking up this definition a lot more often as time goes by!
Dave Thaler
Homomorphic Encryption provides confidentiality at the place of computation, but does not guarantee the correct operation was done. Running HE inside an attested TEE, for example, can provide such an assurance.
Ameesh Divatia
First, CC is data-centric vs other perimeter or endpoint approaches. Second, it is protecting data end to end throughout its lifecycle enabling a 'failsafe' scenario.
