Sorry Microsoft, Dell isn't bothered about the Pluton security chip

Date:
Thu, 10 Mar 2022 14:26:06 +0000

Description:
Many Dell and Lenovo devices won't be secured by Pluton, manufacturers reveal.

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Dell has followed Lenovo in saying it won't be using Microsofts Pluton technology to secure its products.

The company confirmed to The Register that Pluton does not align with Dell's approach to hardware security and our most secure commercial PC
requirements," and will, therefore, refrain from baking it into its endpoints .

Whether or not that changes in the future, remains to be seen: "As with all new technologies, we will continue to evaluate Pluton to see how it compares against existing TPM implementations in the future," Dell's spokeswoman said. TechRadar needs you!

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One of the reasons for this decision, it would seem, is that Dell provides
its own additional security thats implemented at both the software, and hardware level. The latter is where Microsoft wants to tighten things up.

The Pluton security layer was first introduced two years ago, as a product that came after collaboration with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. Its essentially
a co-processor thats integrated into the silicon, whose task is to store encryption keys, credentials, and other similarly sensitive information.

The Register notes that Microsoft has drawn inspiration for Pluton from the 2013 Xbox One console, as it has a co-processor with similar functions. The company later implemented it into the Azure Sphere microcontroller for edge applications. Read more

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But as Intel hasnt implemented it in its 12th-Gen Core processors (Alder Lake), Dell wont be using it.

The same things seem to be going on at Lenovo, at least partially, as its new ThinkPad devices will also be powered by Intels chips. Those that run on the AMD Ryzen 6000, however, will include Pluton, but it will be disabled by default. Lenovo also has devices powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 8cx Gen3 chip, which will include Pluton.

Besides Lenovo, the other major laptop manufacturer, HP, is yet to confirm
its stance on the Pluton technology. Here's our rundown of the best firewalls right now

Via: The Register



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/sorry-microsoft-dell-isnt-bothered-about-the-pl uton-security-chip/


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