CHIPMAKER, INTEL, is set to launch a new motherboard that includes a super-secure little box it calls the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Intel says the TPM provides hardware-based protection for the encryption and digital signature keys that secure the data from the prying eyes of hackers crackers and thieves.
The chippery includes a system, licensed from Wave Systems, known as the Embassy Suite. This gives access to what Intel calls "the Vault" in which the user might store all his porn confidential data. The Vault is protected with 128bit key encryption in hardware, which Intel reckons is damn near foolproof. "There"s no way they (ie anyone naughty) are going to get the data on the TPM," a spokesman told us yesterday. "It"s not the nirvana of security, but it"s a good step along the way," he said. The TPM is available on the D865GRH desktop board due to launch within a week.