Intel rolls out security attestation feature for sensitive environments

Intel announced a cloud-based remote attestation service under its Trust Authority umbrella on Wednesday, signaling its new approach to security audits.

The service, now rebranded from its Project Amber codename and available publicly, is meant to provide “a unified, independent assessment of secure enclave integrity, policy enforcement, and audit records anywhere Confidential Computing is deployed,” Anil Rao, an Intel VP and GM in systems architecture and engineering, wrote in a blog post. “It embodies Zero Trust principles by separating the assessment of the infrastructure’s trustworthiness from the provider of the infrastructure.”

The service is currently available for certain Intel-powered software environments, but Rao noted the company hopes “it will ultimately contribute to the integrity of the entire digital ecosystem.”

A case in point: Thales, the French IT and government-contracting conglomerate, now relies on the Intel Trust Authority to backstop its own CipherTrust Security platform, which helps organizations “centrally manage encryption keys and configure security policies.”

Cloud security company Zscaler is using the attestation service to guide its transition “from silicon to the cloud,” Rao said, also noting that hardware and software giant Nvidia will partner with Intel to provide attestation for some of its own GPUs.

At an Intel event for developers, Intel chief technology officer Greg Lavender said the attestation product will be integral to building confidence in AI development, offering quality control measures as developers pair machine learning with protected IP and data.

“Our AI software strategy is founded on open ecosystems and open accelerated computing to deliver AI everywhere,” Lavender said in a press release. “There are endless opportunities to scale innovation and we are creating a level playing field for AI developers.”