Abstract: Specialized hardware functions for high assurance processing are seldom integrated into commodity processors. Furthermore, as chips increase in complexity, trustworthy processing of sensitive information can become increasingly difficult to achieve due to extensive on-chip resource sharing and the lack of corresponding protection mechanisms. Embodiments in accordance with the invention allow for enhanced security of commodity integrated circuits, using minor modifications, in conjunction with a separate integrated circuit that can provide monitoring, access control, and other useful security functions. In one embodiment, a separate control plane, stacked using 3-D integration technology, allows for the function and economics of specialized security mechanisms, not available from a coprocessor alone, to be integrated with the underlying commodity computing hardware.

Abstract: Embodiments in accordance with the invention utilize the cryptographic transformation function of an SP processor to encrypt data at rest. The use of the primary processor-based cryptographic transformation function is preferable to use of an auxiliary cryptographic processor because the transformation occurs directly, and thus can be faster and more cost effective.