Microsoft reveals Pluton, a custom security chip built into Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors

For the past two years, some of the world’s biggest chip makers have battled a series of hardware flaws, like Meltdown and Spectre,

which made it possible — though not easy — to pluck passwords and other

sensitive secrets directly from their processors. The chip makers rolled out patches, but required the companies to rethink how they approach chip security.Now, Microsoft

thinks it has the answer with its new security chip, which it calls

Pluton. The chip, announced today, is the brainchild of a partnership

between Microsoft, and chip makers Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm.Pluton

acts as a hardware root-of-trust, which in simple terms protects a

device’s hardware from tampering, such as from hardware implants or by

hackers exploiting flaws in the device’s low-level firmware. By

integrating the chip inside future Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm central

processor units, or CPUs, it makes it far more difficult for hackers

with physical access to a computer to launch hardware attacks and

extract sensitive data, the companies said.