THE NEW SECURITY CHIP FOR WINDOWS PCs; PLUTON

On the 17^th of November 2020, Microsoft announced Pluton, its new security chips for Windows 10 PCs. It’s meant to provide hardware and software integration that we’ve already seen in the Xbox One and Azure Sphere, but now it will be on upcoming computers. Yes, this is a hardware-based solution, so you’ll absolutely need a new PC to get it.

The one thing Pluton resolves is that it 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”

Another major advantage of Pluton is that firmware updates are done directly from Microsoft. The current updates can be done from

anywhere. They could come from Windows Update, Lenovo has its Vantage app, HP has Support Assistant, Dell has Support Assist, but in the case of this recent development, updates are done directly from Microsoft.

Microsoft has stated that Pluton was first made public in Xbox One in 2013which made it twice as difficult to hack the console or allow gamers to run pirated games. This chip has now graduated to Microsoft’s cloud service Azure Sphere, used to secure low-cost Internet of Things devices. The idea now is to bring that same technology, with some improvements, to new Windows 10 devices