1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,640 When it launched, Windows 11 confused a lot of people over its requirement that your PC 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:09,240 have a security chip called a TPM or a trusted platform module. 3 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,480 But now, Microsoft wants to transition away from the TPM and instead implement its own 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,200 security chip inside of upcoming CPUs. 5 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,160 Microsoft calls this new chip, Pluton. 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:27,280 But why is this a big deal? It helps to first understand the limitations of the current TPM system. 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:32,480 TPMs contain the keys needed to encrypt and decrypt data on your devices, and they can 8 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:36,560 either come in the form of a separate chip that sits on your motherboard, you can actually 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:42,520 buy them for your desktop, or as a firmware TPM, which consists of code that hangs out 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,840 either on your system's chipset or on the CPU itself. 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:51,920 Most CPU platforms manufactured these days have some form of firmware TPM built in, hence 12 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:56,320 the reason Microsoft says you're probably okay to upgrade to Windows 11 if you have 13 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:01,120 a recently built PC. But TPM is far from perfect. 14 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:06,920 It's certainly better than nothing, but it turns out it's not particularly hard to defeat if an attacker knows what they're doing. 15 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:11,560 A key weakness can be found in the connection between the TPM and the BIOS. 16 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:16,000 You can actually connect a sniffing device to the pins on the TPM chip and obtain the 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:22,200 key you're looking for in a matter of minutes. Of course, you need physical access to the target PC in order to pull off an attack like 18 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:27,240 this, but seeing as how the TPM was meant to help protect computers, even if a miscreant 19 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,920 had physical access, it's a pretty big liability. 20 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:36,840 But say you're running a firmware TPM implementation, well, these can still have their own vulnerabilities. 21 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:41,920 The well-publicized Spectre and Meltdown exploits have shown that attackers can grab data directly 22 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:48,440 off a CPU. Even if that data is subject to enhanced security, it can still be obtained, such as in the Platypus 23 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:53,640 attack that bypasses Intel's software guard extensions, or SGX. 24 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:59,120 This feature is supposed to create a secured area of the processor, but not only does Platypus 25 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:04,440 defeat it, physical access isn't even required to attack the secured area. 26 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:10,120 Pluton is, in theory, I just love that name, supposed to go a long way towards solving 27 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:16,800 these problems. Pluton doesn't use a separate chip at all, instead it's baked directly onto the CPU die, 28 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:21,680 so there isn't a risk of snatching data off a communication bus like you can with a discrete 29 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:28,400 TPM module. But how is Pluton different from firmware TPM, since those already run directly on the 30 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:35,480 CPU? So a firmware TPM runs its code on the same main CPU cores that run your other programs, 31 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:40,520 so a successful attack on something else the CPU is running could compromise the firmware 32 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:46,760 TPM. Pluton, on the other hand, works by adding additional hardware that's on the CPU die, 33 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,160 but is separate from the main processing cores, making it more difficult to attack, even if 34 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:58,320 the bad guy has physical access to the computer. Additionally, Microsoft is going to be responsible for issuing firmware updates for Pluton rather 35 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,860 than motherboard manufacturers, who typically release new firmware versions much less frequently. 36 00:03:03,860 --> 00:03:07,720 This should help keep computers safer from new and evolving threats. 37 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:12,200 The first PCs with Pluton built in should start hitting store shelves in mid-2022, but 38 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:20,280 Pluton actually isn't even brand new. The chips have actually been used since 2013 in Xbox consoles to make it harder to play 39 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:25,740 pirated titles, which actually brings us to a concern some users have about Pluton. 40 00:03:25,740 --> 00:03:30,680 Some fear that Microsoft could use Pluton to lock down PCs and exert too much control 41 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,800 over what consumers can and cannot run on their own machines. 42 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:40,480 We do know that CPUs with Pluton will work and run on Linux, but if you want Pluton's 43 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:45,440 extra features, the specific Linux distro you're using would need to be able to support 44 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:50,360 for those. So the only time will tell if these concerns about Pluton are warranted, but I'm sure we 45 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,520 can all agree that we trust Microsoft, right? 46 00:03:53,520 --> 00:04:02,840 They made this stuff.