WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.640 When it launched, Windows 11 confused a lot of people over its requirement that your PC 00:00:04.640 --> 00:00:09.240 have a security chip called a TPM or a trusted platform module. 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:13.480 But now, Microsoft wants to transition away from the TPM and instead implement its own 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:17.200 security chip inside of upcoming CPUs. 00:00:17.200 --> 00:00:21.160 Microsoft calls this new chip, Pluton. 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. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:32.480 TPMs contain the keys needed to encrypt and decrypt data on your devices, and they can 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 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 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:46.840 either on your system's chipset or on the CPU itself. 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:51.920 Most CPU platforms manufactured these days have some form of firmware TPM built in, hence 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:56.320 the reason Microsoft says you're probably okay to upgrade to Windows 11 if you have 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:01.120 a recently built PC. But TPM is far from perfect. 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. 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:11.560 A key weakness can be found in the connection between the TPM and the BIOS. 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 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 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 00:01:27.240 --> 00:01:30.920 had physical access, it's a pretty big liability. 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. 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:41.920 The well-publicized Spectre and Meltdown exploits have shown that attackers can grab data directly 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 00:01:48.440 --> 00:01:53.640 attack that bypasses Intel's software guard extensions, or SGX. 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 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:04.440 defeat it, physical access isn't even required to attack the secured area. 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 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, 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 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 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, 00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:40.520 so a successful attack on something else the CPU is running could compromise the firmware 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, 00:02:46.760 --> 00:02:51.160 but is separate from the main processing cores, making it more difficult to attack, even if 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 00:02:58.320 --> 00:03:03.860 than motherboard manufacturers, who typically release new firmware versions much less frequently. 00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:07.720 This should help keep computers safer from new and evolving threats. 00:03:07.720 --> 00:03:12.200 The first PCs with Pluton built in should start hitting store shelves in mid-2022, but 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 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:25.740 pirated titles, which actually brings us to a concern some users have about Pluton. 00:03:25.740 --> 00:03:30.680 Some fear that Microsoft could use Pluton to lock down PCs and exert too much control 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:34.800 over what consumers can and cannot run on their own machines. 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 00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:45.440 extra features, the specific Linux distro you're using would need to be able to support 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 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.520 can all agree that we trust Microsoft, right? 00:03:53.520 --> 00:04:02.840 They made this stuff.