Confidential Computing: A White Paper on Secure Cloud Data Processing - Prof. Dr. Norbert Pohlmann

Confidential Computing: A White Paper on Secure Cloud Data Processing

Confidential Computing: A White Paper.
Confidential Computing revolutionizes cloud security by protecting data during processing with encrypted environments like Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). Regarding his co-authored white paper, Prof. Norbert Pohlmann now highlights the critical role in ensuring compliance, safeguarding sensitive information, and fostering digital trust across industries.

As businesses increasingly rely on Cloud Computing, a significant challenge arises: safeguarding sensitive data in environments where physical control is often absent. Confidential Computing emerges as a game-changer, bridging the gap between cloud convenience and data security.

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The introduction of electronic patient files (ePA) in Germany’s healthcare system highlights the need for Confidential Computing. While digitalizing health data offers efficiency and convenience, it also raises concerns about data protection and security. Confidential Computing provides a crucial solution to safeguard sensitive patient information in cloud environments.

Precisely for this reason, our EuroCloud Deutschland has now presented a new white paper “Confidential Computing: Secure and Sovereign in the Cloud.” This demonstrates how companies and organizations can use this key technology to meet data protection requirements, strengthen digital sovereignty, and safely drive innovations.

The core of Confidential Computing

At its heart, Confidential Computing is about trust. By creating isolated, encrypted environments within processors, known as Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), it protects data in use. This capability extends the protection of encryption beyond data at rest and in transit, now also safeguarding data during processing. Such environments, or “enclaves,” operate as impenetrable vaults, shielding sensitive information from unauthorized access.

Ultimately, with Confidential Computing, companies and organizations can protect data even in uncontrolled cloud environments, thus meeting the highest security and compliance requirements. Complementing this are features like workload attestation, which validates the integrity of processing environments, and hardware-level encryption technologies, offered by industry leaders such as Intel and AMD. These innovations collectively establish a secure foundation for sensitive operations.

Confidential Computing’s secure foundation

The unique security of Confidential Computing is underpinned by several key elements:

Hardware-based Encryption: Data is encrypted within the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and remains encrypted outside, ensuring protection even if the operating system or hypervisor is accessed.
Trusted Execution Environments (TEE): These environments prevent unauthorized access using cryptographic methods, ensuring even administrators cannot breach them.
Workload Attestation: A cryptographic procedure ensures the environment’s trustworthiness by verifying it has not been tampered with before processing begins.

Particularly in Europe, digital sovereignty is a priority. This technology gives organizations the ability to process data securely without losing control over it – and thus provides a crucial basis for trustworthy and future-proof digital services.

These mechanisms not only secure data against external threats but also eliminate the risk posed by insider threats, which can often bypass traditional security controls. As businesses grow increasingly reliant on outsourced IT and cloud providers, these advanced features ensure that sensitive data remains inaccessible to even the most privileged users in the hosting environment.

Den vollständigen Artikel finden Sie unter: https://www.dotmagazine.online/issues/digital-policy-regulation/white-paper-on-secure-cloud-data-processing

Für mehr zum Thema: Confidential Computing: A White Paper on Secure Cloud Data Processing

Siehe auch:

ARTIKEL

„Artikel Confidential Computing – IT-Sicherheit und Datenschutz in der Cloud”

„Confidential Computing: Sicher und Souverän in der Cloud“

„Confidential Computing – Intel TDX: Geschützt in der Public Cloud“

„Cybersicherheit, IT-Sicherheit und Informationssicherheit – Definition und Abgrenzung“

Vorträge

„Cloud security made for the EU: Securing data and applications“

„Experten-Roundtable “EDGE: Cloud-Continuum oder Revolution?”“

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