Thales and Intel partner to increase trust in confidential computing

The 2023 Thales Cloud Security Study found that many respondents store a substantial amount of sensitive data in the cloud. This led to a growing emphasis on safeguarding such data and workloads in the cloud, particularly for compliance and data privacy reasons. Thales' partnership with Intel combines the CipherTrust Data Security Platform with Intel Trust Authority's attestation service to ensure comprehensive end-to-end data security, focusing on data in use and workloads.

Enhanced security though encryption

Confidential computing from Intel protects data in use by performing computations in a cryptographically isolated hardware-based Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). Often, the cryptographic material verifying the TEE is managed by the cloud provider. Thales' comprehensive data security solution effectively sidesteps this security issue by implementing separation of duties and puts the customer in control of the cryptographic key material. This approach eliminates the need to place complete trust in the cloud provider.

By using trusted attestation from Intel, Thales’ CipherTrust Data Security Platform can ensure sensitive workloads are never decrypted outside of an Intel TEE, Intel Trust Domain Extension (TDX) or Intel Software Guard Extension (SGX).

Officials from Thales said that the collaboration with Intel enables security conscious organisations to share data safely while preserving privacy, confidentiality, and compliance with regulatory requirements such as GDPR, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA, only disclosing the results of the processes performed. This is especially important for highly regulated industries where data security is paramount to safeguarding the privacy of the information.

Also commenting on this partnership, officials from Intel said it is critical that enterprises retain control of their data protection and can confidently retain business agility while meeting compliance requirements. Together, Thales CipherTrust Data Security Platform, Intel Confidential Computing technologies, and Intel Trust Authority provide customers the tools they need to do so.

What does Thales do?

Thales is a player in advanced technologies within three domains: Defence & Security, Aeronautics & Space, and Digital Identity & Security. It develops products and solutions that help make the world safer, greener, and more inclusive.

The Group invests close to EUR 4 billion a year in Research & Development, particularly in key areas such as quantum technologies, Edge computing, 6G, and cybersecurity.