How to implement confidential computing in Intel SGX?

With the continuous development of Internet technology, more and more data are stored in the cloud. This data contains important information such as users’ personal privacy information and business secrets. However, with the centralization of data storage and processing, users' data security issues have become increasingly prominent. In order to solve this problem, Intel proposed the security co-processor technology SGX (Software Guard Extensions), which can protect user data at the hardware level. This article will share how to implement confidential computing in Intel SGX.

1. Overview of SGX architecture

SGX is a secure hardware extension technology launched by Intel, which can provide a trusted execution environment for applications, so that applications can safely run in untrusted environments. environment while protecting the application's code and data. SGX technology divides a part of the memory in the CPU into a secure execution environment (Enclave), allowing only applications executing in the Enclave to access the data in the Enclave, and the memory in the Enclave cannot be accessed externally, even by the OS (operating system) Data within the Enclave cannot be directly accessed.

2. The basic concept of secure computing

Secure Computation is a research on algorithms that reliably process private information. The goal is to maintain the confidentiality of data during the calculation process. Completeness and availability. The general form of confidential computing is that multiple participants perform calculations without revealing their private input information, and finally obtain the calculation results.

For example, in a medical data scenario, one hospital needs to share its patients' private data with another hospital to conduct better disease prevention research, but the respective data has privacy attributes and cannot Share publicly. At this time, it is necessary to use confidential computing technology to protect the data of the two hospitals during the calculation process, and complete the calculation without exposing private data. SGX can be used as an implementation of a trusted execution environment in confidential computing.

3. Basics of confidential computing in SGX

1. Creation and isolation of Enclave

The first thing to do is to create an Enclave and transfer the application's Business logic is placed in Enclave to ensure the security of code and data. During the creation process, the enclave is encrypted and can only be executed by a specific CPU. For sensitive data in the application, it needs to be stored in the Enclave memory to ensure that the sensitive data will not be leaked. At the same time, the Enclave must also be securely isolated from other applications and the kernel to prevent external attack programs from destroying the Enclave and ensure the internal security of the Enclave.

2. Usage of SGX SDK

SGX SDK provides some programming interfaces and development tools to help applications implement confidential computing. The library provided by SGX SDK includes a large number of functions that perform calculations in a confidential manner, such as random number generation, algorithm encryption, and authentication. Applications can directly call these functions for encryption calculations. At the same time, SGX SDK also provides a variety of authentication and encryption algorithms, as well as key management and other basic services.

3. Remote calling of Enclave

In secure computing applications, Enclave is usually deployed on multiple computers, with some Enclave acting as servers and other Enclave acting as clients. end. Whenever the client needs to call a function or address provided by the server, an Enclave remote call is made. In SGX, remote calls are considered a special security issue and require a series of security considerations, such as protecting pointers, memory mapping, etc. in the same way as directory trees.

4. Tips for using SGX to achieve secure computing

1. Protection of code security

In order to protect the code security of applications in the Enclave, it is necessary Use the tools provided in the SGX SDK for encryption and authentication. Specifically, it is a best practice to compile and sign the application and the trusted execution environment in SGX separately to ensure that the necessary authentication and data protection logic is executed correctly. Only in this way can the data and code in the application be fully protected, ensuring the security of the computing process.

2. Protection of information security

In order to protect sensitive data in the application, it needs to be stored in the Enclave to prevent leakage. At the same time, encryption must be performed to ensure that sensitive data is protected. If the data in the Enclave needs to be accessed by other applications, the API in the SGX SDK should be used for network data transmission. Generally speaking, this process is a remote procedure call (RPC) process, which is now available for secure data transfer and protection through Enclave.

3. Code Optimization

At the same time, when the communication logic is complex, code optimization is also very important. For example, in an oil exploration application scenario, the pressure and temperature changes of the entire oil field need to be calculated, but the calculation requires a lot of time and computing resources. At this time, the code can be optimized to minimize the execution time of the synchronous code, thereby improving computing efficiency and saving computing resources.

5. Conclusion

Confidential computing is a very important technology. In the information age, the confidentiality and integrity of data are very important for the trust relationship between service providers and customers. Intel SGX technology provides excellent technical support for confidential computing, helping developers create a trusted execution environment and protect the security of key information. On the premise of ensuring data security, the efficiency of services and the effectiveness of the entire system are improved. It is hoped that with the development of technology, there will be more innovations and application scenarios in the application of confidential computing and SGX technology.

The above is the detailed content of How to implement confidential computing in Intel SGX?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!