“Intel’s Control-Flow Enforcement Technology (CET): Elevating Security to New Heights with Cutting-Edge CPU Protection”
Understanding Intel’s Control-Flow Enforcement Technology: Enhancing Security in Modern Computers
Intel’s Control-Flow Enforcement Technology (CET) is a new security feature that is designed to protect computers from a range of cyber threats. This technology is available in new computers that have an Intel Tiger Lake CPU or AMD Zen3 CPU and later, with CPU virtualization enabled in the BIOS. Enabling this feature is fairly easy and can provide an additional layer of protection for your device.
If you are running Windows 11 22H2 with the latest updates, you can enable Intel’s CET by opening Windows Security and going into Device Security > Core Isolation. If you have the required hardware and CPU virtualization is enabled, you will see a setting called ‘Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection’. This setting is what enables Intel’s CET on your device and can be easily toggled on and off if you experience a problem running a program.
Intel’s CET works by providing hardware-based security features that protect against control-flow hijacking attacks. These attacks are a common method used by hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in software. By hijacking the control flow of a program, attackers can execute arbitrary code and take control of a system.
Intel’s CET helps to prevent these types of attacks by creating a protected area of memory that is used to store the control flow of a program.
This protected area is called the shadow stack, and it is used to ensure that the control flow of a program is not tampered with.
The shadow stack is a key component of Intel’s CET, and it works by creating a copy of the return addresses that are used by a program. These return addresses are used to determine the next instruction that a program will execute.
By creating a copy of these addresses, Intel’s CET can detect if an attacker has attempted to modify the control flow of a program. If an attack is detected, Intel’s CET can take action to prevent the attack from succeeding.
In addition to the shadow stack, Intel’s CET also includes other security features such as indirect branch tracking and pointer authentication. Indirect branch tracking is used to monitor the control flow of a program and ensure that it follows the expected path.
Pointer authentication is used to verify the integrity of pointers, which are used to reference memory locations in a program. These security features work together to provide a comprehensive security solution that can protect against a wide range of cyber threats.
Enabling Intel’s CET on your device is a simple process, and it can provide an additional layer of security for your computer.
If you have the required hardware and CPU virtualization is enabled, you can enable this feature by going into Windows Security and enabling ‘Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection’. By doing so, you can help to protect your device from control-flow hijacking attacks and other cyber threats.
Intel’s Control-Flow Enforcement Technology is a powerful security feature that is available in modern computers. By providing hardware-based security features, Intel’s CET can help to protect against a wide range of cyber threats.
If you have the required hardware and CPU virtualization is enabled, enabling this feature is a simple process that can provide an additional layer of protection for your device.
