The Confidential Computing Frontier: A New Paradigm for Compute and AI 

Confidential Virtual Machines (CVMs) are the cornerstone of the modern push for Private AI and the future "default" for protecting data in use, however, the transition from architectural specification to secure deployment is fraught with challenges. While SEV-SNP and TDX offer a new paradigm for data-in-use protection, their security properties are not static. As these technologies mature, so too does the sophistication of the adversarial models targeting them.

 

This talk provides a deep dive into the practical attack surface of Confidential Computing from the perspective of a major cloud provider. We will move from the macro-view of cloud isolation to a granular analysis of specific research findings, including side-channel leakage and vulnerabilities within the platform and CPU core. We also discuss the "new frontier" of threats, specifically the growing necessity for hardware-level Trusted IO and protection against physical adversaries. By summarizing current research efforts and academic partnerships, we define the roadmap for hardening the next generation of trusted execution environments.