Confidential Computing Use Cases: Enhancing Data Security

Confidential computing is revolutionizing the way enterprises handle sensitive data by providing advanced security measures that ensure data remains protected even while in use. Building on the foundational concepts discussed in our previous post on Confidential Computing with SUSE, we delve into specific use cases that demonstrate this technology’s practical applications and benefits, including data sovereignty.

1. Enabling Public Cloud Security

   In a public cloud environment, multiple tenants share the same physical hardware resources, including memory and processors, which poses significant security risks. For instance, a virtual machine (VM) with access to the underlying hypervisor can potentially read the memory of other VMs on the same host, leading to data leaks. Additionally, administrators with access to VM snapshots can extract sensitive data. Confidential computing mitigates these risks by encrypting data in use, ensuring that even if a breach occurs, the data remains protected and unreadable to unauthorized parties. This solution is already available with SUSE Linux which is supported on hyperscalers, including Amazon Web Services Nitro Instances, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, in environments ready for Intel® TDX and AMD® SEV technologies.

2. Preventing Insider Security Breaches in On-Premises Applications

   Organizations such as the military or government agencies often run applications with highly sensitive data on edge devices, which are susceptible to insider threats, where administrators with access to VM snapshots can extract and misuse sensitive information. By leveraging confidential computing, these organizations ensure that sensitive data is always encrypted and inaccessible to unauthorized users, even with administrative privileges. Running these applications with memory encryption on a Confidential Computing-ready host, like SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro on AMD® SEV and Intel® TDX hardware, secures confidential data from individuals with hardware access, thereby enhancing the overall security of on-premises applications.

3. Enabling Secure Cooperation Between Institutions

   Institutions and enterprises often need to collaborate and process sensitive data. Confidential computing enables this cooperation by ensuring that data is only sent to and processed in environments that meet stringent security standards. Through remote attestation, organizations can verify that the remote environment is running in a confidential computing environment before sharing any sensitive data. This is particularly beneficial for shared research installations used by multiple institutions from different EU countries or government departments within the US. Additionally, it supports healthcare data sharing by hospitals or health institutions, ensuring that data remains protected during collaborative processes.

4. Ensuring Data Sovereignty

   Data sovereignty refers to the concept of ensuring that data is subject to the laws and governance structures within the nation it is collected. Confidential computing supports data sovereignty by providing mechanisms that ensure data remains within the specified jurisdictions and is only processed in environments that comply with local laws. This is particularly important for multinational organizations that need to adhere to diverse regulatory requirements. By using confidential computing, organizations can guarantee that sensitive data is processed securely and in accordance with relevant legal frameworks.

5. Private Container Environments on Public Cloud

   Running containerized applications in public cloud environments can expose sensitive data to various security risks. Confidential Computing helps create private container environments by encrypting data in use within the containers, ensuring that even if the underlying infrastructure is compromised, the data remains secure. By running the container host and Kubernetes engine, such as RKE2 included in Rancher Prime, on a Confidential Computing-ready virtualization host like SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro on an enabled hyperscaler IaaS, you can create a secure, Confidential Computing-ready Kubernetes environment to process sensitive data.

6. Confidential Computing-Ready Service Providers

   Highly regulated industries, such as finance and healthcare, require stringent security measures for data processing. Confidential computing enables the creation of service providers that can be attested to meet these high standards. By ensuring that these service providers operate within a confidential computing environment, they can securely offer services to industries with rigorous compliance requirements. This builds trust and facilitates the use of advanced cloud and edge services in sectors where data protection is paramount. Additionally, the attestation results can be stored as proof of compliance, enabling providers to share them with their customers if needed. As a logical next step, this attestation can be done remotely directly by service consumers at runtime to avoid any unexpected results.

Looking Forward to Future Use Cases Enabled by Confidential Computing

Looking forward, Confidential Computing would also enable new kinds of security scenarios, providing even more robust measures for protecting sensitive data.

1. Automated Security Measures for Non-Compliant Environments

   Confidential computing will enable the automatic testing and verification of the security posture of VMs, containers, or processes through attestation processes. For example, if an application is found to be running in a non-secure environment, these tools can automatically shut it down, preventing potential data breaches. This concept extends to external tools like SUSE Manager auditing running instances, which could open a wide range of possibilities.

2. Runtime Remote Attestation

   Applications can enhance their security posture by requesting runtime remote attestation of the remote service provider’s environment before establishing any further communication or sending data. This ensures that the remote environment meets the required security standards in real-time, preventing any unauthorized data access or breaches during communication.

3. Comprehensive Attestation Including Configuration and Integrity

   Furthermore, looking forward to the future possibilities of confidential computing attestation, confidential computing can further enhance security by enabling attestation processes that include not only the state of encryption but also the verification of running processes, included packages, and checksums of configuration files on the remote machine or container. These elements can be certified and signed, ensuring a secure environment in an overall sense. This comprehensive approach will provide an additional layer of security, guaranteeing that all aspects of the remote environment are trustworthy before any data is transmitted or processed.

Conclusion

Confidential computing provides robust security measures that address some of the most pressing challenges in modern computing environments. By encrypting data in use, it ensures that sensitive information remains protected against various threats, including insider breaches and compromised infrastructure. However, memory encryption is just part of the equation. Attestation plays a critical role in the expansion of confidential computing use cases and is key to ensuring the security of our data in a broader sense. By supporting data sovereignty, confidential computing helps organizations comply with local regulations while safeguarding sensitive data.
SUSE is actively working to ensure these use cases are feasible within their SUSE Linux family (both SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro). They are adding support for confidential computing in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and purpose-designed virtualization and containerization hosts like SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro to be the foundation of new Confidential Computing-enabled workloads. SUSE is also integrating attestation capabilities into SUSE Manager and continually exploring new confidential computing solutions to enhance support for these use cases. Confidential computing is a journey—a promise of a more secure environment that we can start today. Enterprises can begin working with confidential computing now and plan how to improve it in the future with the help of SUSE. As organizations continue to adopt cloud computing and edge technologies, confidential computing will be essential in safeguarding sensitive data and enabling secure collaboration across different entities.
To learn more about securing your business with Confidential Computing, explore SUSE’s Business-Critical Enterprise Linux Solutions.

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