Explore how Intel CPU improvements designed for computational speed can enhance security through flexible memory monitoring. Learn about Transactional Synchronisation Extension (TSX) technology in Intel's Haswell and Xeon CPUs, and discover its applications in detecting and reversing unauthorized memory changes. Delve into practical security scenarios, including detecting suspicious thread activity, identifying shell code execution, and implementing kernel and hypervisor self-protection. Witness a demonstration of TSX detecting malicious RAM modifications and understand the four key security benefits of using TSX for memory area protection. Discuss potential challenges, such as DoS attacks on TSX, and gain insights from security experts Dr. Igor Muttik and Alex Naishtut in this hour-long Black Hat conference talk.
Overview
Syllabus
Creating a Spider Goat: Security with Intel CPU Transactional Memory Support
Taught by
Black Hat