Ijlal Loutfi

Confidential computing disrupts the traditional threat model by decoupling resource management from data access. It introduces new CPU security extensions like AMD SEV and Intel TDX, providing memory isolation through encryption and hardware access control mechanisms. While confidential computing protects against external threats, it’s im

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises,” there is a memorable exchange between the author and the main character, Mike. When asked how he went bankrupt, Mike responds with a concise yet profound answer: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”  Innovation happens much in the same way. Gradually, then suddenly. Ideas simmer and evolv

Strengthen your cloud cyber security with Ubuntu Pro and confidential VMs. This blog dives into the crucial role your OS plays in cloud security and highlights the extensive security measures offered by Ubuntu, including the game-changing confidential computing technology.

On behalf of the Canonical confidential computing team, I am happy to announce the limited preview of Ubuntu Confidential VMs with Intel TDX on Microsoft Azure. As part of the DCev5-series and ECesv5-series VMs, they’re available for you to try today! This exciting development is an important milestone in Ubuntu’s journey to power the con

The Livepatch tool is a valuable solution for resolving critical and high-security kernel CVEs without requiring an immediate system reboot. However, it is not a substitute for regular maintenance windows and reboots, as some CVEs still require a system reboot. Additionally, Livepatch only covers security-related kernel updates, not non-s

Livepatch allows Ubuntu users to fix critical and high kernel vulnerabilities at runtime, which reduces the need for unplanned reboots. Until now, Livepatch has only been available for Long-Term Release (LTS) kernels, but starting with the release of Ubuntu’s interim release of 23.04 Lunar Lobster in April 2023, it will also be available

Why do we want to eliminate trust? Isn’t trust a good thing that we should foster and grow? And shouldn’t computing platforms trust their end-users, and vice versa? The short answer is no. And I would argue that the very goal of system security has always been to reduce trust.  For instance, because you do

We are happy to announce we have joined the confidential computing consortium, a project community at the Linux Foundation that is focused on accelerating the adoption of confidential computing and driving cross-industry collaboration around relevant open source software, standards and tools.

At Canonical, we often get questions about open-source security and of course, Linux security is a common topic. Based on a recent webinar hosted by our security team and an accompanying blog post, we put together the most common questions we receive. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should give you

On behalf of all Canonical teams, I am happy to announce the general availability of Ubuntu 22.04 Confidential VMs (CVMs) on Microsoft Azure! They are part of the Microsoft Azure DCasv5/ECasv5 series that leverage the latest security extensions of the third generation of AMD CPUs, Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Secure Nested Paging (SEV-

In the first part of this blog series, we discussed the run-time (in)security challenge, which can leave your code and data vulnerable to attacks by both the privileged system software of the public cloud infrastructure, as well as its administrators. We also introduced the concept of trusted execution environments and confidential comput

Privacy enhancing technologies and confidential computing are two of my favorite topics to talk about! So much so that I am writing this blog post on a sunny Saturday afternoon. But wait, what’s that I hear you murmuring? “What is confidential computing? And how does it affect me?” Those are two very good questions.  Before

On behalf of all Canonical teams, I am happy to announce the general availability of Ubuntu Confidential VMs (CVMs) on Microsoft Azure! They  are part of the Microsoft Azure DCasv5/ECasv5 series, and only take a few clicks to enable and use. Ubuntu 20.04 is the first and only Linux distribution to support Confidential VMs on