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Built-In Security Technologies

Modern devices ship with built-in hardware and software security features that require little to no configuration, including technologies like the Trusted Platform Module, Hardware Security Module, Secure Enclave, self-encrypting drives, and Address Space Layout Randomization. This content provides a high-level introduction to each of these technologies and the roles they play in device security.

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About this video

Modern computing devices arrive with a layer of security already in place, embedded at the hardware and firmware level by manufacturers before deployment. These built-in protections require little to no configuration from IT or security professionals and serve as a foundational layer of defense across laptops, desktops, and other devices. Because the specific features available can vary depending on device type and manufacturer, understanding what exists and what it does is an important part of any security-conscious deployment strategy. The Trusted Platform Module, for instance, is now standard on most consumer and enterprise machines and is required by several modern operating systems. Other technologies in this category include the Hardware Security Module, the Secure Enclave, and self-encrypting drives, all of which share overlapping goals around protecting cryptographic keys, securing data at rest, and establishing hardware-based trust. Address Space Layout Randomization, while operating at the software level rather than the hardware level, is also considered a core built-in security control due to its presence across major operating systems. This content establishes a high-level understanding of each of these technologies as a starting point before examining how each one functions in greater technical depth.

What you'll learn

What's covered

Built-In Device Security

Key terms

Trusted Platform Module
TPM
Trusted Platform Module is a dedicated hardware security chip embedded in devices that provides a hardware root of trust for secure boot, cryptographic key storage, and platform attestation, protecting sensitive keys from software-level compromise.
Hardware Security Module
HSM
A Hardware Security Module is a tamper-resistant physical device that safeguards and manages cryptographic keys, performs encryption operations, and provides a hardened environment for certificate authority operations and high-assurance key storage.
Secure Enclave
An isolated, hardware-based execution environment within a processor that protects sensitive data and cryptographic operations from the main operating system.
Self-encrypting Drive
SED
Self-encrypting Drive is a storage device with built-in hardware encryption that automatically encrypts all written data using an embedded key, providing data-at-rest protection without OS overhead.
Address Space Layout Randomization
ASLR
ASLR is a memory protection technique that randomizes the base addresses of processes and libraries at load time to prevent attackers from reliably reaching exploit targets in memory.
Encryption
The process of converting readable data into an unreadable format using an algorithm and key to prevent unauthorized access.

Topics

Hardware Security Trusted Platform Module Hardware Security Module Secure Enclave Self Encrypting Drives Aslr Endpoint Security

Transcript

Built-In Security

Machines come with a certain amount of built-in security. As an example, the trusted platform module is built into most machines that we get, most laptops and most desktops nowadays, and in fact it's required by a lot of operating systems.

When we're setting up machines, there are processes that we're going to want to go through to make sure that those machines are secure, that these devices are secure. But some steps are already taken before they ever get to us. That is, we don't have to do anything to implement it, or if we do, it's very little. So I call these the built-in security steps that are already set up in these devices.

These built-in features are going to vary depending on what devices we're talking about. Some examples of technologies that help implement security on these devices are the trusted platform module, the hardware security module, and the secure enclave. All of these can have a very similar purpose and have some overlap in what they're trying to do and how they're implementing those technologies.

Another thing that we may see is some sort of self-encrypted drives that are out there. And another one, that's more of a software feature, is address space layout randomization, or ASLR.

To get a better understanding of what these technologies actually are, we're going to get more in depth into each one of these.

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