Amid the rising significance of data as a key factor of the digital economy that features the sweeping implementation of cloud computing, big data, and AI, many countries and regions have been upping data security and privacy protection, with relevant policies and measures introduced to ensure maximal data security and value. Traditional data security solutions are dependent on encryption and decryption, which focus on static data and are more effective for transmission and storage, not towards applications.

Confidential computing features advanced technology concepts and architecture, providing a new solution to protecting the confidentiality and integrity of data being processed. This advantage makes it better positioned to form a strong line of defense while guaranteeing data circulation and exploitation.

The core of confidential computing is to build an isolated, encryptable, and provable environment on trusted hardware for protecting the confidentiality and integrity of data that is being processed in an untrusted environment. This technology protects code and data in a computing environment from being snooped or tampered with by privileged software (including OS and VM monitors), thus providing higher security. By guaranteeing trusted circulation and value mining, confidential computing injects new vitality into the digital economy.

The Confidential Computing Special Interest Group was put into operation by the Global Computing Consortium (GCC) to promote the development of confidential computing. The group comprises a total of more than 30 institutes and enterprises coming from the entire industry chain spanning from chipset, firmware, server, and operating system to solution offering, industrial application, test, and research. The sitting members now include China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), Huawei, the Institute of Software of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS), China Telecom, Arm China, Phytium, National Financial Technology Certification Center (Beijing), China Minsheng Bank, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Southern University of Science and Technology, Nanhu Laboratory, DAS Security, and xFusion.

The group has published a white paper titled Confidential Computing White Paper at its official site. Global collaboration is a linchpin in the group's thriving progress and the computing sector at large. With this spirit, the Confidential Computing Special Interest Group will work with global partners to promote confidential computing for a prosperous computing industry.