Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

AMD working with Microsoft to plug a big hole

Dec 17, 2003 1:33AM PST

Advanced Micro Devices will soon tout a major market advantage over Intel -- added security features in its PC chips that work with the upcoming Microsoft Windows XP update to guard against attacks like Blaster and Code Red.

"It will be one of the first advantages for customers using AMD's 64-bit PC chips -- and it's a big one," says Rob Enderle, long-time market analyst and head of Enderle Group.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD says it has included code in all its 64-bit Athlon and Opteron-brand processors that Microsoft soon plans to use to make it far more difficult for hackers to exploit buffer overflows -- one of the most widespread computer security holes.

Microsoft and AMD are working together to make the AMD-designed code work with the next versions of Windows XP. Microsoft gave some details of the project this week when it released documents outlining security features in a test version of Windows XP "Service Pack", an upgrade scheduled for mid-2004.

CBS Market Watch

Discussion is locked