Intel’s Mainstream Pentium 4 Chips With Security Caps Hit Retail
Intel’s Pentium 4 processors featuring security feature Execute Disable Bit targeted at mainstream market segment with appropriate price-points have finally hit the stores, but not everywhere in the world.
Source: X-Bit LabsExecute Disable Bit a security feature that protects certain system memory data regions from insertion and execution of potentially harmful code; the technology is also referred as NX-bit and EVP and works only in conjunction with Windows XP operating systems that feature Service Pack 2. Execute Disable bit allows the processor to classify areas in memory by where application code can execute and where it cannot. When a malicious worm attempts to insert code in the buffer, the processor disables code execution, preventing damage or worm propagation. To provide end-to-end no execute (NX) coverage,
So far only numerous Intel Celeron D processors for Socket 775 infrastructure as well as Intel Pentium 4 processor 570J clocked at 3.80GHz – the top-of-the-range offering – supported the Execute Disable Bit. Few days ago Intel Pentium 4 processor 530J (3.00GHz) with EDB emerged in retail stores in Tokyo, Japan, for approximately $205, Akiba PC Hotline web-site reports.
Intel’s official price-list currently includes a number of Intel Pentium 4 chips with 800MHz bus and 1MB L2 cache supporting EDB with clock-speeds ranging from 2.80GHz to 3.80GHz and pricing from $163 to $637, respectively. However, apart from the top model 570J, there were no EDB-enabled Pentium products in the stocks of the USA and European web-stores at press-time, according to X-bit labs’ probes using various price-search engines. Computer maker Dell Inc.’s web-site did not detail whether the systems features EDB-enabled chips or not.
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