AMD steps up desktop security

NEW DELHI: AMD has announced that with the release of Microsoft Windows XP

Service Pack 2 (SP2), Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP) can now be enabled on all

AMD Athlon 64 processors






According to the company, this hardware and software combination is designed to
keep computers protected against certain malicious viruses, computer worms and

Trojan horses. AMD Athlon 64 processor customers can now feel more secure

performing computing tasks such as e-mailing, sharing music files, and

downloading photos, games, and other graphic-intensive computing applications.






EVP is a hardware feature designed into AMD Athlon 64 desktop and mobile
processors. When combined with the data execution prevention technology found in

Windows XP SP2, EVP not only identifies certain malicious code, specifically

those that execute buffer overflow attacks, but also prevents them from

replicating and spreading throughout the system. By incorporating security

technology into the hardware, costs and damages associated with these virus

attacks can be significantly reduced while increasing the integrity of the home

and corporate network.






Every AMD Athlon 64 FX-53, AMD Athlon 64 mobile and desktop, and Mobile AMD
Sempron processor customer can now use the built-in EVP capability when enabled

by Windows XP SP2. For businesses and enterprises using the AMD Opteron

processor, EVP will be enabled with the upcoming release of Microsoft Windows

Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2003 for 64-bit Extended Systems.