SECAI Core · phase 10 of 15
Trusted execution environment
A secure area of a processor that runs code and handles data in isolation from the rest of the system
The Explain card
- Plain English
- A TEE is an isolated, hardware-protected area of a processor where code and data run shielded from the rest of the system, including the operating system and hypervisor.
- Example
- A cloud provider runs a proprietary model inside a confidential-computing enclave. The customer's prompts and the vendor's weights are decrypted only within the TEE, so even a cloud administrator with root cannot read them from memory.
- Why it matters
- Model weights and user data sit exposed in plain memory during inference. A TEE narrows that exposure to a sealed compartment, protecting against compromised hosts and insider snooping.
- Hook
- A clean room inside the chip: the OS is outside the glass.
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 10: Identity, Access, and Cryptographic Foundations
Before examining threats to systems, establish the foundational security primitives — identity, authentication, authorisation, and the cryptography underpinning them.
