Authors - Nguyen Ngoc Dung, Doan Van Thang Abstract - Memory encryption is a key security requirement for modern computing systems, addressing vulnerabilities between CPUs and main memory. Traditional storage encryption is insufficient for protecting volatile data in RAM, which remains exposed to bus sniffing, cold boot attacks, and side-channel exploits. This paper therefore systematically reviews memory encryption techniques focused on hardware-based solutions like Intel Total Memory Encryption (TME), Multi-Key TME, and AMD Secure Memory Encryption, which provide robust protection while minimising performance overhead. The paper also explores integrity protection via Merkle trees and side-channel countermeasures against Differential Power Analysis and Simple Power Analysis attacks. Additionally, granular memory encryption methods for multi-tenant environments are discussed, highlighting their role in isolating sensitive data across security domains. By examining security guarantees and performance trade-offs, we emphasise the necessity of efficient memory encryption to safeguard against evolving threats targeting the CPU-memory interface, providing hardware engineers a foundation for ensuring data confidentiality and integrity.
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