Computer CPU chips with built-in crypto?

[Martin Minow <minow@apple.com>]

In a note to cypherpunks, Hal Finney comments on the new crypto
initiative:
>
>It's also not clear what the hardware manufacturers get out of this.
>Their sales overseas have never been blocked.  There has been no demand
>for custom crypto hardware.  I don't see how they have been harmed by an
>inability to ship computers with built-in encryption hardware.  Granted
>there are some possible applications for such systems but I don't see the
>market demand which would drive this decision.
>

I'm not sure if I can answer this but, at last week's SF cypherpunks
meeting, an Intel engineer asked whether there might be any interest
in a computer chip with some sort of encryption mechanism built
into the chip. As I understand it, this chip would process an
encrypted instruction stream. I.e., it could not execute a program
unless the "key" for that program was first loaded into the chip.

An interesting idea: does anyone have more information?

Martin Minow
minow@apple.com