Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI)

What is it?

Intel® AES-NI is a new encryption instruction set that improves on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm and accelerates the encryption of data in the Intel® Xeon® processor family and the 3^rd generation Intel® Core™ processor family.

Comprised of seven new instructions, Intel® AES-NI gives your IT environment faster, more affordable data protection and greater security, making pervasive encryption feasible in areas where previously it was not.

Intel® AES-NI

Intel® Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions

Why Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) matters

Encryption is frequently recommended as the best way to secure business-critical data, and AES is the most widely used standard when protecting network traffic, personal data, and corporate IT infrastructures.

With recent advancements in cloud computing, where personal or business-critical information leaves the traditional IT environment, a more widely usable and secure encryption standard such as AES and acceleration mechanism like Intel® AES-NI are essential.

Thankfully, AES is a widely-deployed encryption standard when protecting network traffic, personal data, and corporate IT infrastructures; and Intel® AES-NI can be used to accelerate the AES encryption. With such robust, affordable, and flexible options, Intel® AES-NI can help your business stay ahead of growing threats.

How it works

By implementing some intensive sub-steps of the AES algorithm into the hardware, Intel® AES-NI strengthens and accelerates execution of the AES application.

The seven new instructions comprising Intel® AES-NI accelerate encryption and decryption and improve key generation and matrix manipulation, all while aiding in carry-less multiplication.

This minimizes application performance concerns inherent in traditional cryptographic processing and provides enhanced security by addressing side channel attacks on AES associated with traditional software methods of table look-ups.