Meet MORPHEUS, world's first 'Unhackable' processor

Yes, Morpheus is one of the most loved characters in the Matrix Trilogy and while the movie makers have no plan to release the fourth installment, it looks like Morpheus is back. You already know from the headline, MORPHEUS is the world’s first ‘unhackable’ processor.

Based on open source RISC chip design, MORPHEUS is a new computer processor architecture developed at the University of Michigan. The chip can encrypt and randomly reshuffle key bits of its own code and data 20 times per second, which according to the University of Michigan is thousands of times faster than the fastest electronic hacking techniques, and infinitely faster than a human hacker can work.

“Today’s approach of eliminating security bugs one by one is a losing game,” said Todd Austin, U-M professor of computer science and engineering and a developer of the system. “People are constantly writing code, and as long as there is new code, there will be new bugs and security vulnerabilities.

“With MORPHEUS, even if a hacker finds a bug, the information needed to exploit it vanishes 50 milliseconds later. It’s perhaps the closest thing to a future-proof secure system.”

Today’s processors need software patches to address code vulnerabilities and now with MORPHEUS coming into the play, software developers don’t have to go through the tedious process of developing patches, as it “bakes security into its hardware.”

The processor is designed to be used in PCs, laptops, IoTs. And according to Todd Austin, MORPHEUS “makes the computer an unsolvable puzzle.”

“Imagine trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube that rearranges itself every time you blink,” explained Austin.

You can read more about MORPHEUS here.