Power to the People: AMD Reverses Course on Consumer CPU Memory Encryption
After facing significant criticism from the tech community, AMD has officially reinstated Secure Memory Encryption (SME) support in its consumer-grade Ryzen processors. The controversy began when the feature, which encrypts system RAM to protect against physical hardware attacks, was quietly removed from newer consumer models, leading many to believe the company was attempting to gatekeep security features to force professionals toward higher-priced enterprise hardware. Responding to the outcry, AMD clarified its stance and pushed updates to ensure that mainstream users maintain access to these critical data protection tools without needing to upgrade to more expensive specialized hardware.