AMD Restores Memory Encryption in Consumer CPUs After User Backlash
Original: Following user outcry, AMD reinstates memory encryption in consumer CPUs
Why This Matters
Demonstrates consumer pressure can reverse corporate security decisions; highlights transparency concerns in firmware updates affecting privacy protections.
AMD will reinstate TSME (Transparent Secure Memory Encryption) in consumer Ryzen processors via firmware update in July 2026, following widespread user complaints over its silent removal from the 9000-series chips.
AMD announced it will restore memory encryption protections to consumer Ryzen CPUs after facing significant backlash from users. The chipmaker had quietly removed TSME, which encrypts memory contents to protect against cold boot attacks and physical intrusions, from lower-end Ryzen 9000-series desktop processors in a recent firmware update. The removal was difficult to detect on Windows and required technical expertise to identify on Linux systems. Users discovered the change and criticized AMD on social media for the underhanded removal of a security feature that had been available for years. Critics noted the removal appeared designed to push consumers toward more expensive Pro-series CPUs. AMD acknowledged the change in an email statement, saying a BIOS option to enable Memory Guard (AMD's term for TSME) was "previously available but was removed in a recent update." The company committed to reinstating the option in a July 2026 BIOS release. AMD did not explain the original removal. Security experts and users speculated the move was either a business tactic to steer customers to pricier chips, or potentially driven by performance concerns, since memory encryption adds latency that impacts gaming performance—a key market for Ryzen 9000-series chips.