CAREER: Building on Foundations: A Roadmap for Decomposable, Feature-Rich, Accelerated, and Extensible Confidential Computing

NSF Award Search · 01002930DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $585,615 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

Today's confidential computing hardware provides the fundamental building blocks for data privacy in the cloud. However, current solutions built on this technology fail to deliver the level of security or the performance needed, while still demanding prohibitive resources. This project identifies the root cause as the inappropriate application of software abstractions originally designed for traditional computing environments to confidential computing contexts. Its goal is to evolve these abstractions to support elastic confidential computing and translate research outcomes into practical, widely accessible learning opportunities that position confidential computing as a first-order software design principle rather than an afterthought. The project's novelty lies in identifying the key primitives missing from confidential computing for elastic cloud settings and designing secure and automated mechanisms to realize them. Beyond advancing a technology capable of transforming data privacy and accelerating growth in the public cloud domain, the project's broader impact and significance also stem from coordinated translational efforts with the confidential computing industry. This project advances confidential computing through four innovations. First, it develops a compiler-driven analysis and validation framework to automate the adoption of trustworthy isolation primitives within Confidential Virtual Machines (VMs). Second, it introduces a multi-process Library operating s

Key facts

NSF award ID
2543639
Awardee
Arizona State University (AZ)
SAM.gov UEI
NTLHJXM55KZ6
PI
Adil Ahmad
Primary program
01002930DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
SaTC: Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace, CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, Nat Security, Secure Border & Pub Safety
Estimated total
$585,615
Funds obligated
$361,774
Transaction type
Continuing Grant
Period
06/01/2026 → 05/31/2031