Could you please tell me if technically you can have security hardware based? Apple now competes with Intel, even in hardware. Would it make sense for Intel to have a "more secure" processors?
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module
* http://www.intel.com/technology/anti-theft/
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NX_bit
and so on, of which Intel is currently involved with lots.
Security is what a desktop processor spends a lot of it's time doing: making sure programs are isolated from one another and the kernel whilst still executing code.
Intel want to put AV underneath the operating system (ie. under Windows), using their virtualization technology to make it invisible to the OS. This was one of the ideas behind their "failed" vPro project[1].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_vPro#Security_and_Intel_v...
[1] Yes, I know vPro didn't "fail", but parts of it did, including an earlier attempt to shovel AV under the OS.