Advanced Micro Devices and Intel plan to soon release technology that will allow processors to stop many attacks before they occur.

Execution Protection by AMD, technology contained in AMD's Athlon 64 chips, prevents a buffer overflow, a common method used to attack computers. A buffer overflow essentially overwhelms a computer's defense systems and then inserts a malicious program in memory that the processor subsequently executes.

Read more: CNet News.

This is indeed a smart move, i hope though that this wont need a single extra clock from the procs. power...

Of course it will have an impact. How much still remains to be determined.

I'm sure when Intel added the FDIV workaround for early Pentiums, there probably was a performance hit ( probably a small one mind you ).

Doesn't all this fall in the "benefits" of the Palladium project anyways ?