Symantec Corp and Intel Corp are jointly developing security products that could be built into tiny computer microprocessors, Symantec Vice President Rowan Trollope said on Tuesday.

The programme, dubbed Project Hood, is part of an effort by both companies to expand their use of virtualisation technology, or using software to replicate entire computer systems.

They are developing software security “appliances” that would work with virtualisation technology that Intel is already incorporating into its computer chips, Mr Trollope said.

Instead of designing the security software to run on Microsoft Corp’s Windows or another operating system, Symantec and Intel are building it so it can directly interact with the Intel chips. “It runs underneath and alongside the operating system,” Mr Trollope said.