Trusted computing

Question 1

what is a Trusted Platform Module (TPM)?

Answer 1

a hardware module at heart of hardware/software approach to trusted computing

Question 2

What is a TPM chip?

Answer 2

• buil in a motherboard, smart card, processor
• works with approved hardware/software
• generating and using crypto keys

Question 3

what 3 basic services does a TPM offer?

Answer 3

• Authenticated boot
• certification
• encryption

Question 4

describe the authenticated boot service

Answer 4

• boots entire OS in stages, ensuring each is valid and approved(checks digital signatur of code)
• logs versions of all code running (checks if component is on approved list and digital signed)
• Result: well-defined config with approved components

Question 5

describe the certification service

Answer 5

• once a configuration is achieved TPM can certify config to others(produce digital certificate)
• confidence that config is unaltered
• challenge value in certificate to ensure timeliness

Question 6

describe the encryption service

Answer 6

• encrypts data so that it can only be decrypted by a machine with a certain config
• TPM maintains master secret key unique to machine