Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[dude_danny]

“Trusted Computing” requires
good data practices
http://www.gsnmagazine.com/pdfs/49_Oct_06.pdf

Sorry if posted.

“Trusted Computing” is the information
technology industry’s
response to the ever-increasing need
to protect the privacy of information.
The Trusted Computing
approach — an inexpensive method
of ensuring laptop, desktop and
server security at the hardware level
— is on the horizon.
The hardware aspect of Trusted
Computing, a standards-based chip
commonly referred to as the Trusted
Platform Module (TPM), already
appears as a feature in new businessclass
laptops. Development of the
software required to deploy Trusted
Computing to its fullest potential is
under way. Within a year, all operating
systems (Mac OX, Windows, and
Linux) will support the TPM without
third-party add-on software.
But it is a third component, good
data practices, that will determine
whether government can successfully
deploy Trusted Computing as effective
protection against unauthorized
data access, software attack and even
physical theft.
IMPLEMENTATION OF
TRUSTED COMPUTING
PCs, laptops and servers installed
with TPM (of which version 1.2 is the
latest) treat everyone and everything
as an adversary. Persons logging onto
the computer must present flawless
authorization credentials in order to
access data on the computer, which is
encrypted in secure storage for an
added level of security. Failure to
present proper credentials renders
the computer and its data useless.
The TPM can also be used by appropriate
operating systems or other software
to protect against software
attack -- such as viruses and spyware
-- in a similar fashion. Any program
must have the correct authorization
before the TPM will allow it to run.
And, because Trusted Computing
operations take place in a closed
hardware environment — the chip —
the secure operations themselves are
protected from attack. Even laptop
theft, featured prominently in recent
news reports, would no longer be an
issue as long as good data practices
are in place.
Good data practices are not a new
concept. In any environment that
uses critical data — with or without
“Trusted Computing” requires
good data practices
INFORMATION PRIVACY
Guest Columnist
BY SAM CHUN
Sam Chun, CISSP, is the director of
information assurance for TechTeam
Government Solutions, Inc., an IT
solutions company that provides
information assurance to federal,
state and local governments. Chun
can be reached at
[e-mail]

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