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TRUSTED COMPUTING GROUP UNVEILS THE FIRST OPEN SECURITY STANDARD FOR MOBILE TRUSTED PLATFORMS

Mobile Trusted Module (MTM) Specifications Completed and Mobile Reference Architecture Introduced to Allow the Development of Value-Added Trusted Services on Mobile Platforms

http://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/news/press/Final_MTM_spec_release_July_11_07.pdf


PORTLAND, ORE., July 12, 2007 -- Trusted Computing Group’s Mobile Phone Work Group (MPWG) has released its Mobile Reference Architecture specification. This is the first open, hardware-assisted security standard for mobile trusted platforms that will use the Mobile Trusted Module (MTM) based on a specification published in September 2006.

The publication finalizes a broad cross-industry effort intended to enable a robust trusted environment in mobile devices and support enterprises with PCs that have the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Developers can start using the spec now to design products supporting the trusted mobile phone.


Industry Support
“As a mobile security standards innovator, Nokia welcomes the world’s first open security standard for mobile trusted platforms and congratulates the Mobile Phone Work Group of TCG for the great achievement. As mobile devices are the main gateway to the Internet for millions of people worldwide every day, we firmly believe that an open mobile security standard benefits consumers, service providers and all the parties involved”, commented Timo Ali-Vehmas, vice president of standardization and industry relations at Nokia.

“TCG’s Mobile Trusted Module and Mobile Reference Architecture specs are of great importance for Vodafone, providing a set of enablers for high priority use-cases in mobile phone security”, said Reinhard Kreft, Vodafone Executive, heading Industry Initiatives and Standardisation. “Along with key handset manufacturers, we have been a specification leader for this work since late 2005, and in July 2007 are now very happy to see the specs finalized. TCG specs describe core trust components for a mobile platform, and guide designers and developers on use of these components in a secure, open and flexible way. By standardizing, we create greater transparency and assurance in the marketplace that security issues are addressed and resolved. Also we reduce fragmentation for developers of security applications, across the mobile and fixed computing space, and this aids in achieving more cost-effective solutions overall.”

"HP welcomes the introduction of an open specification for mobile trusted platforms that is compatible with trusted PCs and trusted servers,” said David M. Fishman, director of enterprise product marketing for handhelds at Hewlett-Packard. "These specifications will help drive secure end-to-end interoperability between mobile devices and the rest of the services infrastructure."


Industry Specifications in Place
As the initial step to the completion of this open industry specification, the organization released use cases and anticipated applications for mobile security in 2005. In September 2006, TCG published the first version of the specification for the commands and structures for a Mobile Trusted Module, a vital element to a complete MTM solution.

In developing the Mobile Trusted Module and Mobile Reference Architecture, the common goal of all the parties involved has been to introduce a solution that is cost-effective, transparent to users, and flexible in a sense that it effectively serves various stakeholders in the complex mobile platform. Thus the MTM and associated architecture is an ideal platform required to introduce commercial solutions for mobile payments, platform integrity, safer downloads, device authentication, user data protection and many more. As the MTM specification is open and available publicly from TCG, it will enable an international mobile security standard that provides various benefits to implementers such as reduced research and development costs, enhanced interoperability, better upgradeability, and access to new markets when the fragmented solutions often represent significantly higher cost and are usually tied to certain geographical locations. For consumers, the MTM capabilities represent benefits for reduced risk of theft or unauthorized use of their content and data.


About TCG
TCG is an industry standards body formed to develop, define, and promote open standards for trusted computing and security technologies, including hardware building blocks and software interfaces, across multiple platforms, peripherals, and devices. TCG specifications are designed to enable more secure computing environments without compromising functional integrity with the primary goal of helping users to protect their information assets from compromise due to external software attack and physical theft. More information and the organization’s specifications are available at http://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org