Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[barge]

Bertha--Google TV will be based on Google Android OS.
Some inquring minds are wondering if the Android OS will follow the security path of the Chrome OS, namely TPMs.(See bolds below)

http://www.mobileinsecurity.com/2010/03/chrome-os-netbook-to-be-hardened-with-tpms.html

March 5, 2010

Chrome OS Netbook To Be Hardened & With TPMs

An interesting article out of Network World discussing a talk from RSA on Google Chrome OS given by Will Drewry. I wish I could have heard the entire talk, as it sounds like some interesting things are being done with Google Chrome OS.

Hopefully it will show up on slideshare or something. The main takeaways from the article are:

Google will have a consumer version Chrome OS Netbook by year end and a Enterprise grade version in 2011.

"All of the Google Netbook products will ship with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) installed for security in key storage and multi-factor authentication in the future, as well as a "trusted bootpath,"
"The Google Chrome OS is a "hardened" operating system, according to Drewry. The auto-updating and sandbox features are intended to reduce exposure to malware, and Chrome OS will even help you with "safe-browsing"
"There is a way to run in "developer mode," through a switch located under the battery. It's intended to let developers tinker with the code to find new ideas."

An integrated TPM and robust hardening - right on! I have not looked into any of the Chrome OS documentation around security hardening measures much at all yet.

The little bit I glanced at definitely discusses some good measures for consideration though! I wonder how much of this security approach will also get into Android.

Hopefully all, but I don't know how the Google groups do or don't cooperate/collaborate. Additional OS hardening measures, hardware root of trust, and other prudent detective/preventive controls are things smartphones need to get too sooner rather than later. Looking at the pathetic state we find ourselves in with the PC, malware, and the common user should be enough encouragement to ensure that a "likely" transition to a smartphone as ones primary computer warrants adopting these measures while we are still somewhat ahead of the game. It can be done if a large player gets behind it.