Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[solas]

This is old (though not stale) and I just recieved a link to it in my ITBusinessEdge e-newsletter. (IT Business Edge [[e-mail]]) If you're like me you need something to hold your interest.

-R

http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Trusted-Computing-Making-Headway/story.xhtml?story_id=0300031O0G1U

Trusted Computing Making Headway

By Jack M. Germain
September 12, 2005 10:30AM


According to Brian Berger, the TCG's marketing chair, the TCG has taken several giant steps to make computers and peripherals more security friendly. He listed among those accomplishments the development of a framework specification that can help protect passwords at the hardware level.

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Sponsors of the trusted-computing movement say that momentum for encrypted hardware is growing worldwide. Major players in the computer industry -- including Dell, IBM, Lenovo, Fujitsu, HP, Intel, Trend Micro, Toshiba, Gateway and Microsoft -- now are building security around the trusted-computing standard.
Research-firm IDC predicts that 50 percent of all computers shipped by 2007 will contain hardware-encryption chips, a key component of the trusted-computing initiative. Other industry watchers report that more than 20 million encryption chips will be shipped by year's end.

The Trusted Computing Group (TCG), which formed three years ago with 14 company members, charted a course to push the concept of hardened security through hardware. The group's mission was to create open specifications to secure hardware against attacks leveled at PCs, servers, peripherals and even mobile phones.

Giant Steps

According to Brian Berger, the TCG's marketing chair and executive vice president of Wave Systems , the TCG has taken several giant steps to make computers and peripherals more security friendly. He listed among those accomplishments the development of a framework specification that can help protect passwords at the hardware level.



"A lot of the I.T. community thinks the TCG effort is farther in the future than it really is," Berger said. "In the enterprise, many are starting to realize the security benefits of the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) for a variety of functions and compliance requirements, including secure e-mail, password management, data protection, strong authentication, network security and others."

He said that as notebook and desktop systems are replaced around the enterprise, more TPMs will be available and more systems will be better protected. "We are working to educate people on what they can do now and what's coming later," he said.

The organization also has released a server specification and a specification to protect networks. Berger said the group will release guidelines for mobile-phone security and security specifications for storage systems and other peripherals. "The idea is to provide strong security for every computing device on the network," said Berger.

Goals and Timeframe

The TCG essentially is focused on helping the industry create interoperable computing products throughout the enterprise to protect against virtual and physical attack, theft, data loss and other incidents that can compromise the enterprise. A related goal is to educate the industry and the I.T. community about trusted-computing concepts and how to enable security with the TCG building blocks in products already in use.

Berger emphasized that several TCG applications already exist to protect data and transactions, including e-mail and passwords. And by year's end, vendors should be ready to distribute products for the Trusted Network Connect effort, which will help control network access. "We anticipate that a specification for mobile phones will be made available in the first quarter of 2006 with products to follow late that year and into 2007," said Berger.

Berger said the I.T. community must look at ways to bring effective security into the enterprise because of the great potential for attacks against systems and networks and because of the many regulatory requirements, such as SOX and HIPAA. "The technology that vendors offer today with the TPM can really make an I.T. manager's life much easier and help secure mission-critical data and transactions," said Berger.

But those involved in using technology have to push the standards forward, he said. "The I.T. community needs to begin thinking about the 'tomorrow' of security and consider how to incorporate some of these coming things, such as secure storage and peripherals, into strategic areas of their shops," Berger concluded.