computer security principles and practice.ppt

* The encryption service enables the encryption of data in such a way that the data can be decrypted only by a certain machine and only if that machine is in a certain configuration. There are several aspects of this service. First, the TPM maintains a master secret key unique to this machine. From this key, the TPM generates a secret encryption key for every possible configuration of that machine. If data is encrypted while the machine is in one configuration, it can only be decrypted using that same configuration. If a different configuration is created on the machine, the new configuration will not be able to decrypt the data encrypted by a different configuration. This scheme can be extended upwards, as is done with certification. Thus, it is possible to provide an encryption key to an application so that the application can encrypt data, and decryption can only be done by the desired version of the desired application running on the desired version of the desired OS. This encrypted data can be stored locally, only retrievable by the application that stored it, or transmitted to a peer application on a remote machine. The peer application would have to be in the identical configuration to decrypt the data. * Consider the protected storage function. An important feature of Trusted Platforms is that a TPM protected object can be sealed to a particular software state in a platform. When a TPM unwraps the TPM protected object (within the TPM and hidden from view), the TPM checks that the current software state matches the indicated software state. If they match, the TPM permits access to the secret. If they don’t match, the TPM denies access to the secret. The TPM generates and stores encryption keys in a trust hierarchy. At the root of the hierarchy is a storage root key generated by the TPM and accessible only for the TPMs use. From this key other keys can be generated and protected by encryption with keys closer to the root of the hierarchy. Figure 10.13 provides