Title: AN INTRODUCTION TO TRUSTED COMPUTING

In this chapter, the basics of trusted computer platforms (TCP) and the specification of the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) are presented. It is in relation with FIDIS deliverable D3.9 on the impact of Trusted Computing on identity and identity management (Alkassar and Husseiki, 2007). If the reader is already familiar with the basics, this chapter can be skipped and reading continued on the application of TCP.

It is anticipated that the functionality of trusted computer platforms will form part of the basic configuration of the most varied kind of computers within a few years. Numerous enterprises, such as the processor manufacturers ARM (ARM, 2004) and Transmeta (Transmeta Corporation, 2003) and consortia like the Trusted Computing Group (Trusted Computing Group, 2003b) are developing specifications and architectures for personal computers, PDAs, mobile phones and embedded systems.

Trusted Computing technology is a relatively new technical approach aimed at providing evidence about the integrity of a platform to both, the platform’s owner and to arbitrary third parties. The degree of confidence in software-only security solutions depends on their correct installation and execution, which can be affected by other software that has been executed on the same platform. Therefore a trusted platform is a conventional platform containing a hardware-based subsystem devoted to maintain trust and security between machines. It contains a trusted component, probably in the form of a built-in cost effective security hardware that is used to create a foundation of trust for software processes. This extra hardware is roughly equivalent to that of a smart card (with some enhancements) and contains a variety of functions that must be trusted. Although the first publications around Trusted Computing date back to the 1970s, the Trusted Computing Group has boosted the research and development efforts in this field.

The TCG evolved from the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA) which was an industry working group focused on the development of trust and security mechanisms in computer platforms. It was formed by Compaq (today part of Hewlett-Packard), Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and Microsoft in January 1999. In August 2000 the first public version of the TCPA Specification was released for comments and has been published as TCPA Specification 1.0 in February 2001. This specification was platform independent and basically defined functions that must be provided by a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) from the viewpoint of a hardware manufacturer. In April 2003, the TCPA was transformed into a non-profit organization called Trusted Computing Group (TCG) (Trusted Computing Group, 2003a). The TCG adopted all TCPA Specifications and continued their development.  In November 2003 the last major change to the TCG Specification has been published as TPM Main Specification 1.2 (Trusted Computing Group, 2003b). It essentially describes the platform independent functionality that must be provided by a TPM. Today the TCG has more than 120 members, including component and system vendors, software developers and network and infrastructure companies. The following introduction to Trusted Computing respectively TPM is based on the specification (Trusted Computing Group, 2003b).