The Future of Low Level Hardware

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The Future ofLow Level Hardware

• Matthew Schwaberow
• CSE 494M
• 28 February, 2005

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The BIOS

• computer interface code that locates and loads
  the operating system into RAM. It provides
  low-level communication, operation and
  configuration to the hardware of a system, which
  at a minimum drives the keyboard and provides
  primitive output to a display
• -Wikipedia

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Extensible Firmware Interface

• Intel Corporation

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Extensible Firmware Interface

• Currently used in IA-64 Systems
• Boot Services
• Gets rid of MBR Booting
• No more virii living here!
• PXE Support built in
• Used to select OS, no more boot loaders
• Operating System is sandboxed so all networking
  and memory management handled by EFI

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Extensible Firmware Interface, cont.

• Runtime Services
• Currently Limited
• Set Boot Order
• Change RealTime Clock
• Other features
• Disk Partition headers written twice
• Protection against bad blocks viruses
• OS verifies these headers are the same
• No bootcode at the start of partitions
• One less place for viruses to hide

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Extensible Firmware Interface, cont.

• Possible Security Issues
• Virus may overwrite the ESP (EFI Storage
  Partition)
• Any OEM can create a partition on the drive with
  tools, why not a virus writer?
• Virus writers may still be able to get into disk
  partition headers by modifying both of them

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TrustedCore

• Phoenix Technologies

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TrustedCore

• The Phoenix TrustedCore family is an example of
  what Phoenix and Microsoft refer to as an
  entirely new category, Core System Software. Core
  System Software is pre-OS software that
  incorporates all the legacy functionality of BIOS
  while providing an additional element for secure
  storage of encrypted private keys within a users
  computer. In addition, TrustedCore allows for
  digitally signed firmware updating to preempt
  hostile attacks at the core of the device, and a
  built-in root of trust that can be leveraged for
  native x86 device authentication on both
  enterprise and service provider networks.

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TrustedCore

• Uses Windows CryptoAPI to
• Ensure FlashBIOS updates are correctly signed and
  not modified
• Authenticate connected devices managed within
  Active Directory to networks and network
  applications
• Work with and authenticate Pre-OS Applications
  (recovery, anti-virus, etc)
• Securely store certificates for Microsoft
  applications and infrastructure
• Integrates EFI

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Next Generation Secure Computing Base

• Microsoft Corporation

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Influentials Input (Stolen from Microsoft WinHEC
2004 Presentation)

• Subtle, important changes since initial reactions
  from a few years ago
• USENIX 2002 response was yikes!
• USENIX 2003 I heard lots of genuine interest in
  TWC
• Youve put secure OS development back on the
  map
• I just want to play with the hardware!
• Still viewed (incorrectly) by some as DRM on a
  chip
• Takeaways
• There are some very valuable things in NGSCB
• Nervousness about possible implications of the
  NGSCB design
• Dialog is very important for any cutting edge
  technology

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Next Generation Secure Computing Base

• Hardware Requirements
• NGSCB-enabled CPU
• NGSCB-enabled chipset
• Dedicated Secure Support Component that is
  physically bound to the NGSCB system motherboard
• Secure input devices, including a keyboard and
  mouse
• Secure video hardware, including the graphics
  processor

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Next Generation Secure Computing Base

• Secure Support Component (aka Trusted Platform
  Module)
• Services Provided
• RSA public-key operations, including encryption,
  decryption, digital signature generation, and
  verification
• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption and
  decryption
• Secure Hash Algorithm-1 (SHA-1) hash computation
• Contains at least one RSA private key (along with
  the accompanying digital certificate for the key)
  and one AES symmetric key