[H-GEN] Trusted Computing

[Anthony Irwin]

Hi Everyone,

I have just read yet another article about someone
saying that trusted computing will stop hardware
working if u use an approved software and how certain
software will not work with hardware and how they will
be able to disable hardware or the entire computer
from working and all that sort of stuff.

So I decided to go to the trusted computing web site
to have a look because that all sounded a bit far
fetched and scary if it was true.

At the web site below I have included so points below
but I guess what I am wondering is does anyone here
know if trusted computing will effect us Free Software
 and Unix users in anyway and if all the hype about
trusted computing stopping us from doing things be
ignored.

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https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/about/faq/

Can the Trusted Platform Module control what software
runs?

No. There is no ability to do this. The subsystem can
only act as a 'slave' to higher level services and
applications by storing and reporting pre-runtime
configuration information. Other applications
determine what is done with this information. At no
time can the TCG building blocks 'control' the system
or report the status of applications that are running.


Is TCG creating specifications for just one operating
system or type of platform?

No. Specifications are operating system agnostic.
Several members have Linux-based software stacks
available. In addition to our work on the PC platform,
we have a specification for Trusted Servers and are
working to finalize specifications for other computing
devices, including peripherals, mobile devices,
storage and infrastructure. 

Does TCG require that software be certified to run on
a TCG-enabled platform?

The TCG design does not have any requirement that
software be “certified” in order to use it. The
specification talks in some length about ways of using
the platform to create certificates for keys that are
provably secure and yet not identify the platform they
came from.  TCG’s technology has a passive role in a
system. It can be used to securely record data and to
securely store (and sign with) digital keys.

TCG architecture does not specify where to get these
certificates or how much you pay for them. Free
certificates work as well as certificates you pay for.
There is no single source of certificates in the
market today. Anyone can set themselves up as a
Certificate Authority using any number of different
Certificate Authority packages. TCG has recently put
together an Infrastructure Work Group to look into
some of the use cases to provide possible working
models.

-----------------------------

Yours Sincerely,
Anthony Irwin

My Web Sites
http://www.irwinresources.com - Personal Web Site
http://www.makehomebusiness.com - Business Web Site

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