The group essentially reboots the efforts of the now-disbanded PC-centric Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA), this time including participation from Nokia and consumer electronics companies such as Sony and Philips.

The Trusted Computing Group (TCG) expects to release a specification for PC security before the end of the year. A spec for cell phones, however, could be as much as two years away.

Founding members of the TCG are carryovers from the earlier 190-member TCPA effort. They include AMD, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and Microsoft. Contributing members include Atmel, Infineon, National Semiconductor, Nokia, Philips, Phoenix Technologies, Sony, ST Microelectronics, VeriSign and Wave Systems.

The TCPA defined a trusted platform module (TPM), a basic device with encryption and secure memory capabilities to oversee PC security. However the TPM 1.1 chips now shipping from companies such as Atmel, Infineon and National Semiconductor have not been widely adopted to date and do not conform to concepts for a secure PC execution mode recently defined by Microsoft under a program it called Palladium.

The TCG is defining a specification for a 1.2 version TPM and a software stack that will work with the Palladium architecture Microsoft developed in collaboration with Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices. Microsoft will detail this approach publicly for the first time at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in May.

Microsoft's implementation, which it now calls the Next Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB), will require new logic in several PC components including processors, chip sets, graphics processors and I/O devices. Indeed, the concept for a secure operating mode is so broad Microsoft will devote an entire track at WinHEC — about 18 hours of content — to describing it.

Microsoft has not said, however, when it will ship software that complies with NGSCB. Industry watchers expect that code will appear late next year or early in 2005 in the next major version of Windows, dubbed Longhorn.

The security scheme will work in conjunction with processor functions Intel Corp. calls Le Grande Technology and has embedded in its next-generation Pentium processor dubbed Prescott, expected to ship later this year. AMD will also support the PC security concepts in its processors though it has not indicated when.

The TPM 1.2 modules will include a new session encryption interface and secure state counters that prevent replay security attacks, said Stephen Heil, a technical evangelist for security at Microsoft. The TCG has separate working groups defining those modules, a security software stack and particular needs for both servers and PDAs. The TCG is about to launch a working group to define a specification for secure cellphones, an effort that could take 18 to 24 months. Nokia is expected to be a key contributor to that group in addition to other members still being recruited by the TCG.

As a legally incorporated group, the TCG will enforce reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing of any intellectual property in the spec and define a mechanism to certify compliance to it. The group is also expected to take a more pro-active approach than its predecessor to addressing controversial issues about privacy and digital rights raised by the PC security effort.

By: DocMemory
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