Trusted Computing

❗Article Status Notice: Unacceptable Tone/Word Usage

This article needs additional work to meet the wiki's Content Guidelines and be in line with our Mission Statement for comprehensive coverage of consumer protection issues. Specifically it uses wording throughout that is non-compliant with the Editorial guidelines of this wiki.

Learn more ▼

Trusted Computing is a technology developed by the Trusted Computing Group. It aims to restrict the workings of a computer so that it may only behave in expected ways.

It is a controversial technology because it can be used to restrict the freedom of the owner of the computer. For this reason it has been dubbed by free software activist Richard Stallman "Treacherous Computing"^[1]^[2]

How it works[edit | edit source]

The workings of Trusted Computing are based on six key principles, these being :

Sealed storage
Memory curtaining / protected execution
Secure input and output
Endorsement key
Remote attestation
Trusted Third Party (TTP)

Sealed storage consists in the protection of information trough binding it to the configuration of the platform being used. Trough this one may for example lock certain files from being opened if they lack the needed license.

Memory curtaining or Protected execution is the isolation of certain sensitive parts of memory (for example decryption keys) from the rest of the system.

Endorsement keys are a pair of public and private keys that are 2048-bit RSA keys generated randomly at the factory on the chip. They cannot be changed and are required to operate secure transactions. This makes it impossible for emulators of TC to be able to complete safe transactions.

Remote attestation allows changes to the user's computer to be detected by authorized parties.

Why it's considered to be a problem[edit | edit source]

One problem highlighted by Stallman and others is user ownership and freedom. Depending on the device, various user actions may be restricted and or completely prohibited. Installing and using third party and or alternative software from operating systems to applications may be restricted and or completely impossible. Modifying certain system settings may be restricted and or completely impossible.

Other highlighted problems relate to privacy and security. Because of hardware and software level backdoor, an affected system could be vulnerable to remote tampering, sabotage and attack, both when the machine is on and off. Data including files and documents can be edited, encrypted and/or deleted without the user's consent nor knowledge. System settings can be edited without the user's consent nor knowledge.

Examples[edit | edit source]

Some notable examples include:

Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows RT (They use a Trusted Platform Module to facilitate BitLocker Drive Encryption) ^[3]
Signal messenger^[4]
and the e-prescription service E-Rezept^[5]