Personal computers hold treasure troves of confidential and personal information ripe for the picking by hackers, thieves, and scammers. Patient records, consumer credit card information, invaluable R&D data, personal finance...we've become increasingly reliant on computers, and need powerful security to protect the confidential data, hard work, and critical information contained in our PCs. Despite major advancements in systems security over the past several years, analysts and industry experts quantify global economic damage from digital risks exceeding a record-breaking $500 billion in 2004.

The PC industry has observed this pain, and introduced powerful new tools to enhance the security and privacy of your network. The barrier standing between your crucial assets and malicious intruders is about to get better.

Since 1999, a core group of leading PC manufacturers, hardware, and software vendors have been hard at work creating a hardware-enabled standard for improving the security of every type of computer - from desktop and laptop PCs to handhelds and other devices. This group, the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), has combined expertise from more than 100 companies including Dell, Intel, AMD, Microsoft, HP, and Wave Systems. The resulting breakthrough is a hardware security chip called the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which helps ensure that your computer, no matter where you're using it, is more secure...even if lost or stolen.

Tens of millions of TPM chips have already quietly shipped, and "Trusted Computing" capabilities are now embedded in computers worldwide. Observers say that TPM deployment is on the verge of exploding, with IDC estimating that by 2007, up to 55% of computers shipping worldwide will contain TPMs. When leveraged with appropriate software, Trusted Computing offers protection from identity theft, information leakage, sensitive data exposure and other security risks, making your computer - and your business - more secure.

Today, most computers rely solely on software to shield their data - passwords, data encryption, firewalls - but, the software is inherently insecure, as seen through almost constant attacks, providing ample room for theft, hacking, and data loss. The Trusted Computing model allows for the standards of software security to be amplified by the newly intrinsic secure hardware.

A common and very real threat is that unauthorized persons access data stored on a PC. The consequences of unauthorized access can include legal penalties (the exposure of a customer's personally identifiable information), competitive disadvantage, embarrassment, fraud, and extortion. Managing platform data is a responsibility of the business. The data security solutions provided by TPM and the right software enable owners of data and applications to impose strict controls on who can access and use those assets.

It's critical that enhancing data security not compromise functional integrity. The new wave of encryption appearing through Trusted Computing ensures that data in any format is both accessible and more secure. This includes transparency for the end user - the data remains encrypted without constant action from the end user - and authenticated access.

Authentication via passwords is the standard model used today for everything from Web site access to transaction authorization. But passwords are only as secure as a hacker's ability to guess, record keystrokes, or fraudulently get them. Experts blame weak and insecure passwords for unauthorized financial transfers, privacy breaches, identity theft, and even the hacking of corporate networks.

Trusted Computing eliminates this threat by adding a second factor of authentication that strengthens the entry point to the PC, application, network, or data being accessed. If the password is stolen, it's useless - the password alone isn't enough to gain access to a Trusted Computer's valuable data.

Included in the valuable data is information that lets hackers steal your customers' identities. As identity theft and unauthorized access reach unprecedented levels, businesses and consumers are devising stronger means to safeguard personal identities, specifically to combat the great vulnerability that lies with electronic identities.

Digital certificates are commonly used as proof of identity for access to networks, data, and services. The keys tied to certificates are also the basis for digital signatures. Theft of a digital certificate offers substantial opportunity for crimes of fraud and unauthorized access. Fraud or forgery using a stolen digital signature isn't easy to prove. Since a digital certificate could be stolen by making a copy of it, it could take the owner some time to realize a theft had occurred. It's extremely important to provide the best possible security around the storage and use of digital certificates. Using Trusted Computing standards for hardware-protected digital certificates provides a safeguard against theft by storing cryptographic keys and other data securely and away from traditional storage.

Perhaps one of the most critical features of the TPM is the flexibility it offers businesses and their mobile employees. Secure authentication makes sure that you - and no unauthorized users - have access to your system and its services. Through the integration of a trusted platform into a corporate network, a company can ensure better and stronger platform identity. For example, when an employee works externally or accesses a corporation's network remotely, the company can control the access from outside sources, monitoring the identity of every platform and only allowing valid users logging in from valid platforms to sign in. Secure authentication means continued productivity without sacrificing security.

Finally, a core function of the TPM is to be able to measure the key software components such as the operating system and security software running on the PC to determine if they're still in a known and trusted state. This will enable better detection of viruses, trojans, and systems that have been compromised by attacks. Knowing a platform's trustworthiness is a key requirement for letting remote systems into corporate networks and participating in high-value transactions and sensitive Web Services.

The vision of an industry standard for security has been forming for years. We're now on the cusp of its fruition, with shipments of TPM-enabled computers having reached a critical mass where users can "flip the switch" and recognize the benefits that come from cutting-edge security hardware welded right to the motherboard of their computers. Powerful software is now available to leverage the increased protection, introducing a whole new era of security. The hacker's job is about to get a lot harder - with improved security built in directly, computers can finally secure and protect themselves more effectively.

This is the compelling case for suggesting that all PC purchases going forward should be Trusted Computers.

Resource
www.trustedcomputinggroup.org