Trusted Computing
Technology developed and promoted by the Trusted Computing Group / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Trusted Computing (TC) is a technology developed and promoted by the Trusted Computing Group.[1] The term is taken from the field of trusted systems and has a specialized meaning that is distinct from the field of confidential computing.[2] With Trusted Computing, the computer will consistently behave in expected ways, and those behaviors will be enforced by computer hardware and software.[1] Enforcing this behavior is achieved by loading the hardware with a unique encryption key that is inaccessible to the rest of the system and the owner.
TC is controversial as the hardware is not only secured for its owner, but also against its owner, leading opponents of the technology like free software activist Richard Stallman to deride it as "treacherous computing",[3][4] and certain scholarly articles to use scare quotes when referring to the technology.[5][6]
Trusted Computing proponents such as International Data Corporation,[7] the Enterprise Strategy Group[8] and Endpoint Technologies Associates[9] state that the technology will make computers safer, less prone to viruses and malware, and thus more reliable from an end-user perspective. They also state that Trusted Computing will allow computers and servers to offer improved computer security over that which is currently available. Opponents often state that this technology will be used primarily to enforce digital rights management policies (imposed restrictions to the owner) and not to increase computer security.[3][10]:ā23ā
Chip manufacturers Intel and AMD, hardware manufacturers such as HP and Dell, and operating system providers such as Microsoft include Trusted Computing in their products if enabled.[11][12] The U.S. Army requires that every new PC it purchases comes with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM).[13][14] As of July 3, 2007, so does virtually the entire United States Department of Defense.[15]