Title
Terra: a virtual machine-based platform for trusted computing
Abstract
We present a flexible architecture for trusted computing, called Terra, that allows applications with a wide range of security requirements to run simultaneously on commodity hardware. Applications on Terra enjoy the semantics of running on a separate, dedicated, tamper-resistant hardware platform, while retaining the ability to run side-by-side with normal applications on a general-purpose computing platform. Terra achieves this synthesis by use of a trusted virtual machine monitor (TVMM) that partitions a tamper-resistant hardware platform into multiple, isolated virtual machines (VM), providing the appearance of multiple boxes on a single, general-purpose platform. To each VM, the TVMM provides the semantics of either an "open box," i.e. a general-purpose hardware platform like today's PCs and workstations, or a "closed box," an opaque special-purpose platform that protects the privacy and integrity of its contents like today's game consoles and cellular phones. The software stack in each VM can be tailored from the hardware interface up to meet the security requirements of its application(s). The hardware and TVMM can act as a trusted party to allow closed-box VMs to cryptographically identify the software they run, i.e. what is in the box, to remote parties. We explore the strengths and limitations of this architecture by describing our prototype implementation and several applications that we developed for it.
Year
DOI
Venue
2003
10.1145/945445.945464
SOSP
Keywords
Field
DocType
virtual machine monitor,virtual machine,trusted computing,authentication,tamper resistance
Virtual machine,Trusted Computing,Computer science,White box,Hypervisor,Direct Anonymous Attestation,Open Platform Management Architecture,Trusted computing base,Hengzhi chip,Operating system,Embedded system
Conference
Volume
Issue
ISSN
37
5
0163-5980
ISBN
Citations 
PageRank 
1-58113-757-5
490
45.23
References 
Authors
38
5
Search Limit
100490
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Tal Garfinkel12008171.66
Ben Pfaff22396240.10
Jim Chow370565.92
Mendel Rosenblum44129572.54
Dan Boneh5212541398.98