Trusted Computing

Trusted Computing (also abbreviated TC) is a technology developed and promoted by the Trusted Computing Group. The term is taken from the field of trusted systems and has a specialized meaning. With Trusted Computing the computer will consistently behave in specific ways, and those behaviors will be enforced by hardware and software. Enforcing this Trusted behavior is achieved by loading the hardware with a unique ID and unique master key and denying even the owner of a computer knowledge and control of their own master key. Trusted Computing is extremely controversial as the hardware is not merely secured for the owner; enforcing Trusted behavior means it is secured against the owner as well.

Trusted Computing proponents such as International Data Corporation,[1] the Enterprise Strategy Group[2] and Endpoint Technologies Associates[3] claim the technology will make computers safer, less prone to viruses and malware, and thus more reliable from an end-user perspective. In addition, they also claim that Trusted Computing will allow computers and servers to offer improved computer security over that which is currently available.

Chip manufacturers Intel and AMD, hardware manufacturers such as Dell, and Operating System providers such as Microsoft all plan to include Trusted Computing into coming generations of products.[4][5]a[›] The U.S. Army requires that every new small PC it purchases must come with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM)[6][7]. As of July 3, 2007, so does virtually the entire Department of Defense.[8] According to the International Data Corporation, by 2010 essentially all portable PCs and the vast majority of desktops will include a TPM chip.