On Mon, Feb 17, 2003 at 05:54:48PM -0800, Shaun Savage wrote: > I have aquired a TCPA enabled PC and working to get an Open source > program that checks the abilities of the TCPA PC. I was hoping for a > hardware crypto accelorator, but it is slow and does not do much except > ~ protect the keys. IBM has generously released GPL-licensed software to control the TCPA chips on their T30 laptops, and potentially other TCPA chips on IBM hardware. http://www.research.ibm.com/gsal/tcpa/ It is _not_ designed as a generic hardware crypto accelerator. You can find a list of reasonably cheap hardware accelerators at http://www.openbsd.org/crypto.html The OpenSSL website may document other choices in the "engine" section of their software. If you'd like to spend a little more money on crypto accelerators, IBM sells a module in use in ATM machines, the 4758; sun has a similar offering. Both are PCI devices with microcontrollers and dedicated memory and are designed with well-funded attacks in mind. (IBM's 4758 is the only device to be certified at FIPS-140 level 4 (one of three devices, a second also being an IBM device), though one of Ross Anderson's grad students found some flaws in its API a few months ago.) 3com also has a dedicated crypto nic with embedded firewall built in, produced in collaboration with secure computing. GPL drivers are available for them, as well. (3c99x, I think is the model name.) It won't do SSL acceleration, though. Just VPN-like things. > Should TCPA hardware be on the PC's and what right do/should users have > in regard to TCPA hardware? My .sig, randomly chosen, is rather applicable. :) (In fact, Crispin said it in relation to TCPA, but I think it applies rather nicely to other fields as well. :) Personally, I look forward to getting a TCPA-enabled machine. I want a secure bootstrap process that will load a kernel I trust, which will load applications I trust. I think TCPA can provide that, but I could be wrong about its capabilities in providing secure boot procedures. On the other hand, I don't care a whit for Disney's movies, and I don't run Word, so my opinion may be biased. I won't lose anything either way. Other people might. Check out Ross Anderson's TCPA FAQ. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html -- "Security for who?" -- Crispin Cowan
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