BIOS Agent Locking Storage Controller for Data Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing theft of portable computers and the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data stored on them, as highlighted by the high frequency of laptop thefts and the potential for malicious access even if a stolen laptop is recovered, necessitates effective security measures to protect both personal and confidential information.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a BIOS agent that stores security policies within the BIOS of a client device, which can lock the persistent storage medium upon detection of unauthorized access or theft, requiring authentication credentials to access the data, thereby preventing malicious users from accessing sensitive information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If security policies are implemented to lock persistent storage medium, then data security is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The BIOS agent pre-configures security policies and authentication credentials in the BIOS firmware before the operating system loads. This preliminary setup ensures that security measures are already in place before user data can be accessed, preventing unauthorized access without requiring complex runtime security decisions.
Solution Approach 2:
The BIOS agent acts as an intermediary layer between the persistent storage medium and the operating system. It intercepts access requests and enforces security policies by verifying authentication credentials stored in BIOS, thereby protecting data without requiring the operating system itself to become more complex.
2Reliability
If authentication credentials are required to access data, then unauthorized access is prevented, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Authentication credentials are pre-stored and configured in the BIOS firmware during system setup or manufacturing. This preliminary configuration allows users to access their data quickly without going through complex authentication setup procedures each time, as the verification process is already established in the BIOS layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The BIOS agent automatically manages authentication verification without requiring user intervention beyond providing the credential. The system self-verifies credentials against stored values and automatically grants or denies access, eliminating the need for complex manual security management by the user.
Data Source
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AI summary
Techniques for protecting resources of a client from theft or unauthorized access. A BIOS agent stores policy data within a BIOS of the client. The BIOS agent is one or more software modules operating in the BIOS of the client. The policy data describes one or more security policies which the client is to follow. In response to the client following at least one of the one or more security policies, a persistent storage medium of the client is locked by instructing a controller of the persistent storage medium to deny, to any entity, access to data stored on the persistent storage medium unless the entity supplies, to the controller, a recognized authentication credential. In this way, a malicious user without access to the recognized authentication credential cannot access the data stored on the persistent storage medium, even if the persistent storage medium is removed from the client.