Hypervisor Secure Zone for Virtual Machine Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current security solutions for computer systems fail to effectively separate sensitive tasks from non-sensitive tasks, leaving them vulnerable to breaches due to reliance on software alone or limited hardware support, particularly in virtual machine environments.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize a supervisor to control access and enforce security guarantees by executing tasks on separate virtual machines, with the supervisor ensuring secure execution by managing physical memory, peripherals, and communication, and employing cryptographic techniques for integrity and authentication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If software alone (such as anti-virus software) is used for security, then the device complexity is low, but the security reliability is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the computing environment into multiple isolated virtual machines, separating sensitive tasks from non-sensitive tasks. Each VM operates in an isolated environment with its own virtualized hardware resources, preventing malware in one VM from affecting others. This segmentation provides enhanced security reliability while maintaining manageable complexity through automated virtualization management.
Solution Approach 2:
A virtualization layer acts as an intermediary between the physical hardware and the operating systems running on virtual machines. This intermediary layer enforces security policies, manages resource allocation, and isolates VMs from each other, providing enhanced security without requiring complex changes to individual VM configurations or hardware.
2Reliability
If virtual machine technologies are used to separate sensitive tasks, then the security reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization platform provides multiple security functions through a unified system: task isolation, resource management, encrypted communication, and secure key distribution. This multi-functionality achieves high security reliability while avoiding the need for multiple separate security systems, thereby controlling overall device complexity.
3Reliability
If encrypted communication channels are established between virtual machines, then the security reliability is improved, but the communication speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges encryption operations into the virtualization layer's communication infrastructure, allowing encrypted channels between VMs to be established without adding significant overhead. The virtualization management system handles key distribution and encryption/decryption operations efficiently, minimizing the impact on communication speed while ensuring security reliability.
Data Source
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Figure 2A
AI summary
A system, an apparatus and a method for providing a secure computing environment may be provided. In one aspect, an apparatus may comprise a communication port and a computer processor coupled to the communication port. The computer processor may be configured to initialize a hypervisor, establish a first virtual machine under control of the hypervisor and execute code for a secure zone on the first virtual machine. To execute code for the secure zone, the computer processor may be further configured to verify an administrative task and execute the administrative task, which may include: establish a connection with an administrator device, ensure that the administrator device is one of a set of intended administrator devices, receive a command through the connection with the administrator device and establish a second virtual machine under control of the hypervisor. The command may relate to executing a task on the second virtual machine.