Secure Processor Context Management with Trust Vector Verification
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing computing environments lack effective mechanisms to securely control and enforce restricted access to resources for executing software, particularly in preventing malicious code and ensuring secure transitions between software contexts.
Innovation Solution
A secure processor system comprising a secure processor, context manager, and trust vector verifier, which manages and enforces contexts through trust vector descriptors to control access to resources, ensuring secure execution by switching between contexts and authenticating software portions before execution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If software is allowed to access computing resources freely, then software functionality and versatility are improved, but security and protection against malicious code deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the computing environment into distinct contexts, each with its own trust vector descriptor that defines specific resource access permissions. Software executes within bounded contexts rather than having unrestricted access, allowing versatility within each context while maintaining security through segmentation. The context manager switches between contexts to enforce appropriate access controls.
Solution Approach 2:
The trust vector verifier acts as an intermediary between software and computing resources. It checks trust vector descriptors to determine whether software is authorized to access specific resources, preventing direct unrestricted access while maintaining necessary functionality. This mediator enforces security policies without completely blocking legitimate software operations.
2Reliability
If context switching is implemented to enforce security, then security control is improved, but system complexity and overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The context manager and trust vector verifier are designed as universal components that handle multiple contexts and software instances. Rather than creating separate security mechanisms for each context, a single multi-functional system manages all context switching and trust verification, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining strong security control.
Solution Approach 2:
Each context has its own trust vector descriptor that self-describes its access permissions and boundaries. The system uses these self-contained descriptors to automatically enforce security policies without requiring complex external verification logic for each context, simplifying the security management mechanism.
3Measurement precision
If trust vector verification is performed for every resource access, then access control precision is improved, but processing speed and efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Trust vector descriptors are prepared and loaded into the trust vector verifier in advance, before actual resource access occurs. This preliminary setup allows the verification process to operate with pre-configured permission sets, reducing the computational overhead during actual resource access operations while maintaining precise access control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses trust vector descriptors as simplified representations or copies of complex security policies. Rather than performing full security evaluations for each resource access, the system references these pre-computed descriptor copies, maintaining precision while significantly improving processing speed through efficient lookup and comparison.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments described herein relate to apparatus for executing software in a secure computing environment. A secure processor can be used and configured to request a context swap from a first context to a second context when switching execution from a first portion of software to a second portion of software. A context manager, which can be in communication with the secure processor, can be configured to receive and initiate a requested context swap. A trust vector verifier, which can be in communication with the secure processor and the context manager, can be configured to load a trust vector descriptor upon command from a context manager.