SunSpec & Sandia DER Cybersecurity Webinar: Cryptographic, Protected Processors for DER Authentication, Control, Measurement, and Attestation

SunSpec & Sandia DER Cybersecurity Webinar: Cryptographic, Protected Processors for DER Authentication, Control, Measurement, and Attestation

The Trusted Computing Group’s (TCG) flagship specification on the Trusted Platform Module provides a rich set of Hardware Security Module (HSM)-like capabilities to include those that support Measurement and Attestation (M&A). As an independent observer, a TPM chip can record host events (such as loading code or data) and securely attest to those events to a remote challenger. When making access control decisions, the challenger can verify device identity and configuration – to include unauthorized or malicious configurations.

While attaching a TPM to many small, embedded devices such as IoT may be impractical, the need remains for a physically isolated set of shielded locations and protected capabilities to support M&A. The TCG is responding to this need with MARS – Measurement and Attestation RootS. The MARS Work Group is specifying methods by which the needed logic can be implemented directly in microcontroller hardware while remaining isolated from the microprocessor environment.

This briefing by the MARS Chair will introduce M&A concepts, relevant use cases and a simplified MARS architecture. Attendees will understand the need for M&A and that it can be enabled by microcontroller manufacturers with little overhead. That is especially true for those already including cryptographic accelerators, as is commonplace.

Speaker: Tom Broström, Chair of the MARS Work Group in the Trusted Computing Group (TCG)