Trusted workstation in a networked client/server computing system
US6477648B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 23, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 5, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2463/062
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A trusted workstation includes a network interface card (NIC) with trusted computing base (TCB) extensions that provide for securely booting the workstation and performing subsequent receive and transmit packet filtering in support of a network's system architecture requirements. The NIC includes a send address confirm circuit which includes a trusted source address (e.g., a MAC address) uniquely associated with the trusted workstation. For each packet to be transmitted from the trusted workstation over the network, the NIC first checks the source address inserted in the packet by the NIC driver running in the user session to be sure that the driver inserted source address is to equal to the trusted address resident. Thus, if untrusted software on the workstation attempts mischiefly transmit a forged packet with a source address other than the trusted source address, the NIC prohibits transmission of the packet with the forged source address. This prevents the trusted workstation from forging its packets with another client's source address. The NIC also includes a receive address confirmation circuit which ensures that the trusted workstation only receives packets from authorized …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.