Out-of-band host OS boot sequence verification

US9367328B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Intel Corporation · US

Inventors

• Daniel Nemiroff · Folsom, US
• Paul J. Thadikaran · Rancho Cordova, US
• Andrew H. Gafken · Folsom, US
• Purushottam Goel · Portland, US
• Nicholas D. Triantafillou · Portland, US
• Paritosh Saxena · Portland, US
• Debra Cablao · Hillsboro, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 28, 2012
• Grant date: Jun 14, 2016
• Expiry date: Jun 28, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06F2221/033
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Embodiments of techniques and systems for out-of-band verification of host OS components are described. In embodiments, a out-of-band host OS boot sequence verification system (“BSVS”) may access system memory without detection by a host OS process, or “out of band.” The BSVS may access host OS components in the system memory and may generate signatures from memory footprints of the host OS components. These signatures may then be compared to trusted signatures to verify integrity of the host OS components. In embodiments, this verification may be performed during a boot of a host OS or on demand. In embodiments, the trusted signatures may be pre-stored by the BSVS before a boot; in some embodiments, the trusted signatures may be previously-computed and then stored by the BSVS. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.