Preventing attacks on devices with multiple CPUs

摘要

Disclosed are systems and methods to utilize two different processing units (e.g., CPUs) to monitor each other. The processing units may have limited visibility and/or read only access to each other to reduce the possibility that one affected processing unit could compromise the second processing unit. Devices containing multiple processing units of different architectures could be configured so that one type of processing unit monitors another type of processing unit. When the processing units are different architectures a single piece of malicious software (malware) is unlikely to affect both processing units. Each processing unit can be configured to detect rootkits and other types of malware on the other processor(s) of the system/device.

主权项

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions stored thereon to cause two or more processing units to:
interrogate, by a first processing unit, information associated with a second processing unit; analyze, by the first processing unit, the information associated with the second processing unit to determine if an operating condition associated with the second processing unit indicates a first potential abnormality, the first potential abnormality comprising malicious code operable to attempt concealment from instructions executed by the second processing unit; interrogate, by the second processing unit, information associated with the first processing unit; and analyze, by the second processing unit, the information associated with the first processing unit to determine if an operating condition associated with the first processing unit indicates a second potential abnormality comprising malicious code operable to attempt concealment from instructions executed by the first processing unit.