Tamper detection mechanism for a personal computer and a method of use thereof

摘要

A tamper detection mechanism for a personal computer (PC) and a method of use thereof is disclosed. Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention comprises a tamper detection mechanism. The tamper detection mechanism comprises a first Root-of Trust Measurement (RTM) module which is coupled to and fixed within the PC, a second RTM module being removably attached to the PC and a diagnostic program for comparing a copy of the first RTM module with a copy of the second RTM module to determine whether the first RTM module is valid. A second aspect of the present invention comprises a method of provided tamper detection for a PC. The method comprises providing a first RTM module, providing a second RTM module and utilizing a diagnostic program to compare a copy of the first RTM module with the a copy of the second module to determine whether the first RTM module is valid. Through the use of the present invention, an extra level of tamper protection is added to the PC since it would require an attacker to disable the RTM module as well as the diagnostic program. Additionally, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides cost differentiation to the Original Equipment Manufacturer whereby customers that do not want or need this level of protection can be provided with platforms that are built without it at a substantially lower cost.