Information security system
First Claim
1. A computer system comprising at least one platform containing a trusted entity and at least one label, the trusted entity being operable such that use of the or each label by the trusted entity is dependent on the presence or potential presence of a predetermined software state in the or each platform.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An information security system is disclosed having a considerably simplified access control infrastructure. The number of secrets in a computer system domain is reduced to a minimum, yet individual users may still be identified and access to applications may still be individually controlled. The trusted entity in each of a plurality of platforms (100, 200, 202, 203) of the computer system may store an identity secret of the platform (100, 200, 202, 203) and may be trusted to use that secret in conjunction with an information label only when the platform (100, 200, 202, 203) is running the correct software to provide and/or take part in a particular service associated with that information label.
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Citations
25 Claims
- 1. A computer system comprising at least one platform containing a trusted entity and at least one label, the trusted entity being operable such that use of the or each label by the trusted entity is dependent on the presence or potential presence of a predetermined software state in the or each platform.
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16. A computer system comprising at least one platform containing a trusted entity and at least one label, the trusted entity being operable such that use of the or each label by the trusted entity is dependent on the presence or potential presence of a predetermined software state in the or each platform, wherein the at least one label is operable to indicate or advertise the presence or potential presence of the predetermined software state in the or each platform, and wherein the or each label is widely published and describes a service or resource which can potentially be offered by the at least one platform.
- 17. A computer system comprising at least one platform containing a trusted entity and at least one label, wherein the label describes a predetermined software state in the or each platform and wherein the trusted entity is operable to use the label if the predetermined software state is described by the label is present or potentially present in the or each platform.
- 20. A computer system comprising at least one platform containing a trusted entity and at least one application, wherein the platform is operable to perform security functions for the computer system.
- 24. A method for a computer system to signal the potential availability of a computing resource or service comprises providing a platform containing a trusted entity with at least one label, wherein the label is used by the platform only when a predetermined software state is present or potentially present in the platform.
Specification