ELECTRONIC DEVICE SECURITY

• US 20110154478A1
• Filed: 10/21/2010
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Chew, Yen Hsiang
• Application Number:
  US12/909,102
• Publication Number:
  US 20110154478A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss

Abstract

An apparatus comprises logic to manage data access in an electronic device by performing operations, comprising detecting at least one of a motion, vibration or change in orientation of the electronic device and in response to a detection, implementing a security policy for the electronic device. Other embodiments may be described.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

logic to manage data access in an electronic device by performing operations, comprising;

detecting at least one of a motion, vibration or change in orientation of the electronic device; and

in response to a detection, implementing a security policy for the electronic device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the security policy comprises:

spinning off a hard drive in the electronic device; and

storing system information and recovery information in nonvolatile memory.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the security policy further comprises encrypting the system information and recovery information in a nonvolatile memory.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the security policy comprises locking a system user interface.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the security policy comprises:

forcing a login procedure when the electronic device restarts; and

permanently locking the electronic device in response to a predetermined number of login failures.

6. A method to manage data access in an electronic device comprising a housing and a processor, the method comprising:

detecting at least one of a motion, vibration or change in orientation of the housing; and

in response to a detection, implementing a security policy for the electronic device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the security policy comprises:

spinning off a hard drive in the electronic device; and

storing system information and recovery information in nonvolatile memory.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the security policy further comprises encrypting the system information and recovery information in nonvolatile memory.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the security policy comprises locking the system user interface.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the security policy comprises:

forcing a login procedure when the system restarts; and

permanently locking the system in response to a predetermined number of login failures.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a first nonvolatile register;

a volatile register; and

logic to manage access to the electronic device by performing operations, comprising;

storing a first password into the first nonvolatile register;

receiving, via a user interface, a second password during a power-up operation;

storing the second password in the volatile register; and

enabling the system to complete power-up operations when the second password corresponds to the first password.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a second nonvolatile register, and logic to:

store a number of failed login attempts in the second nonvolatile register; and

disable at least a portion of the electronic device when the number of failed login attempts exceeds a threshold.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising logic to reset the volatile register when the electronic device is powered on.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising logic to reset the volatile register when the electronic device transitions from an operational state to a low-power state.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising logic to generate a hash of the second password.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising logic to use the second password to access a public key to decrypt the second password.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a comparator which generates a signal based on the first password and the second password as inputs.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a write only register and logic to:

receive in the write only register, via a user interface, a new password for a user; and

store the new password in the first nonvolatile register only when the second password corresponds to the first password.

19. A method to manage access to an electronic device, comprising:

storing a first password in a first nonvolatile register in the electronic device;

receiving, via a user interface, a second password during a power-up operation;

storing the second password in a volatile register in the electronic device; and

enabling the system to complete power-up operations when the second password corresponds to the first password.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

storing a number of failed login attempts in a second nonvolatile register; and

disabling at least a portion of the electronic device when the number of failed login attempts exceeds a threshold.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising resetting the volatile register when the electronic device is powered on.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising resetting the volatile register when the electronic device transitions from an operational state to a low-power state.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising generating a hash of the second password.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising generating, in a comparator, a signal based on the first password and the second password as inputs.

25. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving in a write only register, via a user interface, a new password for a user; and

storing the new password in the first nonvolatile register only when the second password corresponds to the first password.