Method and apparatus for secure remote programming of firmware and configurations of a computer over a network
First Claim
1. A method for securely writing data over a network to a device in a system, comprising the steps of:
- generating a signal to wake up the system;
determining whether the signal was generated in response to the system having received a wake-up packet from over the network; and
configuring the system to allow data to be written to the device if the signal was generated in response to the wake-up packet, otherwise prohibiting data from being written to the device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and related apparatus enables one station on a local area network (LAN) 24 to remotely and securely modify sensitive information of another station on the LAN 24. A workstation 12, acting as a remote management console, generates a wake-up packet 32 or 42 intended for a desktop computer 14 on the LAN 24. A network interface 64 receives and processes the wake-up packet, and issues a signal to wake up the desktop computer. In response to the signal, the desktop computer 14 bootstraps. Data indicating that the network interface 64 has issued the signal is stored in register 104. In the course of bootstrapping, the processor 78 examines the register 104 to determine that the network interface 64 has initiated the wake-up of the desktop computer 14. Once this determination is made, the write protection circuitry 76 places the BIOS ROM 74 in an unprotected state wherein the contents BIOS ROM 74 can be modified by the workstation 12.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method for securely writing data over a network to a device in a system, comprising the steps of:
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generating a signal to wake up the system; determining whether the signal was generated in response to the system having received a wake-up packet from over the network; and configuring the system to allow data to be written to the device if the signal was generated in response to the wake-up packet, otherwise prohibiting data from being written to the device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An computer system for securely writing data to a device in a system over a network, comprising:
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a plurality of components capable of issuing a wake-up signal that wakes up the computer system, the components including a network interface coupled to the network for issuing the wake-up signal in response to receiving a valid wake-up packet from over the network, one of the components issuing the wake-up signal; data storage coupled to the network interface for storing data indicating whether the network interface has issued the wake-up signal; a processor coupled to the data storage for determining from the stored data whether the network interface issued the wake-up signal; and circuitry, coupled to the processor and the device, allowing data to be written to the device if the processor determines from the stored data that the network interface issued the signal, otherwise prohibiting data to be written to the device. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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Specification