Secure booting system and method

• US 8,241,368 B2
• Filed: 07/29/2010
• Issued: 08/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Softex LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Softex Incorporated
• Inventors: Kapila, Ranjit, Varghese, Elza A., Tucker, Thomas D., Bhansali, Apurva M., Jain, Manoj K., Dube, Shradha, Rangarajan, Gayathri, Patel, Mehul R., Raikar, Rayesh K., Dhanani, Kamal M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Orgad, Edan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tolentino, Roderick
• Application Number:
  US12/846,488
• Publication Number:
  US 20100299749A1
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• Field of Search: 726/34, 726/35, 379 37- 45, 340287-291
• US Class Current: 726/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/572 Secure firmware programming, e.g. of basic input output system [BIOS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/082 using revocation of authorisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning

Abstract

In a method for securing and disabling an electronic device, the electronic device automatically executes a basic input/output system (BIOS) component of a security and tracking service during boot up. The BIOS component automatically determines whether an application component of the security and tracking service has requested disabling of the electronic device. In response to a determination that the application component has requested disabling of the electronic device, the BIOS component automatically displays system information and unlock key. The BIOS component also automatically prompts a user of the electronic device to enter an activation password to re-enable the electronic device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A method for securing and disabling an electronic device, the method comprising:

during boot up of the electronic device, automatically executing a basic input/output system (BIOS) component of;

during execution of the BIOS component, automatically determining whether an application component has requested disabling of the electronic device;

during execution of the BIOS component, in response to a determination that the application component has requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising;

displaying system information and an unlock key, and

automatically prompting a user of the electronic device to enter an activation password to re-enable the electronic device,

wherein the activation password may be obtained using the unlock key; and

during execution of the BIOS component, in response to a determination that the application component has not requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising;

determining whether the electronic device contains a non-viewable component;

in response to a determination that the electronic device contains the non-viewable component, automatically transferring control to the non-viewable component; and

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, automatically restoring the non-viewable component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation of automatically executing the BIOS component comprises:

calling the BIOS component from power on self test (POST) firmware of the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

in response to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does contain the bootable OS partition, automatically prompting the user to supply a recovery medium for the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

after prompting the user to supply the recovery medium, restoring the non-viewable component from the recovery medium; and

after restoring the non-viewable component, automatically restarting the electronic device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining the activation password through communication with a source from the group consisting of;

a website; and

a call center.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

in response to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does not contain a bootable OS partition, proceeding with a boot process of the electronic device.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a non-transitory machine accessible storage medium; and

instructions stored in the non-transitory machine accessible storage medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to implement a basic input/output system (BIOS) component;

wherein the BIOS component is configured to execute during boot up of the electronic device; and

wherein the BIOS component, when executed, performs operations comprising;

automatically determining whether an application component has requested disabling of the electronic device;

in response to a determination that the application component has requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising;

displaying system information and an unlock key, and

automatically prompting a user of the electronic device to enter an activation password to re-enable the electronic device,

wherein the activation password may be obtained using the unlock key; and

in response to a determination that the application component has not requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising;

determining whether the electronic device contains a non-viewable component;

in response to a determination that the electronic device contains the non-viewable component, automatically transferring control to the non-viewable component; and

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, automatically restoring the non-viewable component.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the BIOS component is configured to be called from power on self test (POST) firmware of the electronic device.

9. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does contain the bootable OS partition by automatically prompting the user to supply a recovery medium for the electronic device.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the BIOS component is configured to perform operations comprising:

restoring the non-viewable component from the recovery medium, after prompting the user to supply the recovery medium; and

automatically restarting the electronic device, after restoring the non-viewable component.

11. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does not contain a bootable OS partition by proceeding with a boot process of the electronic device.

12. An electronic device comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory machine accessible storage medium responsive to the processor; and

instructions stored in the non-transitory machine accessible storage medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to implement a basic input/output system (BIOS) component;

wherein the BIOS component is configured to execute during boot up of the electronic device; and

wherein the BIOS component, when executed, performs operations comprising;

automatically determining whether an application component has requested disabling of the electronic device;

in response to a determination that the application component has requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising;

displaying system information and an unlock key, and

automatically prompting a user of the electronic device to enter an activation password to re-enable the electronic device,

wherein the activation password may be obtained using the unlock key; and

in response to a determination that the application component has not requested disabling of the electronic device, automatically performing operations comprising;

determining whether the electronic device contains a non-viewable component;

in response to a determination that the electronic device contains the non-viewable component, automatically transferring control to the non-viewable component; and

in response to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component, automatically restoring the non-viewable component.

13. An electronic device according to claim 12, further comprising:

power on self test (POST) firmware configured to call the BIOS component during boot up of the electronic device.

14. An electronic device according to claim 12, wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does contain the bootable OS partition by automatically prompting the user to supply a recovery medium for the electronic device.

15. An electronic device according to claim 14, wherein the BIOS component is configured to perform operations comprising:

restoring the non-viewable component from the recovery medium, after prompting the user to supply the recovery medium; and

automatically restarting the electronic device, after restoring the non-viewable component.

16. An electronic device according to claim 12, wherein:

the BIOS component is configured to respond to a determination that the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component by determining whether the electronic device contains a bootable operating system (OS) partition; and

the BIOS component is configured to respond to determinations that (a) the electronic device does not contain the non-viewable component and (b) the electronic device does not contain a bootable OS partition by proceeding with a boot process of the electronic device.