Staying In Control With Trusted Platform Modules

How Does This Compare To Intel's AMT?

We need to mention Intel's Active Management Technology (iAMT) at least tangentially. Intel approaches the platform topic with a whole management suite that addresses safety and administrative issues. With the keywords "Discover, Heal and Protect", iAMT should find its place. Intel provides a centralized administration that consists of Out-Of-Band recognition (OOB) of computers independent from their status and operating system, shortened repair cycles and easier to handle security of all computers against malware. The most sophisticated product at the moment would be the Intel ATX Motherboard D945GNT, which combines all possibilities of TC and iAMT.

Risks, Dangers And Consequences

With each suggestion of more advanced security technologies, one can expect a storm of critics and alarmists who are destined to condemn each and every change to the status quo. But which are the actual risks and dangers?

Most obvious are the efforts of the film and music industry to push all computer users towards a more stringent DRM paradigm. Once the majority of the computer hardware is delivered with TPMs and an operating system (e.g. Windows Vista) that presupposes these TPMs, a complex and complete monitoring of stored data by copyright owners might become possible.

A first example of this was Microsoft's attempt to grant its Media Player the right to install DRM updates without notifying the user. This raises the question of what data on the computer would appear to be legitimate and how it can be regulated. Having a look at the political situation in countries such as Cuba or China, for example, it can easily be seen that dangers lurk here in terms of new censorship possibilities. Hardware could be used, for example, to display only text and imagery that was considered acceptable by a country's rulers.

This might generally leave an unpleasant feeling to users, picturing the options of a "black box setup". By constant or retroactive monitoring of all procedures on the computer, a complete user or work profile could be provided really quickly.