ACPI: Design Principles and Concerns

Abstract. ACPI (Advanced Configuration Power Interface) allows operating systems to efficiently configure the hardware platform they are running on and deal with power management tasks. These tasks used to be achieved by the BIOS because it was the only platform component to know which specific chipset or device registers dealt with power management. In this paper, we illustrate how this shift in the global power management model introduces additional threats, especially for trusted platforms, by showing how rootkits can use ACPI to conceal some of their functions. We also study the relationship between trusted computing blocks and ACPI.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: TRUST
• Authors: Loïc Duflot, Olivier Levillain, Benjamin Morin
• Keywords: Applied Computing, Configuration Power Interface, Power Management, Power Management Tasks, TRUST 2009