Terra: a virtual machine-based platform for trusted computing

We present a flexible architecture for trusted computing, called Terra, that allows applications with a wide range of security requirements to run simultaneously on commodity hardware. Applications on Terra enjoy the semantics of running on a separate, dedicated, tamper-resistant hardware platform, while retaining the ability to run side-by-side with normal applications on a generalpurpose computing platform. Terra achieves this synthesis by use of a trusted virtual machine monitor (TVMM) that partitions a tamper-resistant hardware platform into multiple, isolated virtual machines (VM), providing the appearance of multiple boxes on a single, general-purpose platform. To each VM, the TVMM provides the semantics of either an “open box,” i.e. a general-purpose hardware platform like today’s PCs and workstations, or a “closed box,” an opaque special-purpose platform that protects the privacy and integrity of its contents like today’s game consoles and cellular phones. The sof...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: SOSP
• Authors: Tal Garfinkel, Ben Pfaff, Jim Chow, Mendel Rosenblum, Dan Boneh
• Keywords: General-purpose Hardware Platform, Operating System, SOSP 2003, Tamper-resistant Hardware Platform, Virtual Machine Monitor