Abstract: Systems, methods, and technologies for configuring a conventional smart card and a client machine, and for performing a smart card authorization using the configured smart card and client. Further, the combination of methods provides for mutual authentication—authentication of the client to the user, and authentication of the user to the client. The authentication methods include presenting a specified token to the user sufficient to authenticate the client to the user and thus protect the user-provided PIN. Security is strengthened by using an integrity key based on approved client system configurations. Security is further strengthened by calculating a PIN? value based on a user-specified PIN and a modifier and using the PIN? value for unlocking the smart card.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and technologies for configuring a conventional smart card and a client machine, and for performing a smart card authorization using the configured smart card and client. Further, the combination of methods provides for mutual authentication—authentication of the client to the user, and authentication of the user to the client. The authentication methods include presenting a specified token to the user sufficient to authenticate the client to the user and thus protect the user-provided PIN. Security is strengthened by using an integrity key based on approved client system configurations. Security is further strengthened by calculating a PIN? value based on a user-specified PIN and a modifier and using the PIN? value for unlocking the smart card.

Abstract: A collection of multiple user credentials each associated with one of multiple different users is obtained at a device, and one or more of the multiple user credentials are verified. The collection of multiple user credentials is also compared to a threshold combination of user credentials to be satisfied to access the resource, and a determination is made, based on the comparing and the verifying, as to whether access to the resource is permitted. An indication of whether access to the resource by a requesting user is permitted is returned or provided to another device.

Abstract: This document describes tools that constrain a login to a subset of access rights. In one embodiment, the tools generate a constrained password by executing a cryptographic algorithm on a user ID, general password, and one or more desired constraints. The constrained password is used in place of the general password to gain access rights that are a subset of the access rights that would be granted if the general password were used instead.

Abstract: A portable secure data file includes an encrypted data portion and a metadata portion. When a request associated with a current user of a device to access a portable secure data file is received, one or more records in the metadata portion are accessed to determine whether the current user is permitted to access the file data in the encrypted data portion. If a record indicates the user is permitted to access the file data, a content encryption key in that record is used to decrypt the encrypted data portion.

Abstract: A communication channel has an associated channel authenticator that includes a channel identifier, a use policy identifying how an owner of the communication channel indicates the communication channel is used, and a digital signature over the channel identifier and use policy. The identifier of the communication channel and the use policy can be verified by a computing device, and a check made as to whether a current security policy of the computing device is satisfied by the use policy. An access that the computing device is allowed to have to the communication channel is determined based at least in part on both whether the current security policy is satisfied by the use policy and whether the identifier of the communication channel and the use policy are verified.

Abstract: In an example, one or more cryptographic keys may be associated with a group. Any member of the group may use the key to encrypt and decrypt information, thereby allowing members of the group to share encrypted information. Domain controllers (DCs) maintain copies of the group's keys. The DCs may synchronize with each other, so that each DC may have a copy of the group's keys. Keys may have expiration dates, and any client connected to a DC may generate a new key when a key is nearing expiration. The various clients may create new keys at differing amounts of time before expiration on various DCs. DCs that store keys early thus may have time to propagate the newly-created keys through synchronization before other DCs are requested to store keys created by other clients. In this way, the creation of an excessive number of new keys may be avoided.

Abstract: A communication channel has an associated channel authenticator that includes a channel identifier, a use policy identifying how an owner of the communication channel indicates the communication channel is used, and a digital signature over the channel identifier and use policy. The identifier of the communication channel and the use policy can be verified by a computing device, and a check made as to whether a current security policy of the computing device is satisfied by the use policy. An access that the computing device is allowed to have to the communication channel is determined based at least in part on both whether the current security policy is satisfied by the use policy and whether the identifier of the communication channel and the use policy are verified.

Abstract: Described is a technology by which computer data secrets sealed by a trusted platform module (TPM) or like device may be securely migrated from a physical source computing machine to a physically different destination machine. For example, migration of TPM secrets allows migration of a virtual machine from one physical machine to another. A destination machine receives a set of data sealed at a source machine. The set of data includes a migration key and a secret sealed by the migration key. The destination machine performs attestation with a key server to attest that the destination machine is entitled to access the sealed secret, via credentials, known good configuration and/or other policy compliance. The key server unseals the migration key, and provides a returned key (e.g., the migration key or a session key) to the destination machine for unsealing the secrets.

Abstract: Access to a storage device, such as a disk, is controlled by performing a disk operation using a single cryptographic engine. Keys associated with each layer of a layered structure associated with controlling access to the storage device are combined. The resultant of this combination is used as the key to the cryptographic engine. Data to be retrieved from and written to the storage device are operated on by the cryptographic engine utilizing the combined key. Keys are combined by combining functions associated with layers of the layered structure. A combining function can include an exclusive or function, a cryptographic hash function, or a combination thereof.

Abstract: The subject disclosure pertains to a domain identification system, comprising a principal that has a key and a mnemonically meaningless identifier, the mnemonically meaningless identifier is used to identify the component in a networked environment. The mnemonically meaningless identifier can be bound to the public key by a binding. The component may be part of a neighborhood of components, and each member component knows the members' binding.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and technologies for configuring a conventional smart card and a client machine, and for performing a smart card authorization using the configured smart card and client. Further, the combination of methods provides for mutual authentication—authentication of the client to the user, and authentication of the user to the client. The authentication methods include presenting a specified token to the user sufficient to authenticate the client to the user and thus protect the user-provided PIN. Security is strengthened by using an integrity key based on approved client system configurations. Security is further strengthened by calculating a PIN? value based on a user-specified PIN and a modifier and using the PIN? value for unlocking the smart card.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and technologies for configuring a conventional smart card and a client machine, and for performing a smart card authorization using the configured smart card and client. Further, the combination of methods provides for mutual authentication—authentication of the client to the user, and authentication of the user to the client. The authentication methods include presenting a specified token to the user sufficient to authenticate the client to the user and thus protect the user-provided PIN. Security is strengthened by using an integrity key based on approved client system configurations. Security is further strengthened by calculating a PIN? value based on a user-specified PIN and a modifier and using the PIN? value for unlocking the smart card.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and technologies for configuring a conventional smart card and a client machine, and for performing a smart card authorization using the configured smart card and client. Further, the combination of methods provides for mutual authentication—authentication of the client to the user, and authentication of the user to the client. The authentication methods include presenting a specified token to the user sufficient to authenticate the client to the user and thus protect the user-provided PIN. Security is strengthened by using an integrity key based on approved client system configurations. Security is further strengthened by calculating a PIN? value based on a user-specified PIN and a modifier and using the PIN? value for unlocking the smart card.

Abstract: A method and system for determining the reputation of a sender for sending desirable communications is provided. The reputation system identifies senders of communications by keys sent along with the communications. The reputation system then may process a communication to determine whether it is a desirable communication. The reputation system then establishes a reputation for the sender of the communication based on the assessment of whether that communication and other communications sent by that sender are desirable. Once the reputation of a sender is established, the reputation system can discard communications from senders with undesired reputations, provide to the recipient communications from senders with desired reputations, and place in a suspect folder communications from senders with an unknown reputation.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and technologies for configuring a conventional smart card and a client machine, and for performing a smart card authorization using the configured smart card and client. Further, the combination of methods provides for mutual authentication—authentication of the client to the user, and authentication of the user to the client. The authentication methods include presenting a specified token to the user sufficient to authenticate the client to the user and thus protect the user-provided PIN. Security is strengthened by using an integrity key based on approved client system configurations. Security is further strengthened by calculating a PIN? value based on a user-specified PIN and a modifier and using the PIN? value for unlocking the smart card.

Abstract: A collection of multiple user credentials each associated with one of multiple different users is obtained at a device, and one or more of the multiple user credentials are verified. The collection of multiple user credentials is also compared to a threshold combination of user credentials to be satisfied to access the resource, and a determination is made, based on the comparing and the verifying, as to whether access to the resource is permitted. An indication of whether access to the resource by a requesting user is permitted is returned or provided to another device.

Abstract: A weighted entropy pool service system and methods. Weights are associated with entropy sources and are used to estimate a quantity of entropy contained in data from the entropy sources. An interface is optionally provided to facilitate connecting user entropy sources to the entropy pool service. The quantity of entropy contained in the system is tracked as entropy is distributed to entropy consumers. A persistent entropy pool state file stores entropy across system restarts.

Abstract: In the host operating system of a computing device, entropy data is collected based at least in part on each of one or more hardware components of the computing device. An entropy pool is updated based at least in part on the collected entropy data, and data from the entropy pool is provided to a guest operating system running as a virtual machine of the computing device. The guest operating system maintains a guest operating system entropy pool based on the data from the entropy pool provided by the host operating system. The guest operating system accesses the guest operating system entropy pool and uses the guest operating system entropy pool as a basis for generating values including random numbers.

Abstract: Each member of a group contributes to and calculates a new shared value. A distributed shared value algorithm is used to reach unanimous agreement on a shared value, such that every group member can use the new shared value as soon as it is changed. The distributed shared value agreement methodology operates without the selection of a leader. Each group member performs the distributed shared value agreement methodology and computes the new shared value using one or more of the contributions from the group members in such a way that no one member coerces the resulting shared value.