Abstract: A computing device includes a processor and a persistent memory for storing information about a first public key associated with a first asymmetric key pair for authenticating the source of a digital certificate. The computing device also includes a second memory for storing one or more current key version indicators. Each of the current key version indicators is associated with a corresponding secondary public key, and the one or more current key version indicators are used by the processor to determine the trust of the corresponding secondary public key.

Abstract: Techniques for using hardware-based mechanisms for updating computing resources are described herein. At a time after receiving a code update request, one or more hardware-supported system management capabilities of processors within a computing system are invoked at least to interrupt execution of currently running instructions. While the system management capabilities are active and instruction execution is suspended, programmatic routines are updated. After the updates are complete, instruction execution is resumed.

Abstract: Approaches to enable the configuration of computing resources for executing virtual machines on behalf of users to be cryptographically attested to or verified. When a user requests a virtual machine to be provisioned, an operator of the virtualized computing environment can initiate a two phase launch of the virtual machine. In the first phase, the operator provisions the virtual machine on a host computing device and obtains cryptographic measurements of the software and/or hardware resources on the host computing device. The operator may then provide those cryptographic measurements to the user that requested the virtual machine. If the user approves the cryptographic measurements, the operator may proceed with the second phase and actually launch the virtual machine on the host. In some cases, operator may compare the cryptographic measurements to a list of approved measurements to determine whether the host computing device is acceptable for hosting the virtual machine.

Abstract: A system and method for threat detection and mitigation through run-time introspection. The system and method comprising receiving a request to monitor a computing environment. Based on the received request, the system and method further includes determining a set of introspection points for monitoring the computing environment. receive a request to monitor a computing environment, measuring at individual introspection points of the set of introspection points to obtain a set of measurements, generating a graph of a set of resources in the computing environment, wherein the graph correlates individual resources in the set of resources to other resources based on at based at least in part on the set of measurements, and determining whether to perform a security action based at least in part on whether an evaluation of the graph indicates a threat to the computing environment.

Abstract: A virtualized system that is capable of executing a computation that has been identified as a repeatable computation and recording various representations of the state of the computing environment throughout the execution of the repeatable computation, where the state of the computing environment can be cryptographically signed and/or verified using a trusted platform module (TPM), or other cryptographic module. For example, a TPM embedded in the host computing device may generate a hash measurement that captures the state of the repeatable computation at the time of the computation. This measurement can be digitally signed using one or more cryptographic keys of the TPM and recorded for future use. The recorded state can subsequently be used to repeat the computation and/or determine whether the computation was repeated successfully according to certain defined criteria.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for a security mechanism evaluation service are disclosed. A storage medium stores program instructions that when executed on a processor define a programmatic interface enabling a client to submit an evaluation request for a security mechanism. On receiving an evaluation request from a client indicating a particular security mechanism using public-key encryption, the instructions when executed, identify resources of a provider network to be used to respond. The instructions, when executed, provide to the client, one or more of: (a) a trustworthiness indicator for a certificate authority that issued a public-key certificate in accordance with the particular security mechanism; (b) a result of a syntax analysis of the public-key certificate; or (c) a vulnerability indicator for a key pair.

Abstract: Techniques are described for injecting noise in a timer value provided to an instruction requesting the timer value. A plurality of tasks may execute on a processor, wherein the processor may comprise one or more processing cores and each task may include a plurality of computer executable instructions. In accordance with one technique for injecting noise in the timer value, a request for a first timer value is received by one or more computer executable instructions belonging to a first task from the plurality of tasks, and in response, a second timer value is provided to the first task instead of the first timer value, wherein the second timer value is derived from the first timer value and a random number.

Abstract: Approaches are described for updating code and/or instructions in one or more computing devices. In particular, various embodiments provide approaches for updating the microcode of one or more processors of a computing device without requiring a restart of the computing device and without disrupting the various components (e.g., applications, virtual machines, etc.) executing on the computing device. The microcode updates can be performed on host computing devices deployed in a resource center of a service provider (e.g., cloud computing service provider), where each host computing device may be executing a hypervisor hosting multiple guest virtual machines (or other guest applications) for the customers of the service provider.

Abstract: Approaches to enable the configuration of computing resources for executing virtual machines on behalf of users to be cryptographically attested to or verified. When a user requests a virtual machine to be provisioned, an operator of the virtualized computing environment can initiate a two phase launch of the virtual machine. In the first phase, the operator provisions the virtual machine on a host computing device and obtains cryptographic measurements of the software and/or hardware resources on the host computing device. The operator may then provide those cryptographic measurements to the user that requested the virtual machine. If the user approves the cryptographic measurements, the operator may proceed with the second phase and actually launch the virtual machine on the host. In some cases, operator may compare the cryptographic measurements to a list of approved measurements to determine whether the host computing device is acceptable for hosting the virtual machine.

Abstract: A hardware secret is securely maintained in a computing device. The hardware secret is used to generate a hash of a passcode that is persistently stored for later use in verification. When a passcode is received as part of an authentication attempt, the hardware secret is used to generate a reference hash of the received passcode that is then compared with the persistently stored hash to determine whether there is a match.

Abstract: A trusted peripheral device can be utilized with an electronic resource, such as a host machine, in order to enable the secured performance of security and remote management in the electronic environment, where various users might be provisioned on, or otherwise have access to, the electronic resource. The peripheral can have a secure channel for communicating with a centralized management system or service, whereby the management service can remotely connect to this trusted peripheral, using a secure and authenticated network connection, in order to run the above-described functionality on the host to which the peripheral is attached.

Abstract: Techniques are described for allocating resources to a task from a shared hardware structure. A plurality of tasks may execute on a processor, wherein the processor may include one or more processing cores and each task may include a plurality of computer executable instructions. In accordance with one technique for allocating resources to a task from a shared hardware structure amongst multiple tasks, aspects of the disclosure describe assigning a first identifier to a first task from the plurality of tasks, associating a portion of the shared hardware resource with the first identifier, and restricting access and/or observability for computer executable instructions executed from any other task than the first task to the portion of the hardware resource associated with the first identifier.

Abstract: Data payloads that may not be accessible to customer computing devices may be utilized to verify network address ownership. In some examples, a first payload may be provided to a computing device having an address. Additionally, a second payload may be received from the computing device. Based at least in part on a relationship between the first payload and the second payload, an action associated with the address may be performed.

Abstract: A virtualized system that is capable of executing a computation that has been identified as a repeatable computation and recording various representations of the state of the computing environment throughout the execution of the repeatable computation, where the state of the computing environment can be cryptographically signed and/or verified using a trusted platform module (TPM), or other cryptographic module. For example, a TPM embedded in the host computing device may generate a hash measurement that captures the state of the repeatable computation at the time of the computation. This measurement can be digitally signed using one or more cryptographic keys of the TPM and recorded for future use. The recorded state can subsequently be used to repeat the computation and/or determine whether the computation was repeated successfully according to certain defined criteria.

Abstract: A trusted computing host is described that provides various security computations and other functions in a distributed multitenant and/or virtualized computing environment. The trusted host computing device can communicate with one or more host computing devices that host virtual machines to provide a number of security-related functions, including but not limited to boot firmware measurement, cryptographic key management, remote attestation, as well as security and forensics management. The trusted computing host maintains an isolated partition for each host computing device in the environment and communicates with peripheral cards on host computing devices in order to provide one or more security functions.

Abstract: Approaches are described for updating code and/or instructions in one or more computing devices. In particular, various embodiments provide approaches for updating the microcode of one or more processors of a computing device without requiring a restart of the computing device and without disrupting the various components (e.g., applications, virtual machines, etc.) executing on the computing device. The microcode updates can be performed on host computing devices deployed in a resource center of a service provider (e.g., cloud computing service provider), where each host computing device may be executing a hypervisor hosting multiple guest virtual machines (or other guest applications) for the customers of the service provider.

Abstract: A trusted peripheral device can be utilized with an electronic resource, such as a host machine, in order to enable the secured performance of security and remote management in the electronic environment, where various users might be provisioned on, or otherwise have access to, the electronic resource. The peripheral can have a secure channel for communicating with a centralized management system or service, whereby the management service can remotely connect to this trusted peripheral, using a secure and authenticated network connection, in order to run the above-described functionality on the host to which the peripheral is attached.

Abstract: Techniques for using hardware-based mechanisms for updating computing resources are described herein. At a time after receiving a code update request, one or more hardware-supported system management capabilities of processors within a computing system are invoked at least to interrupt execution of currently running instructions. While the system management capabilities are active and instruction execution is suspended, programmatic routines are updated. After the updates are complete, instruction execution is resumed.

Abstract: A trusted computing host is described that provides various security computations and other functions in a distributed multitenant and/or virtualized computing environment. The trusted host computing device can communicate with one or more host computing devices that host virtual machines to provide a number of security-related functions, including but not limited to boot firmware measurement, cryptographic key management, remote attestation, as well as security and forensics management. The trusted computing host maintains an isolated partition for each host computing device in the environment and communicates with peripheral cards on host computing devices in order to provide one or more security functions.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for securing client-specified credentials at cryptographically-attested resources are described. An indication is obtained that resources deployed for execution of a compute instance of a multi-tenant computing service at an instance host of a provider network meet a client's security criteria. An encrypted representation of credentials to be used at the compute instance to implement operations on behalf of a client is received at the instance host. The credentials are extracted from the encrypted representation using a private key unique to the instance host, used for the operations, and then removed from the instance host without being saved in persistent memory.