Abstract: An improved architecture is provided, based upon the prior art common data security architecture, with the modification of adding in a generic trust policy library (217) at an add-in security modules layer (215) and a policy interpreter (224) at a common security services manager layer (202), so that individual users may provide sets of trust policies in the form of a trust policy description file (223), which uses a generic policy description language provided by the architecture. The architecture provides a generic method of incorporating trust policies into a computing platform in a manner which avoids a prior art problem of the semantics of trust policies which are hard-coded in prior art trust policy modules (117). The architecture also improves management flexibility. In the present disclosure, a generic policy description language is provided, which enables different users to define the semantics of a plurality of trust policies.

Abstract: A software application to be performed by a second computing resource on behalf of a first computing resource is transmitted to and installed on the second computing resource, and is run thereon using inputs received via a user interface. The software application includes a verification module for creating a sequence of data consisting of a plurality of choice points defining the sequence of events which occurred during the running of the software application. The sequence of data is transmitted to the first computing resource together with the result of the execution of the software application, the first computing resource being adapted to check the sequence of data to determine whether or not the software application was executed correctly.

Abstract: A generic evidence generation core (GEGC) 320 receives evidence data from an environment-specific security application 21 and performs one or more generic validating functions using available validating units, including a time stamper 323, a trusted signer 324 and a cryptographic unit 325, amongst others. Validation data is formed by the validating units, under the control of an evidence generation specification 314, which tailors the validating functions of the GEGC 320 according to the needs of particular evidence data. In use, the evidence generation specification 314 is selected in response to a particular evidence data supplied from the environment specific security application 21, and a policy evaluator 322 determines the functions of the GEGC 320 to be applied to that evidence data.

Abstract: An improved architecture is provided, based upon the prior art common data security architecture, with the modification of adding in a generic trust policy library (217) at an add-in security modules layer (215) and a policy interpreter (224) at a common security services manager layer (202), so that individual users may provide sets of trust policies in the form of a trust policy description file (223), which uses a generic policy description language provided by the architecture. The architecture provides a generic method of incorporating trust policies into a computing platform in a manner which avoids a prior art problem of the semantics of trust policies which are hard-coded in prior art trust policy modules (117). The architecture also improves management flexibility. In the present disclosure, a generic policy description language is provided, which enables different users to define the semantics of a plurality of trust policies.