Abstract: Despite the best intentions of a cloud service provider, digital assets of may be moved to a geographic location that deviates from a geographic preference, policy, or setting of the owner of the digital assets. A monitoring tool can monitor network location of a digital asset hosted by a cloud service provider. Movement of the digital asset from a first network location to a second network location is detected. In response to detecting that the digital asset moves, a geographic location that corresponds to the second network location is determined. It is then determined that the geographic location deviates from a geographic setting configured for the digital asset. A notification that the digital asset has been moved to the geographic location that deviates from the geographic setting is generated.

Abstract: A method for securing asynchronous client server transactions is provided in the illustrative embodiments. A request including an application identifier and a version of a second application is received at a first application. A service identifier is generated if a session with the second application is valid. A registry is generated at the first application. A catalog is generated based on the registry and the service identifier and the catalog are sent to the second application. A sub-request including the service identifier is received as part of an asynchronous client server transaction. Validity of the sub-request is determined by determining whether the service identifier has expired, whether the sub-request requests a service that is permissible according to the catalog, whether the service identifier is used in conjunction with the second application, or a combination thereof. If the sub-request is valid, the service is provided.

Abstract: A technique for addressing geographical location issues in a computing environment includes receiving, at a data processing system, location information indicating a permissible geographical location in which a virtual machine image for a consumer may be deployed. A request for an exception to deploy the virtual machine image outside of the permissible geographical location is issued, from the data processing system. An exception grant or an exception denial is received, at the data processing system, from the consumer in response to the request. The virtual machine image is deployed, using the data processing system, to one or more servers in the computing environment that are outside of the permissible geographical location in response to receipt of the exception grant. The virtual machine image is deployed, using the data processing system, to one or more servers in the computing environment that are within the permissible geographical location in response to receipt of the exception denial.

Abstract: A method, system and computer program product for enhancing the functionality of the existing core root of trust measurement (CRTM). The CRTM is extended to allow platform manufacturer controlled and certified code to be incorporated into the function of the CRTM, wherein the manufacturer may define the policy for accepting a new function into the CRTM. When a firmware or software module image is compiled, the build process generates a hash value of the compiled firmware or software image, wherein the hash value reflects a fingerprint (or short hand) representation of the compiled image. A determination is made as to whether the hash value of the firmware or software image is to be a CRTM extension. If so, a digital signature of the module is created using the CRTM extension private key. This signature value is added to the firmware or software module.

Abstract: A first data processing system, which includes a first cryptographic device, is communicatively coupled with a second data processing system, which includes a second cryptographic device. The cryptographic devices then mutually authenticate themselves. The first cryptographic device stores a private key of a first asymmetric cryptographic key pair and a public key of a second asymmetric cryptographic key pair that is associated with the second data processing system. The second cryptographic device stores a private key of the second asymmetric cryptographic key pair and a public key of the first asymmetric cryptographic key pair that is associated with the first data processing system.

Abstract: A method to enable access to resources hosted in a compute cloud begins upon receiving a registration request to initiate a user's registration to use resources hosted in the compute cloud. During a registration process initiated by receipt of the registration request, a federated single sign-on (F-SSO) request is received. The F-SSO request includes an assertion (e.g., an HTTP-based SAML assertion) having authentication data (e.g., an SSH public key, a CIFS username, etc.) for use to enable direct user access to a resource hosted in the compute cloud. Upon validation of the assertion, the authentication data is deployed within the cloud to enable direct user access to the compute cloud resource using the authentication data. In this manner, the cloud provider provides authentication, single sign-on and lifecycle management for the user, despite the “air gap” between the HTTP protocol used for F-SSO and the non-HTTP protocol used for the user's direct access to the cloud resource.

Abstract: A method is presented for implementing a trusted computing environment within a data processing system. A hypervisor is initialized within the data processing system, and the hypervisor supervises a plurality of logical, partitionable, runtime environments within the data processing system. The hypervisor reserves a logical partition for a hypervisor-based trusted platform module (TPM) and presents the hypervisor-based trusted platform module to other logical partitions as a virtual device via a device interface. Each time that the hypervisor creates a logical partition within the data processing system, the hypervisor also instantiates a logical TPM within the reserved partition such that the logical TPM is anchored to the hypervisor-based TPM. The hypervisor manages multiple logical TPM's within the reserved partition such that each logical TPM is uniquely associated with a logical partition.

Abstract: A method, an apparatus, a system, and a computer program product is presented for virtualizing trusted platform modules within a data processing system. A virtual trusted platform module along with a virtual endorsement key is created within a physical trusted platform module within the data processing system using a platform signing key of the physical trusted platform module, thereby providing a transitive trust relationship between the virtual trusted platform module and the core root of trust for the trusted platform. The virtual trusted platform module can be uniquely associated with a partition in a partitionable runtime environment within the data processing system.

Abstract: Multiple trusted platform modules within a data processing system are used in a redundant manner that provides a reliable mechanism for securely storing secret data at rest that is used to bootstrap a system trusted platform module. A hypervisor requests each trusted platform module to encrypt a copy of the secret data, thereby generating multiple versions of encrypted secret data values, which are then stored within a non-volatile memory within the trusted platform. At some later point in time, the encrypted secret data values are retrieved, decrypted by the trusted platform module that performed the previous encryption, and then compared to each other. If any of the decrypted values do not match a quorum of values from the comparison operation, then a corresponding trusted platform module for a non-matching decrypted value is designated as defective because it has not been able to correctly decrypt a value that it previously encrypted.

Abstract: Multiple logical partitions are provided in a data processing system. A unique context is generated for each one of the logical partitions. When one of the logical partitions requires access to the hardware TPM, that partition's context is required to be stored in the hardware TPM. The hardware TPM includes a finite number of storage locations, called context slots, for storing contexts. Each context slot can store one partition's context. Each one of the partitions is associated with one of the limited number of context storage slots in the hardware TPM. At least one of the context slots is simultaneously associated with more than one of the logical partitions. Contexts are swapped into and out of the hardware TPM during runtime of the data processing system so that when ones of the partitions require access to the hardware TPM, their required contexts are currently stored in the hardware TPM.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer usable program product for securing asynchronous client server transactions are provided in the illustrative embodiments. A request including an application identifier and a version of a second application is received at a first application. A service identifier is generated if a session with the second application is valid. A registry is generated at the first application. A catalog is generated based on the registry and the service identifier and the catalog are sent to the second application. A sub-request including the service identifier is received as part of an asynchronous client server transaction. Validity of the sub-request is determined by determining whether the service identifier has expired, whether the sub-request requests a service that is permissible according to the catalog, whether the service identifier is used in conjunction with the second application, or a combination thereof. If the sub-request is valid, the service is provided.

Abstract: A data processing method accepts a removable storage media, which becomes electrically engaged with a system unit within the data processing system, after which the removable storage media and the hardware security unit mutually authenticate themselves. The removable storage media stores a private key of a first asymmetric cryptographic key pair and a public key of a second asymmetric cryptographic key pair that is associated with the hardware security unit, and the hardware security unit stores a private key of the second asymmetric cryptographic key pair and a public key of the first asymmetric cryptographic key pair that is associated with the removable storage media. In response to successfully performing the mutual authentication operation between the removable storage media and the hardware security unit, the system unit is enabled to invoke cryptographic functions on the hardware security unit while the removable storage media remains engaged with the system unit.

Abstract: A method, system and computer program product for implementing general purpose PCRs with extended semantics (referred to herein as “ePCRs”) in a trusted, measured software module. The module is designed to run in one of a hypervisor context, an isolated partition, or under other isolated configurations. Because the software module is provided using trusted (measured) code, the software implementing the PCRs is able to run as a simple software process in the operating system (OS), as long as the software is first measured and logged. The software-implemented ePCRs are generated as needed to record specific measurements of the software and hardware elements on which an application depends, and the ePCRs are able to ignore other non-dependencies.

Abstract: A solution for evaluating trust in a computer infrastructure is provided. In particular, a plurality of computing devices in the computer infrastructure evaluate one or more other computing devices in the computer infrastructure based on a set of device measurements for the other computing device(s) and a set of reference measurements. To this extent, each of the plurality of computing devices also provides a set of device measurements for processing by the other computing device(s) in the computer infrastructure.

Abstract: An architecture for a distributed data processing system comprises a system-level service processor along with one or more node-level service processors; each are uniquely associated with a node, and each is extended to comprise any components that are necessary for operating the nodes as trusted platforms, such as a TPM and a CRTM in accordance with the security model of the Trusted Computing Group. These node-level service processors then inter-operate with the system-level service processor, which also contains any components that are necessary for operating the system as a whole as a trusted platform. A TPM within the system-level service processor aggregates integrity metrics that are gathered by the node-level service processors, thereafter reporting integrity metrics as requested, e.g., to a hypervisor, thereby allowing a large distributed data processing system to be validated as a trusted computing environment while allowing its highly parallelized initialization process to proceed.

Abstract: A method is presented for implementing a trusted computing environment within a data processing system. A hypervisor is initialized within the data processing system, and the hypervisor supervises a plurality of logical, partitionable, runtime environments within the data processing system. The hypervisor reserves a logical partition for a hypervisor-based trusted platform module (TPM) and presents the hypervisor-based trusted platform module to other logical partitions as a virtual device via a device interface. Each time that the hypervisor creates a logical partition within the data processing system, the hypervisor also instantiates a logical TPM within the reserved partition such that the logical TPM is anchored to the hypervisor-based TPM. The hypervisor manages multiple logical TPM's within the reserved partition such that each logical TPM is uniquely associated with a logical partition.

Abstract: Multiple trusted platform modules within a data processing system are used in a redundant manner that provides a reliable mechanism for securely storing secret data at rest that is used to bootstrap a system trusted platform module. A hypervisor requests each trusted platform module to encrypt a copy of the secret data, thereby generating multiple versions of encrypted secret data values, which are then stored within a non-volatile memory within the trusted platform. At some later point in time, the encrypted secret data values are retrieved, decrypted by the trusted platform module that performed the previous encryption, and then compared to each other. If any of the decrypted values do not match a quorum of values from the comparison operation, then a corresponding trusted platform module for a non-matching decrypted value is designated as defective because it has not been able to correctly decrypt a value that it previously encrypted.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product are described for implementing a trusted computing environment within a data processing system where the data processing system includes a single hardware trusted platform module (TPM). Multiple logical partitions are provided in the data processing system. A unique context is generated for each one of the logical partitions. When one of the logical partitions requires access to the hardware TPM, that partition's context is required to be stored in the hardware TPM. The hardware TPM includes a finite number of storage locations, called context slots, for storing contexts. Each context slot can store one partition's context. Each one of the partitions is associated with one of the limited number of context storage slots in the hardware TPM. At least one of the context slots is simultaneously associated with more than one of the logical partitions.

Abstract: Multiple trusted platform modules within a data processing system are used in a redundant manner that provides a reliable mechanism for securely storing secret data at rest that is used to bootstrap a system trusted platform module. A hypervisor requests each trusted platform module to encrypt a copy of the secret data, thereby generating multiple versions of encrypted secret data values, which are then stored within a non-volatile memory within the trusted platform. At some later point in time, the encrypted secret data values are retrieved, decrypted by the trusted platform module that performed the previous encryption, and then compared to each other. If any of the decrypted values do not match a quorum of values from the comparison operation, then a corresponding trusted platform module for a non-matching decrypted value is designated as defective because it has not been able to correctly decrypt a value that it previously encrypted.

Abstract: A method, computer program, and system for paging platform configuration registers in and out of a trusted platform module. In a trusted computing platform, an unlimited number of platform configuration registers can be obtained through paging. The trust platform module encrypts and decrypts platform configuration registers for storage outside the trusted platform module.