Abstract: A mechanism for securing a series of related function calls for firmware services using session tokens is discussed.

Abstract: Systems and methods for securing firmware function calls are discussed. More particularly, mechanisms for reducing the chance of tampering and information disclosure attacks against firmware function calls implemented in SMM/MM are described. Data may be passed to and from a calling entity to platform firmware via a communication channel where both the data and the means of decrypting the data are protected from potential snooping OS applications, drivers or DMA-enabled hardware devices.

Abstract: A technique for sharing an application between devices is discussed. Embodiments of the present invention transmit information about an application from a source computing device to a target computing device. An application sharing service on the target computing device then automatically searches the target computing device for a resident corresponding application or its equivalent and if a corresponding application is not found, searches an application store or repository for the corresponding application. If the application or its equivalent is found in the application store or repository, a user may be prompted to download the application or the application may be downloaded automatically. If the corresponding application was found on the target computing device originally, a check may be performed to determine if the most recent update is installed and, if the most recent version is not installed, it may be downloaded from the application store.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method executed by at least one processor includes steps of communicating over a computer network a plurality of inputs to a pension risk transfer pricing service, the plurality of inputs including pension plan census data, applying by the pension risk transfer pricing service a computer-implemented pension risk transfer model for generating pension risk transfer pricing, and providing through the pension risk transfer pricing service a user interface for interacting with a user by communicating the pension risk transfer pricing and investments to the user and the user interface configured such that the user is able to strike the pension risk transfer at the pension risk transfer pricing.

Abstract: A secure computing platform and method for securely enabling inserted or replacement hardware devices during boot of a computing platform are discussed. More particularly, an authorized list holding identifying information associated with approved insertable or replaceable hardware devices is maintained in non-volatile storage and checked by the firmware during a platform boot sequence against identifying information provided by the inserted or replacement hardware devices. Only devices whose information matches the stored authorized list information are enabled.

Abstract: Systems and methods for performing security event mitigation with firmware are discussed. A firmware-based security event framework receives notifications of security events occurring in a firmware-controlled operating environment on a computing platform, logs information related to the event and optionally performs mitigation operations to address the security event.

Abstract: A firmware-based system and method for detecting an indicator of an override condition during a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Secure Boot sequence. The indicator of the override condition may be detected based upon the pressing of a specialized button, designated key or keys or other received input that indicates both physical presence of the user and the desire, on the current boot, to bypass UEFI Secure Boot. An embodiment may work for only a single boot, not require access into a setup application, and may be accessed by externally accessible features of the computer system.

Abstract: Systems and methods for securing firmware function calls are discussed. More particularly, mechanisms for reducing the chance of tampering and information disclosure attacks against firmware function calls implemented in SMM/MM are described. Data may be passed to and from a calling entity to platform firmware via a communication channel where both the data and the means of decrypting the data are protected from potential snooping OS applications, drivers or DMA-enabled hardware devices.

Abstract: Mechanisms for providing enhanced system performance and reliability on multi-core computing devices are discussed. Embodiments use modified hardware and/or software so that when a System Management Interrupt (SMI #) is generated, only a single targeted CPU core enters System Management Mode (SMM) in response to the SMI while the remaining CPU cores continue operating in normal mode. Further, a multi-threaded SMM environment and mutual exclusion objects (mutexes) may allow guarding of key hardware resources and software data structures to enable individual CPU cores among the remaining CPU cores to subsequently also enter SMM in response to a different SMI while the originally selected CPU core is still in SMM.

Abstract: Systems and methods for performing flash updates during runtime are discussed. More particularly, the amount of secure memory required to prevent tampering during the update process is limited by storing hashes of logical blocks of the update image in secure memory after initial validation while storing the update image in non-secure RAM or another non-secure memory location. Additionally, disruptions to the computing platform are limited by dividing the logical blocks into smaller progress units to minimize the amount of time spent in the secure operating environment performing the update.

Abstract: A system and method for boot speed optimization is discussed. Uncompressed copies of UEFI firmware volumes and OS boot loader files stored on a portion of an NVDIMM are used during a boot sequence in a computing platform. The cached copies on the NVDIMM are used during the boot sequence after a successful validation check is performed to provide faster boots of the computing platform.

Abstract: A secure computing platform and method for securely enabling inserted or replacement hardware devices during boot of a computing platform are discussed. More particularly, an authorized list holding identifying information associated with approved insertable or replaceable hardware devices is maintained in non-volatile storage and checked by the firmware during a platform boot sequence against identifying information provided by the inserted or replacement hardware devices. Only devices whose information matches the stored authorized list information are enabled.

Abstract: A system and method for dynamically sizing system memory for a computing device using firmware and NVDIMMs is discussed. Additionally techniques for allocating between system memory and non-volatile storage on one or more NVDIMMs are discussed.

Abstract: A system and method for sending RESTful commands to UEFI firmware using UEFI variable services is discussed. Processed RESTful commands return data in a RESTful format.

Abstract: A system and method for performing sleep state enhancements in a computing device using firmware and NVDIMMs that include DRAM and flash memory is discussed. The flash-backed DRAM covers all of platform memory. All writes to DRAM during system operation are propagated to the flash. Sleep state requests trigger a System Management Interrupt and a firmware a SMI handler handles the sleep state request so as to enable power savings during the sleep state and facilitate faster resume times when exiting the sleep state.

Abstract: A system and method for updating firmware data on a computing platform in response to a firmware update request received in the form of a signed capsule file received via a runtime service is discussed. The firmware update request may be a request to update UEFI firmware and be received using the UpdateCapsule runtime service. The firmware data may include data associated with UEFI protected variables, SMBIOS data, logo data, microcode update data and pre-operating system security policy data.

Abstract: A technique for managing a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)-controlled computing device from a separate mobile computing device is discussed.

Abstract: A system and method for boot speed optimization is discussed. Uncompressed copies of UEFI firmware volumes and OS boot loader files stored on a portion of an NVDIMM are used during a boot sequence in a computing platform. The cached copies on the NVDIMM are used during the boot sequence after a successful validation check is performed to provide faster boots of the computing platform.

Abstract: A system and method for updating firmware data on a computing platform in response to a firmware update request received in the form of a signed capsule file received via a runtime service is discussed. The firmware update request may be a request to update UEFI firmware and be received using the UpdateCapsule runtime service. The firmware data may include data associated with UEFI protected variables, SMBIOS data, logo data, microcode update data and pre-operating system security policy data.

Abstract: A system and method for performing sleep state enhancements in a computing device using firmware and NVDIMMs that include DRAM and flash memory is discussed. The flash-backed DRAM covers all of platform memory. All writes to DRAM during system operation are propagated to the flash. Sleep state requests trigger a System Management Interrupt and a firmware a SMI handler handles the sleep state request so as to enable power savings during the sleep state and facilitate faster resume times when exiting the sleep state.