Secure PC Effort Continues

In an effort to enlist hardware vendor support, Microsoft has released more information about its plans to build a secure PC platform, the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB). However, a number of technical and political questions must still be resolved, suggesting that NGSCB will not find its way to market in time for the release of the next Windows client OS, Longhorn, in late 2005. Even as these issues are resolved, uncertain customer demand means that hardware manufacturers may balk at doing the work necessary for NGSCB, including creating a new chip set and modifying CPUs and peripherals.

Hardware Makers Crucial

NGSCB, formerly code-named Palladium, is Microsoft’s long-term plan to better secure data on a PC from unauthorized access, tampering, or use.

NGSCB will consist of two main parts: a new OS component, the “nexus,” which will encrypt and decrypt secure data and act as a gatekeeper to allow other software, including applications, drivers, and non-secure parts of the OS, to access that data; and a new hardware chip, the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which will contain the cryptographic keys used by the nexus. (For an overview of some NGSCB components and how their names have changed since Microsoft first proposed the technology, see the sidebar “NGSCB Terminology Guide“.)