Cheyenne Property Trust

Hewlett-Packard Company

Cheyenne Property Trust C/o Data Securities International, Inc.

Helmut Fieres

Keith S Klemba

Roger Merckling

Roger Merkling

An international cryptography framework (ICF) is provided that allows manufacturers to comply with varying national laws governing the distribution of cryptographic capabilities. In particular, such a framework makes it possible to ship worldwide cryptographic capabilities in all types of information processing devices (e.g. printers, palm-tops). The ICF comprises a set of service elements which allow applications to exercise cryptographic functions under the control of a policy. The four core elements of the ICF architecture, i.e. the host system, cryptographic unit, policy activation token, and network security server, comprise an infrastructure that provides cryptographic services to applications. Applications that request cryptographic services from various service elements within the ICF are identified through a certificate to protect against misuse of a granted level of cryptography. The host system comprises a set of system programs and services which provide the application with an execution environment. The host system's role within the ICF is twofold. First, the host system provides services to the application in the form of programming interfaces to access the functions offered by the cryptographic unit. Second, the host system provides support for the cryptographic unit in building trust relationships to the host system elements, such as the cryptographic programming interfaces, operating systems drivers, and memory management subsystems.

Host system elements for an international cryptography framework

An application which requests cryptographic services from various service elements within an international cryptography framework is identified through a certificate to protect against the misuse of a granted level of cryptography. A cryptographic unit, one of the framework core elements, builds several certification schemes for application objects. One or more methods are provided that establish a degree of binding between an application code image and issued certificates using the framework elements. Within the framework, the application is assured of the integrity of the cryptographic unit from which it is receiving services. One or more mechanisms are provided which allow the application to validate that the cryptographic unit has not been replaced or tampered with.

Application certification for an international cryptography framework

A cryptographic framework consists of four basic service elements that include a national flag card, a cryptographic unit, a host system, and a network security server. Three of the four service elements have a fundamentally hierarchical relationship. The National Flag Card (NFC) is installed into the Cryptographic Unit (CU) which, in turn, is installed into a Host System (HS). Cryptographic functions on the Host System cannot be executed without a Cryptographic Unit, which itself requires the presence of a valid National Flag Card before it's services are available. The fourth service element, a Network Security Server (NSS), can provide a range of different security services including verification of the other three service elements. Several different configurations that support policy within a cryptographic system allow the framework to be adapted to various connection schemes involving, at least, the cryptographic unit and the policy, including dedicated applications, e.g. a policy provided in a cryptographic unit having either a built-in or local smart card reader, or a policy in a remote smart card reader; and shared applications, e.g. a policy provided in a host system local smart card reader.

Method and apparatus for enforcing the use of cryptography in an

An international cryptography framework (ICF) allows manufacturers to comply with varying national laws governing the distribution of cryptographic capabilities. The invention is concerned primarily with the application certification aspects of the framework where an application that requests cryptographic services from the ICF service elements is identified through some form of certificate to protect against the misuse of a granted level of cryptography. The levels of cryptography granted are described via security policies and expressed as classes of service. A cryptographic unit, one of the ICF core elements, can be used to build several certification schemes for application objects. The invention provides various methods that determine the strength of binding between an application code image and the issued certificates within the context of the ICF elements. A key element with regard to the exercise of a cryptographic function concerns the special requirements for the trust relation that an authority specifies for the cryptographic unit. Any function exercised by the cryptographic unit must be controllable by the associated class of service which represents the security policy. Touchpointing, both in the application and the firmware elements inside the cryptographic unit, plays a key role in exercising control over the functioning of these modules. Another fundamental requirement of the ICF architecture is that the application is assured of the integrity of the cryptographic unit from which it is receiving services. Thus, the invention also provides methods that allow a determination of whether or not the cryptographic unit has been replaced or tampered with.

Dynamic classes of service for an international cryptography framework

Trusted processing capability, for example for a cryptographic unit element in an International Cryptography Framework, secures one or more tasks or processes associated with application code. Trusted processing is assured by a trusted element, where use of the trusted element is based upon the principles of separation and locality, i.e. where the trusted element is associated with a trusted computing base that is separated from the operating system and/or data by a trust boundary, and where protected mechanisms are used to access the trusted element, such that trusted execution occurs only locally in a trusted execution area. The trust processing capability also encompasses a policy controlled main CPU.

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Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Helmut Fieres