International Business Machines Corporation

James William Walker

David Haikney

David Alan Gilbert

David N Mackintosh

David Sherwood

Travis Walton

Robert John Wallis

Jose J P Perez

James C Whitson

Shawn Patrick Mullen

Ryan Jason Cocks

David Nigel Mackintosh

Imran Imtiaz

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter include a method for optimizing allocation of computers. The method can include gathering, via a plurality of sensors in a plurality of computers, information about devices of the computers. The method can include determining, via at least one of the processors, usage of the computers based on the information. The method can include determining, via at least one of the processors, performance of the computers based on the information. The method can include allocating, via at least one of the processors, certain ones of the computers for different uses based, at least in part, on the performance and usage of the computers.

Computer system productivity monitoring

Updating boot components in compliance with a chain of trust by loading a boot component update forming part of the chain of trust during a boot process in an execution environment. Boot component measurements are detected and stored as a revised set of attestation values for retrieval by an attestation system. Performing the boot component update upon determining a pass indication for the chain of trust including the boot component update.

Updating software

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter include gathering, from a plurality of sensors of a computer system, information about the computer system. Embodiments further include generating a profile of performance of the computer system indicating a state of components of the computer system during use. Embodiments further include generating a profile of usage of the computer system indicating current activities and usage of the computer system. Embodiments further include analyzing the profile of performance of the computer system against the profile of usage of the computer system to determine if the state of the components of the computer system during use is acceptable for the current activities and usage of the computer system. Embodiments further include determining that productivity of the computer system is inhibited based, at least in part, on the analyzing the profile of performance of the computer system against the profile of usage of the computer system.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for updating software. In particular this invention relates to a method, system and computer program for updating an operating system in a hypervisor comprising: determining a new version of a component of the operating system; installing the new component version; measuring an identifying characteristic of the component and making it available to an attestation system; notifying the attestation system that a component has been updated to a new version whereby, when the attestation system finds that the identifying characteristic of the new component does not match a pre-stored attestation value it is aware that a legitimate mis-match could have occurred. The installing of the new version of the component comprises: identifying an updater associated with new version of the component; measuring an identifying characteristic of the identified updater; loading and installing the new version of the component; and making both the identifying measurement of the updater and the new version of the component available to the attestation system.

An apparatus for balancing consumption of random data, comprising an entropy manager operable to: responsive to receipt of a request for random data, monitor one or more events associated with a plurality of entities and access one or more rules; determine whether a higher level of entropy associated with the random data is required by analyzing the one or more events in accordance with the one or more rules; responsive to a determination that a higher level of entropy is not required, set an entropy state associated with the entropy to a lower level of entropy and obtain random data from an entropy source having a lower level of entropy; and responsive to a determination that a higher level of entropy is required, switch an entropy state associated with the entropy to a higher level of entropy and obtain random data from an entropy source having a higher level of entropy.

Balancing consumption of random data

A method, system and program product for performing a trusted boot of a virtual machine comprises the steps of executing, in turn, a series of components of the trusted boot, performing a function on each component prior to the execution of the respective component, storing the output of the functions in a virtual trusted platform module, detecting that the virtual trusted platform module has not responded to the storing of the output of a function in the virtual trusted platform module, and generating a request that the virtual trusted platform module be disabled.

Trusted boot of a virtual machine

A method for attesting a component of a system during a boot process. The method includes steps of: verifying that the system is in a trusted state; in response to verifying that the system is in a trusted state, requesting an enrollment of the system wherein the requesting step further comprises the step of: retrieving enrollment data associated with the system; retrieving current input data associated with the component of the system; comparing the current input data against the enrollment data in order to determine whether the system can retain its trusted state; wherein in response to the comparing step, if the current input data matches the enrollment data, the system retains its trusted state; and accepting the trusted state until receipt of a notification, from the system having a retained trusted state, of an update to the system.

Attesting a component of a system during a boot process

A method for attesting use of an interactive component during a boot process, comprising the steps of: reading, in response to determining use of the interactive component, associated interactive input; determining whether the input should be trusted; and in response to determining that the input should be trusted, processing the input to create a trusted cryptographic value, further comprising: matching, in response to a subsequent interactive input being read, the subsequent interactive input with one or more of the trusted cryptographic values in order to determine whether the subsequent interactive input is trusted.

Attesting use of an interactive component during a boot process

This invention relates to updating an operating system in a hypervisor comprising: determining a new version of a component of the operating system; installing the new component version; measuring an identifying characteristic of the component and making it available to an attestation system; notifying the attestation system that a component has been updated to a new version whereby, when the attestation system finds that the identifying characteristic of the new component does not match a pre-stored attestation value it is aware that a legitimate mis-match could have occurred. The installing of the new version of the component comprises: identifying an updater associated with new version of the component; measuring an identifying characteristic of the identified updater; loading and installing the new version of the component; and making both the identifying measurement of the updater and the new version of the component available to the attestation system.

Attesting a virtual machine that is migrating from a first environment to a second environment includes in response to initiation of migration of the virtual machine from the first environment to the second environment, accessing one or more stored trust values generated during the trusted boot of the virtual machine in the first environment, determining if the accessed trust values define a security setting sufficient for the second environment, and if the accessed trust values do not define a security setting sufficient for the second environment, performing a predetermined action in relation to the migration of the virtual machine to the second environment.

Virtual machine migration

A system, method, and computer program product for providing validation of the compliance of a trusted host environment with a requirement of a virtual machine (VM). The system includes: a store component for cryptographically storing configuration data associated with the trusted host environment in at least one cryptographic data structure; a send component, responsive to the store component storing the configuration data, for sending the at least one cryptographic data structure to a control component; an analyze component, responsive to the control component receiving the at least one cryptographic data structure, for analyzing the at least one cryptographic data structure; a compare component, responsive to the analyze component determining the configuration data, for comparing the configuration data with the requirement; and a verify component, responsive to the compare component determining that the configuration data matches the requirement, for allowing verification of the VM.

Virtual machine validation

A method and apparatus is disclosed for managing encryption keys in a computer system in which in response to the change of a system key the old key and new key are both maintained for subsequent use.

Growing community of inventors

Manchester, United Kingdom

James William Walker