How_to_Use_TPM_Whitepaper_20090302_Final_3_.pdf

Copyright© 2009 Trusted Computing Group—Other names and brands are properties of their respective owners.

How to Use the TPM: A Guide to Hardware-Based Endpoint Security

Taking advantage of the inherent security provided by

the Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

user authentication, network access, data protection and more that takes security to higher level than

software-based security. Perhaps surprisingly to many IT and operations staff, the TPM can be combined

with widely used enterprise hardware such as network policy enforcement points, including

Checkpoint

firewalls, Cisco switchers and routers, and other 802.1x-compatible devices.

For those wondering about standards, the International Standard Organization’s (ISO) JTC1 (ISO/IEC

Joint Committee 1) has approved the transposition of TCG’s TPM 1.2 specification to an ISO/IEC

standard. With the completion of the comments resolution process currently underway, publication of

ISO/IEC 11889, Parts 1-4 is expected in the first half of 2009. This will make the TPM an even more well-

computers and there are over 100 million computers with a TPM, the potential for its presence within an

organization is quite high. So the real issue must be complexity, or, as it turns out, perceived complexity.

An example is the best way to disprove the complexity myth. It requires only four simple steps to enable

and use the TPM.

This is the first step to leverage the TPM’s capabilities. Some vendors now offer applications that

remotely provision the TPM and manage it, eliminating the need to “touch” each system. In this way,

thousands of systems quickly can be made more secure.

Once the TPM is activated, users can easily encrypt files, folders and email as well as more securely

manage passwords. To meet multi-factor authentication requirements, the TPM complements fingerprint