TXT, DRM and Linux

Posted by Ken Y-N on May 20th, 2009 at 03:21pm

LWN.net recently published an article regarding the Linux kernel patches that enable Intel’s Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) and verification of the integrity of the kernel before execution, in an article entitled Enabling DRM in the kernel?.

The basic problem, from some Linux kernel developers’ points of view at least, is that TXT can be used to inplement mostly uncrackable Digital Rights Management.

From my own point of view, TXT enables a Dynamic Root of Trust Measurement (DRTM) which allows a PC to dynamically establish a root of trust after it has started. If you accept the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) as a good thing, DRTM makes it even better. If you swap a graphics card, for instance, with a standard Static Root of Trust Measurement, the system measurement can change and you can lose access to all your TPM-protected data. With DRTM enabled through TXT, the measurement stays the same, and you can use your TPM as before.

The article makes a very good argument, and is well worth the read, although the comments are the usual paranoid nonsense.

Tags: intel, linux, lwn.net, txt

Under Uncategorized Tags: intel, linux, lwn.net, txt