CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY-TO-POLICY ASSOCIATION AND ENFORCEMENT FOR SECURE KEY-MANAGEMENT AND POLICY EXECUTION

摘要

Key-to-policy association and hardware-based policy enforcement for file/folder encryption (FFE) and/or full-disk encryption (FDE) are provided. A CPU independent microprocessor (CIM) is coupled to a platform and provides a secure storage service, secure non-volatile storage, secure policy enforcement engine, and system interface for communication with platform components independent of the CPU. The CIM stores a key and its associated policies by generating a hardware-derived key to wrap the key prior to securely storing it in non-volatile storage on the CIM. Upon receiving a request for key-access by an application, policy status and credentials are verified before the key is returned.