Infineon's Trusted Platform Module supports and secures Windows 8

In Windows 8, the TPM is used e.g. in the Microsoft BitLocker Drive Encryption to protect the keys for the encryption of the hard disk. In addition, the TPM provides integrity verification during system boot.

With the release of Windows 8 the importance and role of TPM in the operating system is significantly increased. The TPM technology offers a cost-effective and tamper-proof hardware-based certified security solution, which provides a security level that is not achievable with software-based security solutions. Over the last years many new computing devices have been sold with a built-in trusted platform module chip. The Trusted Computing Group (TCG) estimates that more than 600 million PCs using a TPM were shipped until today.

Infineon’s Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a fully standard compliant TPM which successfully passed the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) certification process regarding the compliance and the security requirements. Infineon will also provide TPM solutions based on the TPM 2.0 library specification of Trusted Computing Group (TCG).

“Given the strong market demand for a common security solution and increased support by Windows 8, TPM penetration in business PCs, Ultrabooks and Tablets will significantly increase over the next years,“ said Juergen Spaenkuch, Vice President and General Manager Platform Security of the Chip Card & Security Division at Infineon Technologies.

TPM Professional Package 4.3

The TPM Professional Package from Infineon already supported prior Windows operating systems. In combination with the currently shipping TPM V1.2 hardware module the new TPM Professional Package 4.3 now also supports Windows 8 which comes with additional security improvements. The latest version of the TPM Professional Package compliant with the Trusted Computing Group’s (TCG) 1.2 specification provides unique TPM management and policy configuration features and supports different platform types, operating systems and multiple languages. The TPM management allows easy configuration of the platform to the TPM environment. It supports Microsoft BitLocker, Microsoft Encrypted File System (EFS), Personal Secure Drive (PSD), encrypted virtual drive, e-mail programs and web browsers encrypting and digital signing.

The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) from Infineon is a specific protected and encapsulated microcontroller security chip used to defend the internal data structures against external attacks. Infineon was the first in the market offering a Common Criteria certified TPM 1.2. The nature of this security chip allows that the information like keys, password and digital certificates stored within is made more secure from external software attacks and physical theft. TPM is an implementation of Root-of-Trust which is integrated into the boot process to establish trust level and gather measurement about the running environment for trusted reporting. Hence, TPM is typically affixed to the motherboard of a computing system.