Intel, IBM and NTT DoCoMo have co-developed a security specification dubbed Trusted Mobile Platform which is designed make mobile-commerce services more secure and help protect against viruses and other software attacks.
The Trusted Mobile Platform architecture for future wireless data services has defined a set of hardware and software components that can be constructed to build devices offering different levels of security. The offering builds on established, strong security techniques and applies them to hardware and software architectures to define a trusted execution environment that protects the device at boot time and during runtime.
These components aim to function together to limit the potential damage from malicious applications and to enable a set of security services protecting mobile commerce applications such as electronic tickets and e-wallets for online purchases.
Through tamper-resistant modules and by enabling domain separation, a trusted platform will be able to protect data from potential viruses spreading from one application to the next. In addition, the authorisation and management protocols provide companies with higher levels of security for wireless delivery of new software to employees.
In addition, Trusted Mobile Platform has defined a protocol designed to allow the security state of a device to be shared with other devices in the network, enabling device level trust to be extended into the larger network.
"This collaboration directly enhances handheld architectures to provide the trusted capabilities vital for widespread adoption of mobile commerce and enterprise usage," said Sean Maloney, Intel executive vice president and general manager of Intel's Communications Group.
"Mobile security is more than just protecting against new viruses, worms and attacks; it's about protecting critical business assets and information," added Alistair Rennie, vice president, Sales and Marketing, IBM Pervasive Computing.
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