Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F7/00—Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
  • G07F7/08—Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means
  • G07F7/10—Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means together with a coded signal, e.g. in the form of personal identification information, like personal identification number [PIN] or biometric data
  • G07F7/1008—Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F12/00—Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures
  • G06F12/14—Protection against unauthorised use of memory or access to memory
  • G06F12/1458—Protection against unauthorised use of memory or access to memory by checking the subject access rights
  • G06F12/1483—Protection against unauthorised use of memory or access to memory by checking the subject access rights using an access-table, e.g. matrix or list
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
  • G06F21/60—Protecting data
  • G06F21/62—Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
  • G06F21/6218—Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
  • G06F21/6281—Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database at program execution time, where the protection is within the operating system
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
  • G06F21/70—Protecting specific internal or peripheral components, in which the protection of a component leads to protection of the entire computer
  • G06F21/78—Protecting specific internal or peripheral components, in which the protection of a component leads to protection of the entire computer to assure secure storage of data
  • G06F21/79—Protecting specific internal or peripheral components, in which the protection of a component leads to protection of the entire computer to assure secure storage of data in semiconductor storage media, e.g. directly-addressable memories
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/34—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using cards, e.g. integrated circuit [IC] cards or magnetic cards
  • G06Q20/341—Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/34—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using cards, e.g. integrated circuit [IC] cards or magnetic cards
  • G06Q20/357—Cards having a plurality of specified features
  • G06Q20/3576—Multiple memory zones on card
  • G06Q20/35765—Access rights to memory zones
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F12/00—Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures
  • G06F12/02—Addressing or allocation; Relocation
  • G06F12/0223—User address space allocation, e.g. contiguous or non contiguous base addressing

Definitions

• the present invention relates to securing computer systems by logical confinement of data.
• the present invention therefore more particularly aims to overcome these drawbacks.
• the method for securing a computer system by logical confinement of data comprises the separation of said data by owner and their encryption with a dedicated key; this process of separation and encryption is carried out using a procedure comprising the following steps:
• a memory allocation carried out by a memory manager at the request of another component of the operating system which transmits to the memory manager the identity of the requester.
• This requester will become the owner of the allocated memory.
• the transmission of the identity of the requester can be done either by managing a current context, or by passing parameters to the functions of the memory manager; a control by the aforementioned memory manager of all the memory allocation units, each being associated with a possessor of the memory allocation unit.
• Each memory allocation unit can have only one and only one owner; nevertheless several memory allocation units can have the same owner; - an encryption of the data of each owner using a key associated with this owner;
• This secret can typically be supplied to the memory manager by the operating system when the owner is introduced into the system or each time a memory allocation unit is accessed;
• This key can for example be derived from a secret associated with the owner and a so-called "master" key to which only the memory manager has access;
• this attempt can be triggered via the memory manager: in this case, the check carried out by the memory manager automatically leads to the rejection of the request;
• this attempt can be unlawfully triggered, without going through the memory manager, by direct access to the physical memory, in the event that the checks carried out by the hardware are not sufficient to rule out this possibility: the third party may then perform a read, but, not having the decryption key, it will obtain unusable data.
• the method according to the invention does not depend on whether the memory allocation unit is a logical page of fixed size or a block of variable size.
• the process will be refined as follows: when the memory manager receives a request for allocation of a block on behalf of a possessor, it searches for first a page with the same owner; thus, all blocks allocated by a memory allocation unit owner are grouped in one or more dedicated pages.
• the method according to the invention can be improved in several ways (not exclusive):
• the memory manager can associate a key with each possessor and memory allocation unit set. This improvement has two advantages: on the one hand, it reduces the probabilities of discovery of the keys used (in the event of a cryptographic attack) since each key will be used less often; on the other hand, it reduces the risks in case of discovery of a key since only the associated memory allocation unit will be endangered.
• the memory manager can also integrate into each memory unit a zone allowing its integrity to be verified, for example from a simple signed "checksum" or a cryptographic algorithm.
• the data contained in this zone is updated by the memory manager on each write access to the unit. It can be used by the memory manager for verification purposes, either systematically each time the unit is accessed, or periodically. The verification consists simply, before the requested access, of recalculating the integrity data from the content of the unit (data in clear) and comparing it with the data contained in the integrity zone. An untimely or illicit modification of the contents of the unit can then be detected, which will strengthen the security of data management.
• MMU physical protection mechanism
• applications can be grouped into several major categories (possibly, and not limited to, depending on the level of trust that can be placed in them, the first natural distinction being between user applications and operating system applications ), each category being protected from the others by the physical mechanism and the applications being protected from each other by the software confinement method according to the invention.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Software Systems (AREA)
• General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Strategic Management (AREA)
• Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Mathematical Physics (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Bioethics (AREA)
• Storage Device Security (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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• 2002
  • 2002-12-24 FR FR0216933A patent/FR2849233B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-12-23 US US10/540,325 patent/US20060059374A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-12-23 EP EP03813940A patent/EP1576554A2/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2003-12-23 AU AU2003303410A patent/AU2003303410A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-12-23 CN CNB2003801074905A patent/CN100378764C/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-12-23 WO PCT/FR2003/003904 patent/WO2004059493A2/fr not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (2)

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