A Cloud Architecture of Virtual Trusted Platform Modules

Abstract

We propose and implement a cloud architecture of virtual TPMs. In this architecture, TPM instances can be obtained from the TPM cloud on demand. Hence, the TPM functionality is available for applications that do not have TPM chips in their local platforms. Moreover, users can access their keys and data in the same TPM instance even if they move to other platforms. The TPM functionality in cloud is easy to access for applications developed in different languages since cloud computing delivers services in standard protocols. The functionality of the TPM cloud is demonstrated by using it to implement the Needham-Schroeder public-key protocol for web authentication.