Trustworthy Systems

Trusted ⇐ trustworthy ⇐ proof – Position paper

Authors

Gernot Heiser

Open Kernel Labs

NICTA

UNSW

    Open Kernel Labs, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Trusted computing is important, but we argue that it remains an illusion as long as the underlying trusted computing base (TCB) is not trustworthy. We observe that present approaches to trusted computing do not really address this issue, but are trusting TCBs which have not been shown to deserve this trust. We argue that only mathematical proof can ensure the trustworthiness of the TCB. In short: trust requires trustworthiness, which in turn requires proof. We also show that this is achievable.

BibTeX Entry

  @inproceedings{Heiser_08a,
    address          = {Berlin, DE},
    author           = {Gernot Heiser},
    booktitle        = {Conference on Future of Trust in Computing},
    editor           = {D. Gawrock and H. Raimer and A.-R. Sadeghi and C. Vishik},
    isbn             = {978-8348-0794-6},
    keywords         = {operating systems, security, common criteria, implementation correctness, proof},
    month            = may,
    pages            = {55--59},
    paperurl         = {https://trustworthy.systems/publications/nicta_full_text/986.pdf},
    publisher        = {Vieweg+Teubner},
    title            = {Trusted {$\Leftarrow$} Trustworthy {$\Leftarrow$} Proof -- {Position} Paper},
    year             = {2008}
  }

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