Trusted Computing Group

With mobile devices and apps skyrocketing, security clearly will emerge as the critical issue - what good is mobile banking, for example, if we can't secure the transactions or information? And what about the mobile wallet, or electronic health records accessed by Smartphone?

Next week, at the Mobile Computing Summit, Burlingame, California, June 28-30, those focused on mobile computing will look at the issue of security and its impact on future device and applications development. This new event, in its words, will "...emphasize the effective use and management of mobile computers and the security issues surrounding them."

Keynote speakers include Trusted Computing Group's Janne Uusilehto, who chairs the organization's Mobile Products Work Group. This work group, which previously created the Mobile Trusted Module (MTM) to enable more secure mobile devices, is working on a second version of the MTM. In the run-up to that final specification, the work group recently published new use cases defining how the MTM will enable financial transactions, protect sensitive data, such as that found in health records, and other usages. The new use cases also introduce concepts where common interfaces for messaging - protocol data units (PDUs) and application programming interfaces (APIs) - are utilized, primarily between the operating system (OS) and the trusted execution environment, but also between applications and the OS, to provide added value for service deployment.

It is hoped that these new uses and the anticipated MTM 2.0 specification will enable easier implementation and further adoption of the Mobile Trusted Module, which incorporates key elements of the widely deployed Trusted Platform Module found in more than 500 million PCs and other systems.

Uusilehto will speak about the current environment for mobile security and TCG's direction and vision for incorporating mobile devices into the trusted enterprise.

Also speaking at the Summit will be TCG's Robert Thibadeau, Wave Systems, known for his work on TCG's now widely-adopted Opal specification for self-encrypting drives. Thibadeau will talk to attendees on the topic of "Encryption Best Practices: Achieving Legal Safe Harbor" as part of the Privacy and Compliance session, also on June 28th.