A method comprising: calculating, with an auxiliary circuit within a computing device, an integrity verification value for a boot component of the computing device, wherein the boot component comprises program instructions required for execution by a processor of the computing device to place the computing device into an operating mode, wherein the auxiliary circuit is coupled to the processor by a first bus; determining whether the calculated integrity verification value is associated with an acceptable boot component; and replacing, with the auxiliary circuit of the computing device, the boot component with a copy of a trusted version of the boot component when the integrity verification value is not associated with an acceptable boot component, the replacing comprising: with the auxiliary circuit either, reading the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted storage medium on the device, wherein the trusted storage medium is coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and is inaccessible by the processor; or requesting and receiving the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted boot component server using a network interface coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and inaccessible by the processor, wherein the trusted boot component server is a network device that stores trusted versions of boot components for the computing device, and further wherein the trusted boot component server is coupled to the network interface by a dedicated network link that is inaccessible to the processor; and overwriting the boot component in a primary storage of the computing device with the copy of the trusted version of the boot component. calculating, with an auxiliary circuit within a computing device, an integrity verification value for a boot component of the computing device, wherein the boot component comprises program instructions required for execution by a processor of the computing device to place the computing device into an operating mode, wherein the auxiliary circuit is coupled to the processor by a first bus; determining whether the calculated integrity verification value is associated with an acceptable boot component; and replacing, with the auxiliary circuit of the computing device, the boot component with a copy of a trusted version of the boot component when the integrity verification value is not associated with an acceptable boot component, the replacing comprising: with the auxiliary circuit either, reading the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted storage medium on the device, wherein the trusted storage medium is coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and is inaccessible by the processor; or requesting and receiving the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted boot component server using a network interface coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and inaccessible by the processor, wherein the trusted boot component server is a network device that stores trusted versions of boot components for the computing device, and further wherein the trusted boot component server is coupled to the network interface by a dedicated network link that is inaccessible to the processor; and overwriting the boot component in a primary storage of the computing device with the copy of the trusted version of the boot component. with the auxiliary circuit either, reading the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted storage medium on the device, wherein the trusted storage medium is coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and is inaccessible by the processor; or requesting and receiving the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted boot component server using a network interface coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and inaccessible by the processor, wherein the trusted boot component server is a network device that stores trusted versions of boot components for the computing device, and further wherein the trusted boot component server is coupled to the network interface by a dedicated network link that is inaccessible to the processor; and reading the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted storage medium on the device, wherein the trusted storage medium is coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and is inaccessible by the processor; or requesting and receiving the copy of the trusted version of the boot component from a trusted boot component server using a network interface coupled to the auxiliary circuit by a second bus and inaccessible by the processor, wherein the trusted boot component server is a network device that stores trusted versions of boot components for the computing device, and further wherein the trusted boot component server is coupled to the network interface by a dedicated network link that is inaccessible to the processor; and overwriting the boot component in a primary storage of the computing device with the copy of the trusted version of the boot component.