Patent ID: 8701205

Claim:
A device capable of being authenticated with an external communication entity, the device comprising: credentials used for cryptographic operations; a trusted component, the trusted component comprising a secure storage, the secure storage containing the credentials; a root of trust comprising a set of immutable hardware resources; at least one essential component, the at least one essential component being essential to the operation of the device; and at least one non-essential component of the device, wherein during a first stage of a secure startup, the root of trust attempts to verify an integrity of the trusted component, the root of trust preventing access to credentials and stopping the secure startup when the trusted component is not verified by the root of trust, the root of trust passing control of the secure startup to the trusted component when the integrity of the trusted component is verified by the root of trust, wherein during a second stage of the secure startup under the control of the trusted component, the trusted component attempts to verify an integrity of the at least one essential component, the trusted component preventing access to credentials and stopping the secure startup when the at least one essential component is not verified by the trusted component, the trusted component proceeding with a third stage of the staged startup when the integrity of the at least one essential component is verified by the trusted component, and wherein during the third stage of the secure startup under the control of the trusted component, the trusted component attempts to verify an integrity of the at least one non-essential component, the trusted component preventing the at least one non-essential component from starting when the at least one non-essential component is not verified by the trusted component, the trusted component starting the at least one non-essential component when the at least one non-essential component is verified by the trusted component.