Patent ID: 8726364

Claim:
A machine-implemented method, comprising: authenticating a pre-boot μ-hypervisor, loading the μ-hypervisor in a secure memory location, and initiating the authenticated μ-hypervisor in the secure memory location; authenticating access control policies with the μ-hypervisor for each of multiple sets of one or more boot modules based on measurements stored in persistent memory; configuring an access-controlled memory domain with the μ-hypervisor for each set of boot modules based on the corresponding authenticated access control policies, including configuring a separate access-controlled memory domain for a driver based on corresponding driver-specific access control policies and configuring a separate access-controlled memory domain for a terminate and stay resident (TSR) application based on corresponding TSR-specific access control policies, wherein the TSR application is callable from an application program of a post-boot run-time environment; authenticating the boot modules; loading the boot modules into the corresponding access-controlled memory domains, including loading the driver and the TSR application into the corresponding separate access-controlled memory domains; initiating the authenticated boot modules within the corresponding access-controlled memory domains; enforcing the access control policies with the μ-hypervisor during the initiating of the boot modules to prevent direct writing to each set of boot modules by any other boot module during the initiating of the boot modules, including to prevent writing to the driver and the TSR application by one another and by other ones of the boot modules during the initiating of the boot modules; transitioning access control policies of the TSR application to the run-time environment after initiating the boot modules; and enforcing the access control policies of the TSR application in the run-time environment to prevent writing to the TSR application by the application program.