Patent ID: 8132001

Claim:
A computer system having a processor and a memory, the computer system operable to execute a method for implementing a secure appliance for IP telephony, the method comprising: providing an operating system with a restricted access in the appliance wherein the operating system is embedded in an erasable programmable read-only memory in the processor of the appliance; implementing a set of services in the appliance in the erasable programmable read-only memory in an embedded platform, wherein the set of services is applications that perform the functions of the appliance, wherein a set of security mitigation features in the appliance is applied to the set of services, and wherein the set of security mitigation features include security policies that are applied to the set of services in the appliance; performing a modification in the appliance to at least one of the operating system and the set of services through one or more secure interfaces wherein performing the modification comprises implementing an encryption technique during a software change between a source of the software change and the appliance and performing the software change in the appliance; and providing the set of services from the appliance to a set of registered devices wherein the set of registered devices is a registry of devices created by an administrator and the registry identifies devices that can interact together in a secure environment, wherein the appliance only communicates with the set of registered devices and wherein the appliance does not include a hard drive, an external storage, a CDROM device, nor a floppy disk device.