Patent ID: 7421588

Claim:
An apparatus for sealing a data repository to a trusted computing platform, the apparatus comprising: an embedded security system (ESS) comprising at least one platform configuration register; a measurement module configured to generate one or more measurement values for one or more devices physically connected to a computer system and to extend the measurement values to at least one platform configuration register; a key management module configured to seal a cryptographic key associated with a data repository by cryptographically combining the cryptographic key with the measurement values for one or more of, a boot record, a drive serial number, and an object code image of decryption software in at least one platform configuration register, the measurement values representing a trusted configuration of the trusted computing platform, and to unseal the cryptographic key using the measurement values by way of the ESS; and a cryptography module configured to encrypt data stored in the data repository and to decrypt data read from the data repository with the unsealed cryptographic key.