A new industry group dedicated to embedding trust and security
into PCs, PDAs, servers and mobile phones, was yesterday announced
by Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and AMD. The Trusted
Computing Group (TCG) will work to create open standards to protect
data, privacy and individual rights.
Atmel, Infineon, National Semiconductor, Nokia, Philips, Phoenix Technologies, Sony, ST Microelectronics, VeriSign and Wave Systems are also on board. Members have agreed to license necessary patents to other members under reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms.
Additionally, the group will serve as an industry resource for trusted computing. It plans to introduce a scheme later this year to help businesses and individuals identify trusted computing products based on TCG specifications.
The group's founding members and aims overlap with an existing one – the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA).
The TCG has adopted the TCPA's existing trusted computing specifications and promises to extend and enhance these specifications. It will also work to ensure backward compatibility with products built on current TCPA specifications, ensuring interoperability with existing products.
Nearly 200 existing members of TCPA are being invited to join the new group, which has the advantage of a licensing policy, a marketing budget, and targets a broader range of devices.
More information is available at:
www.trustedcomputinggroup.org
