Method and device for verifying the integrity of platform software of an electronic device
View Patent ↗A method for verifying the integrity of platform software of an electronic device is provided, the method comprising accessing a module of said platform software, obtaining a signature (S), obtaining a verification key (VK), said verification key (VK) corresponding to a signing key (SK), verifying if said signature (S) was derived by signing said platform software module with said signing key (SK), by using said verification key (VK), and establishing a positive verification of said platform software module if said verification is successful. The invention also provides a method for providing a platform software module to perform the aforementioned method, and a device on which the aforementioned method can be performed.
1. A method for verifying integrity of a platform software of an electronic device, the method comprising:
obtaining a hash derived by performing a hash function on a software module of the platform software;
obtaining a signature associated with the software module;
obtaining a verification key, the verification key corresponding to a signing key;
using the verification key to verify whether the signature was derived by signing the hash using the signing key; and
establishing a positive verification of integrity of the platform software of the electronic device if the verification is successful.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, when the verification has failed, denying further access to the software module.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software module is a part of the platform software.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hash is obtained from a source that is different from the software application.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hash is obtained from one of the platform software module and the Internet.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the platform software comprises one of an operating system and a runtime environment by which software is loaded and executed.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the verification key is obtained from the software performing the verification.
8. An electronic device including a platform software having a software module, the electronic device comprising:
a monitoring module that obtains a hash derived by performing a hash function on the software module of the platform software;
a receptor module that obtains the signature associated with the software module and a verification key, the verification key corresponding to a signing key; and
a verification module that uses the verification key to verify whether the signature was derived by signing the hash using the signing key and establishes a positive verification of the integrity of the platform software of the electronic device if the verification is successful.
9. The device of claim 8 , wherein when the verification has failed, further access to the software module is denied.
10. The device of claim 8 , wherein the software module is a part of the platform software.
11. The device of claim 8 , wherein the hash is obtained from a source that is different from the software application.
12. The device of claim 8 , wherein the hash is obtained from one of the platform software module and the Internet.
13. The device of claim 8 , wherein the platform software comprises one of an operating system and a runtime environment by which software is loaded and executed.
14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the verification key is obtained from the software performing the verification.