System and method for secure boot of an information handling system using verification signature and including verifying applications

1. A method for system verification for a secure boot process, the method comprising:

determining a determined signature for a compendium stored in a memory, the compendium segmented into a number of logical segments corresponding to a number of processor cores, the compendium including a bootloader and an operating system;

accessing a verification signature corresponding to the logical segments of the compendium, the verification signature stored in the memory; and

comparing the verification signature with the determined signature, wherein if the verification signature is the same as the determined signature, then the compendium is verified as secure and a secure boot process is performed with the bootloader and operating system,

wherein each one of the logical segments is appended with the corresponding verification signature and allocated to a corresponding processor core of the processor cores for verification.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compendium includes one or more applications supported by the operating system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the verification signature differs from the determined signature, the compendium determined to be corrupted.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein if the compendium determined to be corrupted, an alternative boot process is performed.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the alternative boot process includes:

accessing a backup compendium stored in the memory;

determining a determined backup signature for the backup compendium;

accessing a backup verification signature corresponding to the backup compendium;

comparing the backup verification signature with the determined backup signature.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein if the backup verification signature is the same as the determined backup signature, the backup compendium is verified as secure and an alternate secure boot process is performed with the backup compendium.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the logically segmented compendium includes a first logical segment and a second logical segment, the first logical segment distinct from the second logical segment, and wherein the memory includes a first verification signature corresponding to the first logical segment and a second verification signature corresponding to the second logical segment.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining a first determined signature for the first logical segment with a first processor core; and

determining a second determined signature for the second logical segment with a second processor core, the first processor core distinct from the second processor core.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

comparing the first verification signature with the first determined signature; and

comparing the second verification signature with the second determined signature.

10. An information handling system, comprising:

a memory storing a compendium that is logically segmented into a number of segments corresponding to a number of processor cores, the segments including a first logical segment and a second logical segment with an appended a first verification signature and a second verification signature, respectively, wherein the compendium includes a bootloader and an operating system; and

a processor including a first processor core and a second processor core that are configured to access the memory; and

a BIOS boot manager running on the processor causing the first processor core to perform operations including:

determining a first determined signature for the first logical segment;

accessing the first verification signature; and

comparing the first verification signature with the first determined signature,

wherein if the first verification signature is the same as the first determined signature, then the first logical segment of the compendium is verified as secure and a partially secure boot process is performed with the bootloader and operating system.

11. The information handling system of claim 10 , wherein the compendium includes one or more applications.

12. The information handling system of claim 11 , wherein if the first verification signature differs from the first determined signature, the first logical segment of the compendium is determined to be corrupted.

13. The information handling system of claim 12 , wherein a partial secure boot process is performed when the second logical segment is determined to be secure.

14. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein the second processor core determines a second determined signature for the second logical segment and compares the second determined signature with a second verification signature to verify the second logical segment of the compendium.

15. The information handling system of claim 12 , wherein the compendium is stored in the memory in a succession of continuous memory addresses.

16. The information handling system of claim 12 , wherein the memory stores a backup compendium mirroring the compendium and a corresponding backup verification signature.

17. The information handling system of claim 16 , wherein when the compendium is determined to be corrupted, a determined backup signature is determined from the backup compendium and compared to the backup verification signature.

18. A memory storing firmware that when executed by a processor instantiates a BIOS boot manager that performs operations comprising:

determining first and second determined signatures for a compendium stored in a second memory, the compendium broken into a number of logical segments corresponding to a number of processor cores, the logical segments including first and a second logical segments for a bootloader and an operating system, respectively, of the compendium;

accessing first and a second verification signatures corresponding to the first and second logical segments; and

comparing the first and second verification signatures with the determined first and second determined signatures, respectively, wherein if the first and second verification signatures are the same as the determined first and second determined signatures, then the corresponding processor core verifies the compendium as secure and a secure boot process is performed with the bootloader and operating system.

19. The memory storing firmware of claim 18 , wherein if the verification signature differs from the determined signature, the BIOS boot manager performs an alternative boot process using a backup compendium stored on the second memory.

20. The memory storing firmware of claim 18 , wherein the first determined signature is determined for the first logical segment using a first processor and the second determined signature is determined for the second logical segment using a second processor.