▷ What is tpm and what is it for

With the advancement of technology and data networks practically widespread worldwide, it is necessary to pay more and more attention to the security section of our equipment. This is why the TPM data protection technology was born. We are going to try to describe in detail what TPM is and what its usefulness is for users.

Index of contents

File encryption is becoming more prominent on our virtual devices. Thanks to this we will be able to establish communications through the network in a secure way without it being possible to use this information for fraudulent purposes or extortion.

TPM meaning and what is it

TPM or Trusted Plataform Module or in Spanish Trusted Platform Module is an information encryption technology for users contained in a chip with this name. This small processor is capable of storing encrypted keys of confidential data of the users of a computer and in this way protect the information.

This chip is in a passive state on the computers with it installed and can only be activated by the user of the computer or its administrator using the UEFI software and the operating system. Its main functions are to provide a platform on which to store authentication credentials to access a system without the need to use passwords written from the keyboard. Mainly it is oriented to access through biometric user data, this is implemented by TPM 2.0 technology

TPM is a physical hardware device, allowing for more consistent encryption in memory specially designed for this. This device is directly in contact with a computer's CPU, so it only acts in response to the instructions it sends. The main characteristics of these chips are as follows:

• It is a chip with volatile and non-volatile memory: in this way it can store credentials permanently in this and the parameters of the state of the machine dynamically. Contains an algorithm for generating keys and random strings of encrypted codes. Implements cryptographic functions for authentication using digital signatures or biometric user data.

As for the cryptographic functions that this TPM chip allows, we will have:

• Storage of administrator passwords and remote control. Encryption of data storage units. Digital certificates and digital signatures. Individual folder encryption. Keys to mail servers and secure websites. Biometric data for access.

Where the TPM connector is located on the motherboard

Currently almost all motherboards on the market have directly the chip or a TPM connector to be able to directly connect the firmware to it.

This connector is normally located at the bottom of the motherboard, where the connectors for the I / O panel of the chassis are located. We will identify it by the initials " TPM " located near it.

This is where the TPM chips we buy must be connected. The port consists of 19 pins distributed in two rows. We will easily identify it because in its second row one of the pins is missing, on the right side, the second pin.

Activate TPM in BIOS UEFI

Before being able to use the functionalities that this chip allows us within an operating system, it will be necessary to activate it from the firmware of our motherboard.

If our motherboard has the TPM connector implemented in it, it surely contains a UEFI-type BIOS. Both standards practically go hand in hand and thanks to it, it is possible to activate this technology. To identify TPM in the BIOS and activate it, we will have to do the following:

• We turn off our equipment and start it again. Right at this moment, we must identify a message that says " Press to enter Setup ”or some similar message.

As for the keys to access the BIOS, there can be different ones: DEL, F12, ESC, F8 and others. Our task will be to be able to identify this key. One possibility that we will have to see this message is if just what we see the information, we press the " Pause " key on the keyboard. This will make the startup procedure stop until we press the key again.

• Once the corresponding key is pressed, we will access the UEFI BIOS. Now it's time to find the TPM section in it. This also varies from the different BIOS of the manufacturers. Normally we will have a section of " Security " or similar. We go inside and look for the initials TPM Once identified, activate this option and press F10 to save and restart.

In this way we will have activated TPM in BIOS

Inter BIOS UEFI from Windows 10

If we are not able to access it from the computer's own startup, we can also do it by configuring it from Windows 10

• We must press the " Shift " key at the same time that we click on the " restart " option of our team. Now a blue window will appear where we will have to choose " Solve problems " Next we will choose " advanced options "

• Now we will have to choose " UEFI Firmware Configuration "

Now when we restart the computer, we will automatically enter our BIOS.

TPM in Windows 10

Since mid-2016, the TPM hardware in its version 2.0 has been mandatory to be implemented on a computer with hardware compatible with Windows 10.

The company Microsoft has turned to the security section of its systems and, as happened with the UEFI standard for BIOS in its systems, it has also made it mandatory for manufacturers to have either firmware access through TPM or that directly have this chip on their boards.

This initiative has a lot to do with the Microsoft Windows Hello project that will allow us to identify ourselves on our machine with our biometric data: Fingerprint, Iris or the face. Windows 10 has native support for TPM, and to activate it we will have to do the following:

• The first thing we must do is use the key combination " Windows + R " to open the Run tool. Next we write " tpm.msc ". In this way we will open an application for managing TPM

If we are shown an error message when executing this command, it means that our computer does not support TPM or that we do not have this function activated in our BIOS.

Activate TPM

The first thing that will appear in the tool will be that TPM is not ready to use. So we will follow the following procedure to be able to use it.

• Click on the option " Prepare TPM " in the tool. This will ask us to restart our computer to continue with the configuration

The next thing that will appear when we start the computer is a black screen indicating that we are trying to configure secure access through TPM. If we want to continue we press F10, otherwise we press Esc. For each user this may vary.

• If we press F10 the computer will restart and finally we will enter Windows Now we are going to enter the TPM application again for this we do the same as before. We can see that now it notifies us that TPM is ready to use

In this way we can already use TPM to add extra security to our team

TPM adds a new level of security to our equipment, making it very interesting for computers exposed on public networks or in a business environment.

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Do you have a TPM compatible device? Tell us if you knew something about this technology or just knew it. If you have had a problem activating, tell us.