Phoenix Technologies has unveiled new BIOS technology that is designed to tag and identify Windows PCs. Dubbed TrustConnector 2, the software creates a unique encrypted key, which is then stored in a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, or in some cases in an area firewalled by the Phoneix BIOS.
When PCs running the system connect to a network, they can then be identified as legitimate. The attraction for sysadmins is that attackers attempting to access the network using stolen user names and passwords will be refused, despite having legitimate logins.
The company claims to have made trials of the system in the Japanese market, using real-world security environments, and has achieved favourable results.