HP is a founder member of the Trusted Computing Group. HP Labs contributes expertise to its programme and provides the chair for its technology group. At its heart is the TPM chip. Think of it as an indelible digital serial number and an electronic key safe. It uses advanced cryptography to provide a ‘root of trust’ to authenticate users and validate their machines. The TPM chip provides the hardware. HP Labs is developing the software that uses the chip to let users authenticate themselves and remote computers prove they are safe.

Virtualisation has a role in security too. Individual PCs can create virtual PCs just as servers can create virtual servers. This helps protect computers against viruses. Each virtual PC is like a walled garden, secure from the rest of the system, so a virus in one virtual PC can’t infect its siblings. If one is infected, it can be shut down and a clean, fresh virtual PC created in its place.

Linking virtualisation and authentication together, HP Labs Bristol collaborated with IBM, AMD, Sun and Intel to create a new operating system, called Xen (pronounced ‘zen’). It can create virtual computers in a secure way. Built on top of the TPM chip, the whole structure is more trustworthy and reliable than today’s operating systems. Xen itself is moving from prototype to reality. XenSource, a business built on top of the open source Xen code, was recently bought by Citrix. Xen points to a future where computers are more reliable and more trustworthy than they are today.