The Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB; codenamed Palladium and also known as Trusted Windows) is a software architecture designed by Microsoft which claimed to provide users of the Windows operating system with better privacy, security, and system integrity. It was an initiative to implement Trusted Computing concepts to Windows. NGSCB was the result of years of research and development within Microsoft to create a secure computing solution that equaled the security of closed platforms such as set-top boxes while simultaneously preserving the backward compatibility, flexibility, and openness of the Windows operating system. Microsoft's primary stated objective with NGSCB was to "protect software from software." Part of the Trustworthy Computing initiative when unveiled in 2002, NGSCB was to be integrated with Windows Vista, then known as "Longhorn." NGSCB relied on hardware designed by the Trusted Computing Group to produce a parallel operation environment hosted by a new hypervisor (referred to as a sort of kernel in documentation) called the "Nexus" that existed alongside Windows and provided new applications with features such as hardware-based process isolation, data encryption based on integrity measurements, authentication of a local or remote machine or software configuration, and encrypted paths for user authentication and graphics output. NGSCB would facilitate the creation and distribution of digital rights management (DRM) policies pertaining the use of information. NGSCB was subject to much controversy during its development, with critics contending that it would impose restrictions on users, enforce vendor lock-in, prevent running open-source software, and undermine fair use rights. It was first demonstrated by Microsoft at WinHEC 2003 before undergoing a revision in 2004 that would enable earlier applications to benefit from its functionality. Reports indicated in 2005 that Microsoft would change its plans with NGSCB so that it could ship Windows Vista by its self-imposed deadline year, 2006; instead, Microsoft would ship only part of the architecture, BitLocker, which can optionally use the Trusted Platform Module to validate the integrity of boot and system files prior to operating system startup. Development of NGSCB spanned approximately a decade before its cancellation, the lengthiest development period of a major feature intended for Windows Vista. NGSCB differed from technologies Microsoft billed as "pillars of Windows Vista"—Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, and WinFS—during its development in that it was not built with the .NET Framework and did not focus on managed code software development. NGSCB has yet to fully materialize; however, aspects of it are available in features such as BitLocker of Windows Vista, Measured Boot and UEFI of Windows 8, Certificate Attestation of Windows 8.1, Device Guard of Windows 10. and Device Encryption in Windows 11 Home editions, with TPM 2.0 mandatory for installation.
History
Early development
Development of NGSCB began in 1997 after Peter Biddle conceived of new ways to protect content on personal computers. Biddle enlisted assistance from members from the Microsoft Research division and other core contributors eventually included Blair Dillaway, Brian LaMacchia, Bryan Willman, Butler Lampson, John DeTreville, John Manferdelli, Marcus Peinado, and Paul England. Adam Barr, a former Microsoft employee who worked to secure the remote boot feature during development of Windows 2000 was approached by Biddle and colleagues during his tenure with an initiative tentatively known as "Trusted Windows," which aimed to protect DVD content from being copied. To this end, Lampson proposed the use of a hypervisor to execute a limited operating system dedicated to DVD playback alongside Windows 2000. Patents for a DRM operating system were later filed in 1999 by England, DeTreville and Lampson; Lampson noted that these patents were for NGSCB. Biddle and colleagues realized by 1999 that NGSCB was more applicable to privacy and security than content protection, and the project was formally given the green-light by Microsoft in October, 2001. During WinHEC 1999, Biddle discussed intent to create a "trusted" architecture for Windows to leverage new hardware to promote confidence and security while preserving backward compatibility with previous software. On October 11, 1999, the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, a consortium of various technology companies including Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft was formed in an effort to promote personal computing confidence and security. The TCPA released detailed specifications for a trusted computing platform with focus on features such as code validation and encryption based on integrity measurements, hardware-based key storage, and machine authentication; these features required a new hardware component designed by the TCPA called the "Trusted Platform Module" (referred to as a "Security Support Component", "Security CoProcessor", or "Security Support Processor" in early NGSCB documentation). At WinHEC 2000, Microsoft released a technical presentation on the topics of protection of privacy, security, and intellectual property titled "Privacy, Security, and Content in Windows Platforms", which focused on turning Windows into a "platform of trust" for computer security, user content, and user privacy. Notable in the presentation is the contention that "there is no difference between privacy protection, computer security, and content protection"—"assurances of trust must be universally true". Microsoft reiterated these claims at WinHEC 2001. NGSCB intended to protect all forms of content, unlike traditional rights management schemes which focus only on the protection of audio tracks or movies instead of users they have the potential to protect which made it, in Biddle's words, "egalitarian".
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