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HP Sure Start

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HP Sure Start

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Going beyond system

BIOS protection,

HP Sure Start Gen7 protects against

firmware attacks and/or accidental

corruption for the majority of boot-

critical system firmware.

Table of contents

Introduction

Why is firmware protection important?

HP Sure Start provides superb firmware protection

Architectural overview and capabilities

User notifications, Event logging, & Policy management

Conclusion

Appendix A - HP Sure Start, Gen by Gen

Appendix B - System Management Mode (SMM) Overview

Appendix C - NIST SP 800-193: Platform Resiliency Guidelines

Introduction

HP Sure Start is a comprehensive security and advanced resilience

firmware solution. Going well beyond system BIOS protection, HP

Sure Start protects against firmware attacks and/or accidental

corruption for the majority of boot-critical system firmware.

With little or no interruption to user productivity, HP Sure Start can

automatically detect, stop, and recover from attacks or corruption

without IT intervention. Every time the PC powers on, HP Sure Start

automatically validates the integrity of the firmware to help ensure

that the PC is safeguarded from malicious attacks. Once the

Operating System is running on the PC, runtime intrusion detection

constantly monitors memory. In the case of an attack, the PC can

self-heal using an isolated “golden copy” of the firmware in minutes.

Why is firmware protection

important?

As our world becomes more connected, cyber-attacks are targeting

client device firmware and hardware with increasing frequency and

sophistication. Tools and techniques to attack firmware were once

theoretical and thought only to be available to nation-states. Such

tools and techniques have since been shown to not only exist, but to

be readily available in the public domain.

The critical device firmware (HP BIOS, HP Endpoint Security Control-

ler firmware, Intel Management Engine Firmware, AMD Security Pro-

cessor Firmware, etc.) is an attractive target for attackers because

of the potential advantages a successful breach could provide:

Persistence: Firmware resides in a nonvolatile memory on the circuit

board and can’t be removed simply by erasing the hard drive.

Control: Firmware executes at the highest privilege level—outside of

the OS domain— which enables the possibility of OS-independent

malware.

Stealth: Firmware occupies a region of memory that is completely

inaccessible to the operating system and system software; since it

can’t be scanned by antivirus it may never be detected.

Difficulty of recovery: All these aspects make it extremely difficult

to recover from this type of infection without resorting to a service

event that includes a system board replacement.

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The ideal solution to protect devices against this type of attack is

designed from the hardware up, using “cyber resiliency” principles.

These principles acknowledge that it is extremely difficult, if not

impossible, to foresee and prevent every possible attack. The ideal

solution not only provides enhanced protection of the firmware, but

also includes a hardware rooted ability to both detect a successful

attack and recover from it.

HP Sure Start provides superb

firmware protection

HP Sure Start is HP’s unique and groundbreaking approach to

provide advanced firmware protection and resiliency to HP PCs. It

uses hardware enforcement via the HP Endpoint Security Controller

(HP ESC) to provide protection of the BIOS and other critical plat-

form firmware that reaches well beyond the industry standard and

ensures that the system will only boot Genuine HP BIOS and other

critical firmware. Additionally, if HP Sure Start detects tampering with

BIOS, other critical firmware, or runtime System Management Mode

(SMM) BIOS code, it can recover using a protected backup copy.

Summary of HP Sure Start features:

HP platform firmware authenticity enforcement and tamper protection

HP Endpoint Security Controller hardware enforcement of the

system boot, so only authentic and unmodified critical firmware and

HP BIOS are loaded.

Firmware health monitoring and compliance

Logging of firmware health-related events via isolated HP Endpoint

Security Controller; presents the platform firmware state along with

any anomalies that could indicate thwarted attacks.

Self-healing

Automatic repair of HP BIOS and other critical firmware corruption,

using the HP Endpoint Security Controller isolated backup copy of

HP BIOS and other critical firmware.

BIOS setting protection

Extension of the HP Endpoint Security Controller protection of the

BIOS code to include HP ESC backup and integrity-checking of all

user or admin- configured BIOS settings.

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Runtime Intrusion Detection

Ongoing monitoring of critical BIOS code in runtime memory (SMM)

while the OS is running.

Secure boot keys protection

Significantly enhanced protection of databases and keys stored

by the BIOS that are critical to the integrity of the OS secure boot

feature versus standard UEFI BIOS implementation.

Protected storage

Strong cryptographic methods to store BIOS settings, user

credentials, and other settings in the HP Endpoint Security Controller

hardware to provide integrity protection, tamper detection, and

confidentially protection for that data.

Intel® Management Engine firmware protection

Full backup, integrity monitoring, and recovery services for Intel

Management Engine firmware and critical data. Fully compliant with

all NIST 800-193 resilience requirements.

AMD Secure Processor firmware protection

Full backup, integrity monitoring, and recovery services for AMD

Secure Processor firmware and critical data. Fully compliant with all

NIST 800-193 resilience requirements.

Manageability

Administrator management of HP Sure Start capabilities with the

Manageability Integration Kit (MIK) plug-in for Microsoft® System

Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).

Direct Memory Access (DMA) Protection

Utilizes the I/O Memory Management Unit (IOMMU) to provide

hardware protection against attacks to system memory via DMA

capable thunderbolt devices. Also enables support for Microsoft.

“Kernel DMA Protection for Thunderbolt™ 3” (Win10 RS4 and forward).

HP Sure Start Gen6+ also extends support for protection against

DMA attacks beyond external thunderbolt devices to include DMA

attacks via internal slots.

For a summary of capabilities added in each generation of HP Sure

Start, see Appendix A.

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Third-party security certification

The HP Endpoint Security Controller hardware used in HP Sure Start

has undergone third- party security assessment and has been

certified to provide hardware enforcement so that only authorized

firmware can start on the target PC.

Assurance that a security solution works as stated is a critical piece

of any purchase decision related to security products. And because

a reputation for quality can only go so far, HP has exposed the HP

Endpoint Security Controller inner workings for review and testing by

an independent and accredited laboratory to validate that it works as

claimed per publicly available criteria, methodology, and processes.

Cyber-resilient design

Not only does HP Sure Start provide enhanced BIOS protection

beyond the industry standard approach, but it is designed from

the hardware up to provide unmatched platform cyber-resilience

to ensure critical device firmware recovery even in the event of a

breach or destructive attack.

All HP Sure Start Gen6+ systems include the ability to recover from

a completely erased system flash. The system flash contains the

majority of the boot critical firmware elements that are required

to boot the system and have reasonable functionality. Those boot

critical elements include system BIOS, HP Endpoint Controller

firmware, video BIOS, Intel Descriptor Region firmware, AMD Secure

Processor firmware, and Intel Management Engine firmware. If

any one of these firmware elements in the system flash becomes

corrupted in a manner that renders that subsystem non-functional,

the system will be unable to boot. With an HP Sure Start Gen5+

system, all these components are restored from the HP Sure Start

private flash in order to ensure that the system does not become

non-operational due to firmware attack or corruption.

HP business PCs with HP Sure Start exceed the National Institute

of Standards and Technology (NIST) Platform Firmware Resiliency

guidelines (Special Publication 800- 193) for host processor boot

firmware and other critical platform device firmware, as discussed

in Appendix C. NIST SP 800-193 is one of the leading public sector

efforts to formalize requirements for cyber-resilient platforms. For

more details about HP Sure Start and NIST 800-193, see Appendix C.

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HP Sure Start – Supported models

HP introduced Sure Start in 2013. Since that time, HP has enhanced

Sure Start and expanded the number of products that include it. HP

Sure Start is available on many HP business PCs, including Pro and

Elite, platforms, Workstations, Thin Clients, and Point of Sale Systems

(RPOS). HP Sure Start is available on both Intel and AMD platform

in this lineup.

Architectural overview and

capabilities

HP Sure Start consists of two major architectural components:

• HP Endpoint Security Controller running HP Sure Start firmware

• HP Sure Start BIOS working in conjunction with the HP Endpoint

Security Controller hardware and firmware.

Firmware integrity verification -

The core of HP Sure Start

The HP Endpoint Security Controller (HP ESC) is the first device in

the system to execute firmware when the system powers on, active

well before the system boots. The HP ESC activities include, but

are not limited to, monitoring the system power button and power

sequencing, then start of the host CPU execution when the user

presses the power button.

When power is first applied to the platform (before the system is

turned on), the HP ESC validates that its own firmware is authentic

HP code before loading and executing the code. The HP ESC

hardware uses industry-standard, strong cryptographic methods to

perform the integrity verification. The method employs a 2048-bit

HP RSA public key contained within internal permanent read-only

memory. Therefore, the HP ESC is the built-in hardware-based Root

of Trust (RoT) for the platform, used to validate its firmware and

the HP BIOS before they are executed. This hardware Root of Trust

protects against firmware replacement attacks regardless of their

deployment method and serves as the foundation upon which HP

platform security is built.

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Figure 1 illustrates the firmware integrity verification process.

Once the HP ESC authenticates and starts executing the HP Sure

Start firmware, that firmware uses the same strong cryptographic

operations to verify the integrity of the system flash BIOS boot block.

If a single bit is invalid, the HP ESC replaces the system flash contents

with its own copy of the HP BIOS boot block that is stored within an

isolated nonvolatile memory (NVM) dedicated to the HP ESC.

The HP Sure Start design ensures that all the firmware and BIOS

code running on both the HP ESC and the host CPU is the code HP

intended to be on the device.*

The system flash BIOS boot block is the foundation of the HP BIOS.

The HP ESC hardware ensures that the BIOS boot block is the

first code that the CPU executes after a reset. Once the HP ESC

determines that the BIOS boot block contains authentic HP code, it

allows the CPU to begin executing code and the system to boot as it

normally would.

The HP ESC also checks the integrity of the system flash boot block

code each time the system is turned off or put into a hibernate or

sleep mode. Since the CPU is powered off in each of these states

and the CPU is therefore required to re-execute BIOS boot block

code to resume, it is crucial to re-verify the integrity of the BIOS

boot block each time before the CPU starts at power-on to check for

tampering.

Additionally, for HP Intel models, HP Sure Start checks the integrity of

the system flash BIOS boot block every 15 minutes while the system

is running.

Figure 1:

Firmware integrity verification

process

* Note:

The system flash boot block

integrity checking, and any needed

recovery performed by the HP ESC,

take place while the host CPU is off.

Therefore, from a user point of view,

the entire operation takes place

when the system is still off, in sleep

mode, or hibernate mode.

Recovery

BIOS boot

block copy

BIOS boot

block

BIOS

BIOS copy

HP Endpoint

Security

Controller

System flash

System

board power

sequencing

and rest

control

HP Sure Start - WHITEPAPER

Machine-unique data integrity

The HP ESC and BIOS work together to provide advanced protection

of factory-configured critical variables unique to each machine that

are intended to be constant over the life of any specific platform. In

the factory, a backup copy of this variable data is saved in the HP

ESC nonvolatile memory store. The backup is made available to the

HP Sure Start BIOS component on a read-only basis to perform in-

tegrity checking of the data on every boot. If any setting in the shared

flash is different from the factory settings, the HP Sure Start BIOS

components will automatically restore the data in the System Flash

from the backup copy provided by the HP ESC.

Descriptor region

For HP Intel models, HP Sure Start protects the descriptor region of

the system flash. Unique to Intel architecture, the descriptor region

contains critical configuration parameters that are sampled by the

Intel Core™ logic at reset and used thereafter to configure the Core

logic. The descriptor region also includes partitioning information

for the system flash that is used by the Intel Core logic to determine

where the BIOS region resides within the flash and therefore where

their CPU retrieves code for execution from reset. HP Sure Start

monitors the integrity of this region and recovers it to the intended

configuration in the event of tampering or corruption.

Network controller protection

In addition, for HP Intel models, HP Sure Start protects the network

controller (NIC) settings contained with the system flash. Some

HP customers have use cases that require legitimate changes to

factory configured NIC settings. Therefore, HP Sure Start does not

prevent changes to NIC settings by default. Instead, HP Sure Start

provides a feature that, when enabled, warns the user that NIC

settings have changed. In addition, HP Sure Start provides a method

to restore the NIC settings to factory values. Protected settings

include the MAC address, the Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE)

settings, and the remote initial program load (RPL). This restoration is

possible via a read-only backup copy protected by the HP ESC.

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BIOS setting protection

As previously described, HP Sure Start verifies the integrity and

authenticity of the HP BIOS code. Since this code is static after it

is created by HP, digital signatures can be used to confirm both

attributes of the code. The dynamic and user-configurable nature

of BIOS settings, however, create additional challenges to protecting

those settings. Digital signatures cannot be generated by HP and

used by the HP Sure Start ESC hardware to verify those settings.

HP Sure Start BIOS setting protection provides the capability to

configure the system so the HP ESC hardware is used to back up

and check the integrity of all the BIOS settings preferred by the user.

When this feature is enabled on the platform, all policy settings

used by BIOS are subsequently backed up and an integrity check

is performed on each boot to ensure that none of the BIOS policy

settings have been modified. If a change is detected, the system

uses the backup from the HP Sure Start–protected storage to

automatically revert to the user-defined setting.

The HP Sure Start BIOS setting protection feature generates events

to the HP Sure Start ESC hardware when an attempt to modify the

BIOS settings is detected. The event is logged in the HP Sure Start

audit log, and the local user will receive a notification from BIOS

during boot.

HP SureStart - Protected storage

Protected storage rooted in the HP Endpoint Security Controller

hardware provides the highest level of protection for BIOS/firmware

data and settings protected by HP Sure Start. HP Sure Start–

protected storage is designed to provide confidentiality, integrity,

and tamper detection even if an attacker disassembles the system

and establishes a direct connection to the nonvolatile storage device

on the circuit board.

Data integrity

The integrity of the dynamic data stored in nonvolatile memory by

firmware and used to control the state of various capabilities is

critical to the security posture of the overall platform. Dynamic data

includes all BIOS settings that can be modified by the end user or

administrator of the device. Examples include (but are not limited to)

boot options such as the secure boot feature, BIOS administrator

password and related policies, Trusted Platform Module–state

control, and HP Sure Start policy settings.

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Any successful attack that bypasses the existing access restrictions

designed to prevent unauthorized modifications to these settings

could defeat the platform security. As an example, consider a

scenario where an attacker makes an unauthorized modification

to the secure boot state to disable it without being detected. In this

scenario, the platform would boot the attacker’s root kit before the

OS starts, without the user’s knowledge.

Industry-standard Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)

BIOS does implement access restrictions that should prevent

unauthorized modifications to these variables, and HP implements

these just like the rest of the PC industry. However, given the risks a

breach of these mechanisms poses to the platform, HP Sure Start

provides secondary defenses that are stronger than the baseline

industry standard.

BIOS settings and other dynamic data used by firmware to control

the state that is protected by HP Sure Start are stored in the isolated

nonvolatile memory of the HP Endpoint Security Controller that is not

directly accessible to software running on the host CPU.

Additionally, the HP ESC creates and appends unique integrity

measurements each time a data element is stored in this nonvolatile

memory store. The integrity measurements are based on a strong

cryptographic algorithm (hashed-based message authentication

code utilizing SHA-256 hashing) that is rooted to a secret contained

within the HP ESC. The secret is unique to each HP ESC, such that

each controller generates a unique integrity measurement given

an identical element. When the data element is read back from

the nonvolatile memory, the HP ESC recalculates the integrity

measurement for that data element and compares it to the integrity

measurement that is appended to the data. Any unauthorized

changes to the data in the nonvolatile memory store result in a mis-

compare. Using this approach, the HP ESC can detect tampering

with data elements stored in the nonvolatile memory store.

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Data confidentiality

For many of the data elements stored by the platform, maintaining

confidentiality is critical. Examples include BIOS administrator

password hashes, user credentials, and secrets optionally stored

by firmware on behalf of the user for firmware-based features such

as HP Sure Run and HP Sure Recovery.

Protection of these secrets is challenging when industry-standard

UEFI BIOS approaches are used, since the nonvolatile storage is

typically readable by software running on the host processor. HP

Sure Start–protected storage is intended to provide much great-

er protection of this confidential data than a standard UEFI BIOS

implementation.

In addition to a separate isolated storage, HP Sure Start leverages

the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) hardware block contained

within the HP ESC to perform AES-256 encryption on all confiden-

tial data elements stored in the HP Sure Start nonvolatile memory,

in addition to the data integrity measurements for those elements.

The encryption key used is unique to each HP ESC and never leaves

that controller, so data encrypted by any individual HP ESC compo-

nent can only be decrypted by that same HP ESC.

Secure boot keys protection

Compared to the industry-standard UEFI secure boot implemen-

tation, HP Sure Start provides enhanced protection of the UEFI

secure boot key databases that are stored by the firmware. These

variables are critical to proper operation of the UEFI secure boot

feature that verifies integrity and authenticity of the OS bootloader

before allowing it to start at boot.

HP Sure Start protects UEFI secure boot key databases by main-

taining a master copy in HP Sure Start–protected storage.

Any authorized modifications to the UEFI standard secure boot

key databases by the OS during runtime are tracked by HP Sure

Start and applied to the master copy by the HP ESC. HP Sure Start

then uses the master copy in HP Sure Start– protected storage to

identify and reject any unauthorized changes to the UEFI standard

secure boot keys databases.

This capability, enabled by default, covers the following databases:

• Signature database (db)

• Revoked signatures database (dbx)

• Key Enrollment Key (KEK)

• Platform Key (PEK) updated dynamically at runtime by the OS

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Runtime Intrusion Detection (RTID)

On each boot, the BIOS code starts execution from flash memory

at a fixed address. This is known as the BIOS boot code and pro-

vides capabilities needed before the OS starts. However, a portion

of BIOS remains in DRAM that is needed to provide advanced

power- management features, OS services, and other OS-indepen-

dent functions while the OS is running. This BIOS code, referred

to as System Management Mode (SMM) code, resides in a special

area within the DRAM that is hidden from the OS. We also refer to

this code as “runtime” BIOS code in the context of HP Sure Start’s

Runtime Intrusion Detection feature. (For more details on SMM and

how it works, please see Appendix B.)

The integrity of SMM code is critical to the client device security

posture. HP Sure Start checks to make sure HP SMM BIOS code

is intact at OS start. By adding new protection capabilities and/or

providing a means to detect any attack to that code, Runtime Intru-

sion Detection provides mechanisms to ensure that the SMM BIOS

code remains intact while the OS is running.

Figure 2

Chipset

embedded

hardware

Runtime

BIOS

Main memory

(DRAM)

Secure copy

of BIOS

Private Sure Start

flash

Secure BIOS

System flash

Monitor

Copy BIOS

if tampered

CPU loads

BIOS at

startup

HP Endpoint

Security

Controller

ESC

verifies

signature

Enforcer

Figure 2:

Runtime Intrusion Detection

uses specialized hardware

embedded within the platform

chipset to monitor SMM code

for any changes.

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Runtime Intrusion Detection architecture

The RTID feature utilizes specialized hardware in the platform

chipset to detect anomalies in the Runtime HP SMM BIOS. Detection

of any anomalies results in a notification to the HP Endpoint Security

Controller, which can take the configured policy action independent

of the CPU.

Intel® Management Engine firmware

protection

All HP Sure Start Gen6+ systems include the ability to fully recover

from corrupted Intel Management Engine firmware and/or critical

data associated with the Intel Management Engine subsystem.

In those systems that include support for HP Sure Recover with

Embedded Reimaging, HP Sure Start Gen6+ is able to recover the

entire Intel Management Firmware using a copy of Intel Management

engine firmware stored on the Embedded Reimaging device on the

system board with no additional dependencies.

On HP Sure Start Gen6+ systems that do not support Embedded

Reimaging, HP Sure Start uses a copy of the Intel Management

firmware that is included on the system EFI partition on the primary

mass storage device for full recovery.

In the event that the Intel Management Engine firmware update has

been removed from the EFI partition, HP Sure Start Gen6+ will only

perform a partial recovery of the Intel Management Engine firmware

and/or critical data from the HP Sure Start private flash that will

enable the system to operate with reasonable functionality. In order

to fully restore all functionality provided the Intel Management

Engine Firmware, it will be necessary to apply an update to the intel

Management Firmware Engine firmware which will restore the full

recovery image to the EFI partition.

Customers that deploy their own OS images need to take some

additional steps to ensure that HP Sure Start Gen6+ can fully recover

the Intel Management Engine Firmware with complete autonomy.

Those steps include creating a system EFI partition that is at least

360MB, and applying an HP Intel Management Engine firmware

update package.

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AMD® Secure Processor protection

All HP Sure Start Gen6+ systems include the ability to fully recover

from corrupted AMD Secure Processor firmware and/or critical data

associated with the AMD Secure Processor subsystem.

HP Sure Start Gen6+ is able to recover the entire AMD Secure

Processor subsystem using a copy of AMD Secure Processor

firmware stored within the HP Endpoint Security Controller isolated

non-volatile memory with no additional dependencies.

Smart Flash

HP Sure Start Gen6+ adds Smart Flash technology which can

dramatically reduce the time required for firmware updates and

Sure Start firmware recovery operations. With Smart Flash, the HP

Endpoint Security Controller will only modify those portions of the

flash are corrupted (recovery) or changed (update) for both the HP

Endpoint Security Controller backup copies of firmware and the

primary copies of firmware in the primary flash.update package.

HP Endpoint Security Controller runtime

intrusion detection

Starting from HP Sure Start Gen6+, the HP Endpoint Security

Controller firmware utilizes a hardware Memory Protection Unit

within the HP Endpoint Security Controller to detect, block, and log

an event in the event of any unauthorized attempt to modify the run-

time HP Endpoint Security Controller run-time code or critical data.

FIPS 140-3 Certification

FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 140-

3, is a standard developed by the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST) and defines the security requirements for

cryptographic modules used in various IT products. HP’s ESC,

beginning with Sure Start Gen 7, has received level 1 certification

(FIPS 140-3 Certificate), which ensures that the cryptography used in

these modules provides a secure environment for the processing of

sensitive information.

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SPI Host Interface Monitoring

The HP ESC now integrates SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) Protocol

Analyzer hardware, which enables HP Sure Start Gen7 to protect the

system against malicious/unauthorized activity on the SPI bus. The

SPI bus is the interface between the CPU and system flash memory

holding the system firmware and settings (such as HP UEFI BIOS,

Intel CSME firmware, AMD Security Processor firmware, and more).

The HP ESC SPI protocol analyzer is also connected to this SPI bus

and configured by HP Sure Start to monitor and analyze the SPI bus

traffic in real time to identify and block malicious transactions to the

SPI flash.

User notifications, event logging,

and policy management

HP Sure Start end user notifications

Under normal operating conditions, HP Sure Start is invisible to the

user. When HP Sure Start identifies a problem, recovery operations

are automatic, using the default settings with no end user or IT

interaction usually required.

Users may see runtime notifications in the event of a BIOS integrity

problem detected via the HP Sure Start Dynamic Protection or the

Runtime Intrusion Detection features while the OS is running

. If

any significant event is detected or action is taken, HP Sure Start

displays a warning message via Windows® notifications on the next

boot. HP Notifications Software is required to enable the viewing of

these Windows notifications.

HP Sure Start event logging

The HP Endpoint Security Controller records critical events related

to the firmware/BIOS code and data monitored by HP Sure Start.

These events are stored within the Sure Start nonvolatile memory

store. When HP Notifications software is installed, the events are

copied from the HP ESC to the Windows Event Viewer to facilitate

access to these events by the local user as well as the customer’s

preferred manageability agent.

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The following events trigger the HP Notifications Software to gather

all events from the HP Sure Start subsystem and ensure that the

Windows Event Viewer is updated with any events that are not

already recorded there:

• Windows Boot

• Windows Resume from Sleep/Hibernate

• HP Sure Start with dynamic protection runtime event

notifications

• HP Sure Start Runtime Intrusion Detection (RTID)

HP Notifications Software populates HP Sure Start events into a

unique “HP Sure Start” application event log. Only HP Sure Start

events will be included in this log. The Windows Event Viewer path to

the HP Sure Start events is the following: System Tools/Event Viewer/

Applications and Services Logs/HP Sure Start.

The Windows Event Viewer level categories related to HP Sure Start

events are defined in Table 1. The events are populated into Windows

Event Viewer in the order that they were generated by HP Sure Start.

The oldest event in the HP Sure Start subsystem is added to the

Windows Event Viewer first and the most recent event is added last.

The timestamp for each Windows Event Viewer entry is the time

it was added to that log, NOT the time the event occurred. Each

Sure Start Windows Event Viewer entry includes detailed data

within the event details, which includes the timestamp of the actual

occurrence.

Note: Events are persistent in the HP Endpoint Security Controller

even after being copied to the Windows Event Viewer. If the Windows

Event Viewer is cleared, the HP Notifications Software application

will replace all HP Sure Start entries on the next event that triggers it

to check for HP Sure Start event logs.

Event Level Definition

Info

Events that are expected to occur during the normal course of

operation (e.g., updating the BIOS).

Warning

Unexpected events that have occurred but were fully recovered

from by HP Sure Start and no user/admin action is required

for the platform to be fully operational. These events are

anomalous operations that the user/admin may want to

investigate further, especially if there is a trend of these events

across multiple machines.

Error

Events that require the admin/HP service to act on the

platforms to fully recover.

Table 1:

Types of HP Sure Start

Windows Event Viewer events

protection and resiliency

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HP Sure Start provides superb firmware

protection

Out of the box, the HP system BIOS enables and optimizes HP Sure

Start policies for the typical user. Since HP Sure Start is enabled

by default, the typical user is protected by HP Sure Start without

having to modify the settings. For advanced users, the system

BIOS provides some control of HP Sure Start behavior, using policy

settings in the (F10) BIOS Setup. Unless otherwise noted, these

settings and functions are located under Security/BIOS Sure Start.

Note: Policies are stored within the HP ESC nonvolatile memory

that is not directly accessible by the host CPU; therefore, a reboot is

required before any Sure Start settings take effect.

The following HP Sure Start settings and functions are available:

• Verify Boot Block on Every Boot

• BIOS Data Recovery Policy

• Network Controller Configuration Restore (Intel only)

• Prompt on Network Controller Configuration Change (Intel only)

• Dynamic Runtime Scanning of Boot Block (Intel only)

• HP Sure Start BIOS Setting Protection

• HP Sure Start Secure Boot Keys Protection

• Enhanced HP Firmware Runtime Intrusion Prevention and

Detection (Intel only)

• HP Firmware Runtime Intrusion Detection (AMD only)

• HP Sure Start Security Event Policy

• HP Sure Start Security Event Boot Notification

• Lock BIOS Version

• Save/Restore MBR of System Hard Drive

• Save/Restore GPT of System Hard Drive

• Boot Sector (MBR/GPT) Recovery Policy

• DMA Protection

• DMA Pre-boot Protection

Verify Boot Block on Every Boot

HP Sure Start always verifies the integrity of the system flash BIOS

boot block before resuming from sleep, hibernate, or power-off.

When set to enable, HP Sure Start will also verify the integrity of

the boot block on each warm boot (Windows restart). The trade-off

to consider is faster restart time versus more security. The default

setting of this feature is set to “Disable”.

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BIOS Data Recovery Policy

When set to Automatic, HP Sure Start automatically repairs the BIOS

or the Machine Unique Data when necessary. When set to Manual,

HP Sure Start requires a special key sequence to proceed with the

repair. In the case of an issue with the boot block code, the system

will refuse to boot, and a unique blink sequence will flash on the

system LED. The system LED that lights may vary by platform and

by instance. In the case of an issue with the Machine Unique Data,

the system will display a message on the screen. The key sequence

required, and the blink sequence displayed, vary depending whether

the system is a notebook, a desktop, or a tablet. Manual mode is

useful to users who can perform forensics on the system flash

contents before repair. Typical users are not encouraged to use

manual mode. The default setting of this feature is set to “Automatic”.

Network Controller Configuration Restore

(Intel only)

When selected, HP Sure Start immediately restores the network

controller configuration to factory defaults.

Prompt on Network Controller

Configuration Change (Intel only)

HP provides a factory-defined network controller configuration which

includes the MAC address. When this setting is set to enable, the

system monitors the state of the network controller configuration

and prompts the user in the event of a change from the factory-

configured state. The default setting of this feature is set to “Disable”.

Dynamic Runtime Scanning of Boot Block

(Intel only)

When in the default setting of enable, HP Sure Start periodically

checks the integrity of the BIOS boot block while the OS is running.

When in the disable setting, HP Sure Start only checks the integrity

before a boot or resume from sleep or hibernate.

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HP Sure Start BIOS Setting Protection

The BIOS setting protection policy is disabled by default. To enable

the feature, the owner/administrator of the client device should

first configure all BIOS policies to the preferred setting. The owner/

administrator also must configure a BIOS setup administrator

password.

Once that is completed, the BIOS setting protection policy should be

changed to “Enable.” At this point, a backup copy of all BIOS settings

is created in the HP Sure Start–protected storage. Going forward,

none of the BIOS settings can be modified locally or remotely. On

each boot, the BIOS policy settings are verified to be in the desired

state, and if there is any discrepancy, the BIOS settings are restored

from the HP Sure Start–protected storage.

To modify a BIOS setting, the BIOS administrator password must

be provided and BIOS setting protection subsequently disabled, at

which point changes can be made to the BIOS settings.

HP Sure Start Secure Boot Keys Protection

With this setting at the factory default of enable, HP Sure Start

provides enhanced protection of the secure boot databases and

keys used by BIOS to verify the integrity and authenticity of the

OS bootloader before launching it at boot. When set to “Disable”,

only standard UEFI secure boot variable protection is used, and no

backup copy is kept by the HP Sure Start subsystem.

HP Firmware Runtime Intrusion Prevention

and Detection (RTID)

The RTID feature is enabled by default for all platforms shipped from

the HP factory. There is no need for the end customer/administrator

to enable or otherwise deploy the feature to take advantage of

HP Sure Start RTID. The RTID feature can be optionally be set to

“Disable” by the platform owner/ administrator.

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HP Sure Start Security Event Policy

This BIOS policy setting controls what action is taken when HP Sure

Start detects an attack or attempted attack while the OS is running.

There are three possible configurations for this policy:

• Log event only: When this setting is selected, the HP ESC logs

detection events, which can be viewed in the Applications and

Services Logs/HP Sure Start path of the Microsoft Windows

Event Viewer

• Log event and notify user: This is the default setting. When this

setting is selected, the HP ESC logs detection events, which can

be viewed in the Applications and Services Logs/HP Sure Start

path of the Microsoft Windows Event Viewer. Additionally, the

user is notified within Windows that the event occurred

• Log event and power off system: When this setting is selected,

the HP ESC logs detection events, which can be viewed in

the Applications and Services Logs/HP Sure Start path of

the Microsoft Windows Event Viewer. Additionally, the user is

notified within Windows that the event occurred, and that system

shutdown is imminent.

HP Sure Start Security Event Boot

Notification

This BIOS policy setting controls whether HP Sure Start warnings

and error messages that are displayed when the system is booted

require the local user to acknowledge the error before the boot

continues. With the default Require Acknowledgement setting, the

system halts with the error message displayed. The local user must

press a key to continue the boot. If changed to Time out after 15

seconds, the message is displayed, but the boot process continues

automatically after the message is displayed for 15 seconds.

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Lock BIOS Version

In the (F10) BIOS setup, this feature is located in Main/Update System

BIOS.

When set to “Disable”, you can update the BIOS using any supported

process. When the HP ESC detects a valid boot block update in the

system flash, it updates the backup copy of the boot block.

When set to “Enable”, all HP BIOS update tools refuse to update the

BIOS. In addition, HP Sure Start protects the BIOS from attempts

to change the BIOS version by removing the system flash via an

unauthorized method. The HP ESC records the locked-down version

of BIOS. When the HP ESC detects that the BIOS in the system

flash changed, the HP ESC overwrites the BIOS boot block with the

HP ESC copy of the boot block. The HP ESC copy of the boot block

executes and recovers the remainder of the correct version of the

BIOS. The default setting of this feature is “Disabled”.

Save/Restore MBR of System Hard Drive

and Save/Restore GPT of System Hard

Drive

In the (F10) BIOS setup, this feature is located in Security/Hard Drive

Utilities. Only one of these capabilities is available, depending on the

partition type of the primary drive (GPT or MBR), as detected by HP

Sure Start.

When set to “Enable”, HP Sure Start maintains a protected backup

copy of the MBR/GPT partition table from the primary drive and

compares the backup copy to the primary on each boot. If a

difference is detected, the user is prompted and can choose to

recover from the backup to the original state, or to update the

protected backup copy with the changes. The Boot Sector (MBR/

GPT) Recovery Policy can optionally be used to remove the user

decision for the action taken in the event of a discrepancy found by

HP Sure Start.

When set to “Disable” (default), no MBR/GPT protection is provided by

HP Sure Start.

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Boot Sector (MBR/GPT) Recovery Policy

When set to Local User Control (default) the user is prompted for the

action to take when HP Sure Start detects a change in the MBR/GPT

partition table. When set to Recover in the event of corruption, HP

Sure Start automatically restores the MBR/GPT to the saved state

any time differences are encountered.

DMA Protection

When set to “Enable” (default), HP firmware configures the IO

Memory Management Unit (IOMMU) to block DMA (Direct Memory

Access) by peripheral devices per the Pre- Boot DMA Protection

setting while in the BIOS pre-boot environment. The BIOS will also

configure the system appropriately to enable Microsoft Kernel DMA

protection for Thunderbolt 3 which takes over management of the

IOMMU at OS start time to provide the same protections from DMA

attacks in the OS environment.

Pre-boot DMA Protection

When set to “All PCI-e Devices”, HP firmware configures the IO

Memory Management Unit (IOMMU) to block DMA (Direct Memory

Access) by peripheral devices per the Pre-Boot DMA Protection

setting while in the BIOS pre-boot environment. Available options and

defaults vary as shown in the table below.

Notebook with

Thunderbolt

support

Thunderbolt Only

All PCI-e devices

(Default)

(Recommended)

Disabled

All PCI-e devices

(Default)

(Recommended)

Thunderbolt Only

All PCI-e devices

(Recommended)

All PCI-e devices

(Default)

Disabled

All PCI-e devices

(Recommended)

All PCI-e devices

(Default)

Notebook without

Thunderbolt

support

Desktop with

Thunderbolt

support

Desktop without

Thunderbolt

support

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Table 2:

Pre-boot DMA protection

options and defaults

Remote management of HP Sure Start

policy controls

Out of the box, HP Sure Start policies are optimized for the typical

user. Since HP Sure Start is enabled by default, there is no need for

the remote administrator to take any action to enable (“deploy”) HP

Sure Start. If a remote administrator wants to modify HP Sure Start

policy settings, the same Windows Management Instrumentation

(WMI) APIs or HP BIOS Configuration Utility scripts that are used to

manage other platform BIOS policies can be used to manage HP

Sure Start policies. In addition, administrators can remotely manage

HP Sure Start capabilities with the Manageability Integration Kit (MIK)

plug-in for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).

Also, administrators can remotely manage HP Sure Start capabilities

and view HP Sure Start events with the Manageability Integration Kit

(MIK) plug-in for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

(SCCM).

Conclusion

HP Sure Start delivers these key benefits:

• Uninterrupted productivity: HP Sure Start maintains business

continuity in the event of an attack or accidental corruption by

eliminating downtime waiting for an IT/Service event.

• Lower cost: HP Sure Start’s ability to recover automatically

reduces calls to the IT Help Desk and enhances productivity,

which ultimately helps lower the maintenance cost for the

platform.

• Peace of mind: HP Sure Start has multiple security features that

run across a wide variety of software and hardware platforms.

Protect critical BIOS firmware from malware with the industry-

leading firmware intrusion detection and automatic repair offered by

HP Sure Start, available on many HP business PCs, including Pro and

Elite platforms, Workstations, Thin Clients, and Retail Point of Sale

(RPOS) PCs.

Learn more hp.com/go/computersecurity

Links to technical content support.hp.com/us-en/topic/goIT

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Generation Release Date Capabilities Added

HP Sure Start 2013

• Firmware and BIOS authenticity enforcement,

with the ability to self-heal

• Firmware monitoring and compliance

HP Sure Start with

Dynamic Protection

2015

• Windows Event Viewer support

• Dynamic Protection

(for select Intel products)

HP Sure Start Gen3

(select intel products)

2017

• Runtime Intrusion Detection

• BIOS setting protection

• Manageability Integration Kit (MIK)

plug-in for Microsoft SCCM

HP Sure Start Gen4 2018

• Protected storage—strong cryptographic

methods to store BIOS settings, user

credentials, and other settings in the HP

Endpoint Security Controller hardware

to provide integrity protection, tamper

detection, and confidentiality protection for

that data

• Secure boot database protection—enhanced

protection of databases and keys stored by

BIOS that are critical to the integrity of the

OS secure boot feature versus standard UEFI

BIOS implementation

• On Intel platforms, enhanced protection and

recovery of the Intel Management Engine

Firmware for any failures that occur across

updates or failure of main Intel ME firmware

• Third-party security certification of HP

Endpoint Security Controller—testing by

an independent and accredited laboratory

to validate that the HP ESC hardware

core functionality works as claimed per

publicly available criteria, methodology, and

processes

• HP business PCs with HP Sure Start exceed

the NIST Platform Firmware Resiliency

guidelines (Special Publication 800-193)

for host processor boot firmware and

other critical platform device firmware, as

discussed in Appendix C.

HP Sure Start Gen5 2019

• Full back-up, integrity monitoring, and recovery

services for of Intel Manageability Engine

firmware including main firmware and boot

critical portions of code and data.

• DMA Protection for attacks via Thunderbolt

devices

HP Sure Start Gen6 2020

• Smart flash

• Enhanced DMA protection for attacks via

internal devices slots

• HP Endpoint Security Controller run-time

Intrusion detection

• AMD Secure Processor firmware protection

HP Sure Start Gen7 2023

• FIPS 140-3 Certification

• SPI Host Interface monitoring

Appendix A - Sure Start, Gen by Gen

HP introduced Sure Start in 2014. Since that time, HP has enhanced

Sure Start and expanded the number of products that use it. The

table below provides a summary of the capabilities that were added

with each generation.

Table 3:

Sure Start, Gen by Gen

HP Sure Start - WHITEPAPER

Appendix B

System Management Mode (SMM) Overview

System Management Mode (SMM) is an industry-standard approach

used for PC advanced power-management features and other OS-

independent functions while the OS is running. While the SMM term

and implementation is specific to x86 architectures, many modern

computing architectures use a similar architectural concept.

SMM is configured by the BIOS at boot time. The SMM code is

populated into the main (DRAM) memory. Then BIOS uses special

(lockable) configuration registers within the chipset to block access

to this area when the microprocessor is not executing in an SMM

context. At runtime, entry into SMM mode is event-driven. The chipset

is programmed to recognize many types of events and timeouts.

When such an event occurs, the chipset hardware asserts the

System Management Interrupt (SMI) input pin. At the next instruction

boundary, the microprocessor saves its entire state and enters

SMM.

As the microprocessor enters SMM, it asserts a hardware output pin,

SMI Active (SMIACT). This pin serves notice to the chipset hardware

that the microprocessor is entering SMM. An SMI can be asserted

at any time, during any process operating mode, except from within

SMM itself. The chipset hardware recognizes the SMIACT signal

and redirects all subsequent memory cycles to a protected area

of memory (sometimes referred to as the SMRAM area), reserved

specifically for SMM. Immediately after receiving the SMI input and

asserting the SMIACT output, the microprocessor begins to save its

entire internal state to this protected memory area.

After the microprocessor state has been stored to SMRAM memory,

the special SMM handler code that also resides in SMRAM (placed

there by system BIOS at boot time) begins to execute in a special

SMM operation mode. While operating in this mode, most hardware

and memory isolation mechanisms are suspended, and the

microprocessor can access virtually all resources in the platform to

enable it to perform required tasks. The SMM code completes the

required task, and then it’s time to return the microprocessor to the

previous operating mode. At that point, the SMM code executes the

Return from System Management Mode (RSM) instruction to exit

SMM. The RSM instruction causes the microprocessor to restore its

previous internal state data from the copy saved in SMRAM upon

SMM entry. Upon completion of RSM, the entire microprocessor

state has been restored to the state just prior to the SMI event, and

the previous program (OS, applications, hypervisor, etc.) resumes

execution right where it left off.

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Appendix C

NIST SP 800-193: Platform Firmware Resiliency

Guidelines

Released in May 2018, the NIST SP 800-193: Platform Firmware

Resiliency Guidelines describe guidelines for security mechanisms

to protect platform firmware against unauthorized changes,

detect unauthorized changes that occur, and recover from these

unauthorized changes.

These guidelines outline three different resiliency properties:

1. Protected: meets all Protection and Secure Update

requirements

2. Recoverable: meets all Detection and Recovery requirements

3. Resilient: meets all Protection, Detection, and Recovery

requirements

Of these three properties, Resilient is the strongest, providing the

most benefit to HP Customers.

HP Sure Start Gen3+ meet and exceed all Resilient guidelines in NIST

SP 800-193 for host processor boot firmware, also known as the

UEFI BIOS. Further, HP Sure Start Gen3 and subsequent generations

progressively expand the number of other firmware based Critical

Platform Device Firmware that are protected per NIST 800-193

requirements, as shown in Table 3.

Prior NIST guidelines for BIOS security

NIST SP 800-193 goes beyond NIST SP 800-147, which only addressed

protection and the secure update of the platform’s UEFI BIOS.

All generations of HP Sure Start along with all generations of HP

BIOSphere support NIST SP 800-147.

NIST SP 800-193 also goes beyond NIST SP 800-155, which outlined

security components and guidelines to establish a secure BIOS

integrity measurement and reporting chain. Likewise, all generations

of HP Sure Start along with all generations of HP BIOSphere support

NIST SP 800-155.

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NIST SP 800-193 Critical Platform Devices

in HP Commercial PCs

NIST SP 800-193 acknowledges that the definition of Critical Platform

Devices can vary. Critical Platform Devices are defined in section 3.2

(Resiliency Properties):

“For a platform as a whole to claim resiliency to destructive attacks,

the set of platform devices necessary to minimally restore operation

of the system, and sufficient to restore reasonable functionality,

should themselves be resilient. We call this set of devices critical

platform devices. The particular resiliency properties may vary from

platform-to-platform.”

For that reason, it is important to define this set of devices and

applicable firmware for HP Commercial PCs. NIST SP 800-193

provides a reference platform architecture in Section 2 along with

a list of devices which are “often critical to the normal and secure

operation of a platform.” The table below provides a mapping to

each of those devices/subsystems to the applicable firmware

components in the HP Commercial Notebook PCs.

Note that each customer environment should be evaluated to

determine whether there are additional peripheral devices that are

critical to restore reasonable functionality specific to the customer’s

deployment.

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1. This component is not critical to boot of the platform.

2. This component is not critical to minimally restore operation of the system but is

required to establish Ethernet connectivity in environments where that connectivity is

deemed critical to platform resiliency.

3. Mass storage devices are outside the scope of this document. Resiliency capabilities

vary by storage supplier and by storage device. Not all suppliers or devices currently

meet all Resiliency requirements in 800-193.

4. No devices of this type are included.

NIST SP 800-193 Platform Architecture

Reference

HP Commercial PC

critical platform

device firmware

Protected by

8A.

10.

11.

12.

14.

Embedded Controller (EC)/ Super I/O (SIO)

Host Processor

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) when implemented

as Unified Memory Architecture (UMA)

Host Controller (HC) for mass storage device

Host Processor Boot Firmware

Platform Runtime Firmware

Power Supply

Fans

HP ESC firmware

HP UEFI BIOS firmware

HP Sure Start Gen3+

2. Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

Discrete TPM component

firmware

TPM

Baseboard Management Controller (BMC)⁄

Management Engine (ME)

Intel Management Engine

firmware

AMD Secure Processor

firmware

HP Sure Start Gen5+

HP Sure Start Gen6+

5. Network Interface Controller (NIC)

Intel integrated GbE NIC

firmware

HP Sure Start Gen3+

7. Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Flash Intel Descriptor firmware HP Sure Start Gen3+

8A. Hard Disk Drive (HDD)/Solid State Drive (SSD) HDD/SSD firmware

N/A

Embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) ⁄

Universal Flash Storage (UFS)

N/A

13. Glue Logic (CPLD’s, FPGA’s) N/A

N/A

Table 4:

Critical Platform Device Firmware

Protected by HP Sure Start or other

technology.

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Acronyms

• BIOS

Basic Input/Output System (aka host processor boot firmware)

• CPU

Central processing unit

• ESC

HP Endpoint Security Controller

• Gen3+

Applies to HP Sure Start Gen3, Gen4, Gen5, Gen6, and Gen7

• Gen4+

Applies HP Sure Start Gen4, Gen5, Gen6, and Gen7

• Gen5+

Applies HP Sure Start Gen5, Gen6, and Gen7

• Gen6+

Applies only to HP Sure Start Gen6, and Gen7

• HMAC

Hash-based message authentication code

• HW

Hardware

• OS

Operating system

• POST

Power-On Self-Test

• RoT

Root of Trust (defined in NIST SP 800-193)

• RTD

Root of Trust for Detection (defined in NIST SP 800-193)

• RTRec

Root of Trust for Recovery (defined in NIST SP 800-193)

• SMM

System Management Mode

• UEFI

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

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NIST SP 800-

193

HP Sure Start

Roots of Trust

(Section 4.1)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+ uses a hardware-based RoT (the HP

ESC) with immutable boot firmware, which

cryptographically verifies subsequent firmware

before launching it, creating a Chain of Trust.

• Gen3+ includes a key store and approved digital

signing algorithms based on FIPS 186-4 to verify

the digital signature of firmware update images.

• Gen3+ uses authenticated update, detection,

and recovery mechanisms, which are anchored

in Gen3+’s HW-based RoT.

Protection

and Update of

Mutable Code

(Section 4.2.1)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+ uses an authenticated update

mechanism anchored in Gen3+’s

• HW-based RoT.

• Firmware update images are digitally signed by

HP’s code signing service (HP Secure Sign) and

verified by Gen3+ prior to updating.

• Gen3+ integrity protects the HP ESC and UEFI

flash regions, so that only its authenticated

update mechanism or a secure local update

through physical presence can modify those

flash regions.

• Gen3+ has no known authenticated update

bypass mechanisms and contains the ability to

prevent rollback to earlier authentic firmware

images with known security vulnerabilities.

Protection of

Immutable Code

(Section 4.2.2)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+ uses a hardware-based RoT (the HP ESC)

with immutable boot firmware.

Runtime Protec-

tion of Critical

Platform FW

(Section 4.2.3)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

Critical Platform Firmware executing in volatile

storage (RAM) runs and:

• Ceases its operation prior to the loading of

system software. That is, it runs during POST

and stops before the OS is loaded.

• is protected from system software using SMM

protections enforced by the CPU.

Protection of

Critical Data

(Section 4.2.4)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen4+ Critical Data, such as Secure Boot

authenticated variables, are only modifiable

through defined APIs provided by device

firmware. These APIs employ a mechanism to

authenticate that the data is originating from an

authorized source before applying the change.

• Gen4+ Critical Data, such as per-platform

unique factory configuration settings, are only

modifiable through defined APIs provided

by device firmware. These APIs employ a

mechanism to authenticate that the request

is originating from an authorized HP service

provider before they allow the change.

• Gen4+ Critical Data, such as BIOS settings

that can be configured in the field, are only

modifiable through defined APIs. These APIs

are accessed only via a system administrator

who has configured the BIOS administrator

password.

• Gen3+ factory default settings, which are

not per- platform-specific, employ the same

protection as the code. This includes integrity

and authenticity verification via digital

signature. These setting updates are controlled

and protected in the same manner as the

firmware.

Table 5:

Required functions for Host

Processor Boot Firmware.

The table below provides a

summary of each function

described by NIST SP 800-193.

NIST SP

800-193

HP Sure Start

Detection of

Corrupted Code

(Section 4.3.1)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• A successful attack on the platform firmware will

not impact Gen3+’s RTD. The RTD is maintained

in a private flash area inaccessible to the system

software that might compromise the platform

firmware.

• Firmware code is validated by Gen3+’s RTD

using approved digital signature algorithms and

cryptographic hashes.

Detection of

Corrupted

Critical Data

(Section 4.3.2)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• A successful attack on the Active Critical

Data will not impact Gen3+’s RTD. The RTD is

maintained in a private flash area inaccessible

to the system software that might compromise

Active Critical Data.

• Gen3+ can save and validate critical data

through use of digest hashes prior to using that

critical data, and Gen3+ can initiate a recovery of

the critical data if corruption is detected.

Recovery of

Mutable Code

(Section 4.4.1)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+’s ESC implements the recovery capability.

• A successful attack on the platform firmware

will not impact Gen3+’s RTRec. The RTRec is

maintained in a private flash area inaccessible to

the system software that might compromise the

platform firmware.

• Gen3+’s RTRec has access to a locally stored

copy of the platform’s UEFI image in its private

flash area, which is inaccessible to (protected

from) system software.

• Gen3+ can update the locally stored authentic

UEFI image in its private flash area through an

Authenticated Update mechanism.

Recovery of

Critial Data

(Section 4.4.2)

Meets all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+’s ESC implements the recovery capability.

• A successful attack on Active Critical Data

will not impact Gen3+’s RTRec. The RTRec is

maintained in a private flash area inaccessible

to the system software that might compromise

Active Critical Data.

• Gen3+ can recover critical data back to factory

defaults including per-platform-specific data that

is backed up in isolated & protected storage.

• Gen3+ can recover non-per-platform-specific

defaults from the backup BIOS image stored in

isolated and protected storage.

• Gen3+ does not use policies included as part of

Critical Data to restore critical data.

Logging and

notification

Exceeds all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+ will notify user of corruption and log the

event.

• Gen3+’s detection mechanism is capable of

logging events when corruption

• is detected Gen3+ will notify user of a recovery

event and log the event.

• Gen3+’s detection mechanism is capable of

logging events when a recovery action has taken

place.

Policy-based

controls

Exceeds all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+’s detection mechanism has policies

which control the action taken by the Runtime

Detection.

HP Sure Start - WHITEPAPER

NIST SP

800-193

HP Sure Start

Automatic or

manual recovery

options

Exceeds all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+ Runtime Detection can initiate a recovery

process automatically or after notification of

detection corruptions to the user.

• Gen3+ can automatically perform its recovery

operations without user interaction or it may

require user approval, dependent on policy

setting.

• Gen3+ gains approval from the user before

replacing the current Critical Data, based on

recovery policy setting.

• Gen3+ can recover Critical Data back to a last-

known good state.

• Gen3+ gains approval from the user before

replacing the current Critical Data, based on

recovery policy setting.

Local or remote

IT Recovery

Exceeds all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+ can automatically perform its recovery

operations without user interaction or may

require user approval, dependent on policy

setting.

Rollback pre-

vention

Exceeds all Resiliency

Requirements

• Gen3+ and the UEFI boot block both have

controls in place to protect against recovery

to an earlier firmware version with security

weaknesses.

Runtime intru-

sion detection

Exceeds all Resiliency

Requirements

• NIST SP 800-193 is silent on what happens to

firmware once it is loaded from nonvolatile

storage (flash) into volatile storage (RAM) for

execution. Gen3+ provides runtime intrusion

detection of UEFI SMM code loaded into SMM

RAM.

Physical attack

detection

Additional

Functionality

not required in

NISTSP800-193

• Gen4+ provides protection against physical

attacks to the protected backup copy of dynamic

critical data.

• AES encryption is used on a per-component

unique key to provide confidentiality of private

data. In addition, HMAC integrity measurements

provide tamper prevention/detection of those

keys.

HP Sure Start - WHITEPAPER

1. The HP Sure Start controller hardware has been certified per the CSPN certification framework.

2. HP Sure Start with Dynamic Protection is available on HP Elite products equipped with 6th generation Intel Core processors and higher.

3. HP Sure Start end user notifications and pushing of HP Sure Start events to OS event viewer support is limited to Windows Operating system.

These features are not supported in Linux.

4. HP Notification Software must be installed to view HP Sure Start events in the Windows Event Viewer.

5. HP Notification Software must be installed to receive notifications.

6. HP Sure Start Gen3 is available on HP Elite products equipped with Intel 7th generation processors.

7. HP Sure Start Gen4 is available on HP Elite and HP Pro 600 products equipped with 8th generation Intel or AMD processors.

8. HP Sure Start Gen5 is available on select HP PCs with Intel processors. See product specifications for availability.

9. HP Sure Start Gen6 is available on select HP PCs.

10. HP Sure Start Gen7 is available on select HP PCs.

HP Sure Start - WHITEPAPER

services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an

additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Wi-Fi® is a regis-

tered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

4AA7-6645ENW, January 2024

hp.com/go/getupdated