Methods, apparatus and systems to improve security in computer systems

Abstract

In one implementation a computer system stores a software program that contains some instructions organized in blocks wherein each block contains a first part with instructions and a second part with an electronic signature or hash value, wherein the computer system includes a security component within the processor that allows the execution of instructions of the first part of a block of data only if the hash value of the data is correct.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A processor having at least a secure core and a non-secure core. 
     
     
         2 . A computer system comprising:
 A main memory capable of store executable instructions and a processor comprising at least a first core having a security component and at least a second core not having a security component, where part of the main memory stores a first type of computer programs to be executed in a core having a security component and a second type of computer programs to be executed in cores not having a security component, the first type of computer programs having at least a part of their executable instructions stored in the main memory in one or more blocks of data, the one or more blocks of data having the same number of bytes that the first level instruction cache lines of the first core, the blocks of data having certain format and comprising first data comprising executable machine code instructions and second data that identifies a cryptographic hash function and third data that identifies a cryptographic key and fourth data having a first hash value computed using the cryptographic hash function identified in the second data and the cryptographic key identified in the third data and taking as input of the cryptographic hash function all the bytes of the first data, the second data and the third data, the security component is capable of reading the first, the second, the third and the fourth data of at least one block of data transferred from the main memory to a first level cache line of the first core, and the security component is capable of verifying the first hash value using the cryptographic hash function identified in the second data and the cryptographic key identified in the third data and taking as input of the cryptographic hash function all the bytes of the first data, the second data and the third data and upon the security component determining that the first hash value is correct the security component allows the first core to execute the machine code instructions stored in the first data of the first level cache line of the first core.