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What is secure boot in Windows 10?
What is secure boot & Trusted Boot in Windows 11?
Does Windows 10 have Secure Boot & Measured Boot?
What is trusted boot in Windows 10?
Does Windows 11 require TPM & secure boot?
How do I enable secure boot?
Jul 15, 2021 · Running your Windows 10 PC with TPM and Secure Boot active is a prerequisite for Windows 11. You can activate the security protocols now with a few settings changes.
Sep 26, 2024 · Enabling Secure Boot on Windows 10 is a straightforward process that enhances your PC’s security by ensuring only trusted software and operating systems can load during startup. Follow a few simple steps to access the BIOS/UEFI settings and enable Secure Boot.
- Overview
- The threat: rootkits
- The countermeasures
- Secure Boot
- Trusted Boot
- Early Launch Anti-Malware
- Measured Boot
- Summary
Windows has many features to help protect you from malware, and it does an amazingly good job. Except for apps that businesses develop and use internally, all Microsoft Store apps must meet a series of requirements to be certified and included in the Microsoft Store. This certification process examines several criteria, including security, and is an effective means of preventing malware from entering the Microsoft Store. Even if a malicious app does get through, Windows includes a series of security features that can mitigate the effect. For instance, Microsoft Store apps are sandboxed and lack the privileges necessary to access user data or change system settings.
Windows has multiple levels of protection for desktop apps and data, too. Windows Defender Antivirus uses cloud-powered real-time detection to identify and quarantine apps that are known to be malicious. Windows Defender SmartScreen warns users before allowing them to run an untrustworthy app, even if it's recognized as malware. Before an app can change system settings, the user would have to grant the app administrative privileges by using User Account Control.
Those components are just some of the ways that Windows protects you from malware. However, those security features protect you only after Windows starts. Modern malware, and bootkits specifically, are capable of starting before Windows, completely bypassing OS security, and remaining hidden.
Running Windows 10 or Windows 11 on a PC with Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) support ensures that Trusted Boot safeguards your PC against malware right from the moment you power it on. This protection continues until your anti-malware software takes over. If, by any chance, malware manages to infect your PC, it won't be able to stay hidden. Trusted Boot can verify the system's integrity to your infrastructure in a manner that malware can't mask. Even for PCs without UEFI, Windows offers enhanced startup security compared to earlier Windows versions.
Rootkits are a sophisticated and dangerous type of malware. They run in kernel mode, using the same privileges as the OS. Because rootkits have the same rights as the OS and start before it, they can completely hide themselves and other applications. Often, rootkits are part of an entire suite of malware that can bypass local logins, record passwords and keystrokes, transfer private files, and capture cryptographic data.
Different types of rootkits load during different phases of the startup process:
•Firmware rootkits. These kits overwrite the firmware of the PC's basic input/output system or other hardware so the rootkit can start before Windows.
•Bootkits. These kits replace the OS's bootloader (the small piece of software that starts the OS) so that the PC loads the bootkit before the OS.
•Kernel rootkits. These kits replace a portion of the OS kernel so the rootkit can start automatically when the OS loads.
•Driver rootkits. These kits pretend to be one of the trusted drivers that Windows uses to communicate with the PC hardware.
Windows supports four features to help prevent rootkits and bootkits from loading during the startup process:
•Secure Boot. PCs with UEFI firmware and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) can be configured to load only trusted OS bootloaders.
•Trusted Boot. Windows checks the integrity of every component of the startup process before loading it.
•Early Launch Anti-Malware (ELAM). ELAM tests all drivers before they load and prevents unapproved drivers from loading.
•Measured Boot. The PC's firmware logs the boot process, and Windows can send it to a trusted server that can objectively assess the PC's health.
Figure 1 shows the Windows startup process.
When a PC starts, it first finds the OS bootloader. PCs without Secure Boot run whatever bootloader is on the PC's hard drive. There's no way for the PC to tell whether it's a trusted OS or a rootkit.
When a PC equipped with UEFI starts, the PC first verifies that the firmware is digitally signed, reducing the risk of firmware rootkits. If Secure Boot is enabled, the firmware examines the bootloader's digital signature to verify that it hasn't been modified. If the bootloader is intact, the firmware starts the bootloader only if one of the following conditions is true:
•The bootloader was signed using a trusted certificate. For PCs certified for Windows, the Microsoft certificate is trusted.
•The user has manually approved the bootloader's digital signature. This action allows the user to load non-Microsoft operating systems.
All x86-based Certified For Windows PCs must meet several requirements related to Secure Boot:
•They must have Secure Boot enabled by default.
Trusted Boot takes over where Secure Boot ends. The bootloader verifies the digital signature of the Windows kernel before loading it. The Windows kernel, in turn, verifies every other component of the Windows startup process, including the boot drivers, startup files, and ELAM. If a file has been modified, the bootloader detects the problem and re...
Because Secure Boot has protected the bootloader and Trusted Boot has protected the Windows kernel, the next opportunity for malware to start is by infecting a non-Microsoft boot driver. Traditional anti-malware apps don't start until after the boot drivers have been loaded, giving a rootkit disguised as a driver the opportunity to work.
Early Launch Anti-Malware (ELAM) can load a Microsoft or non-Microsoft anti-malware driver before all non-Microsoft boot drivers and applications, thus continuing the chain of trust established by Secure Boot and Trusted Boot. Because the OS hasn't started yet, and because Windows needs to boot as quickly as possible, ELAM has a simple task: examine every boot driver and determine whether it is on the list of trusted drivers. If it's not trusted, Windows doesn't load it.
If a PC in your organization does become infected with a rootkit, you need to know about it. Enterprise anti-malware apps can report malware infections to the IT department, but that doesn't work with rootkits that hide their presence. In other words, you can't trust the client to tell you whether it's healthy.
As a result, PCs infected with rootkits appear to be healthy, even with anti-malware running. Infected PCs continue to connect to the enterprise network, giving the rootkit access to vast amounts of confidential data and potentially allowing the rootkit to spread across the internal network.
Measured Boot works with the TPM and non-Microsoft software in Windows. It allows a trusted server on the network to verify the integrity of the Windows startup process. Measured Boot uses the following process:
1.The PC's UEFI firmware stores in the TPM a hash of the firmware, bootloader, boot drivers, and everything that is loaded before the anti-malware app.
2.At the end of the startup process, Windows starts the non-Microsoft remote attestation client. The trusted attestation server sends the client a unique key.
3.The TPM uses the unique key to digitally sign the log recorded by the UEFI.
Secure Boot, Trusted Boot, and Measured Boot create an architecture that is fundamentally resistant to bootkits and rootkits. In Windows, these features have the potential to eliminate kernel-level malware from your network. With Windows, you can trust the integrity of your OS.
Jun 26, 2021 · How to Enable Secure Boot on a Windows 10 PC. Prepare your Windows 10 PC for Windows 11 by enabling Secure Boot in BIOS as it's a requirement to get the new Windows version.
Jul 4, 2018 · Overview from the Site: Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc. It can be especially useful for cases where: you need to create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, UEFI, etc.)
Jul 10, 2024 · Secure Boot and Trusted Boot help prevent malware and corrupted components from loading when a Windows 11 device is starting. Secure Boot starts with initial boot-up protection, and then Trusted Boot picks up the process.
Aug 20, 2024 · Enabling Secure Boot in Windows 10 ensures that your computer boots only with trusted software, enhancing system security. Follow these steps to enable Secure Boot and safeguard your computer. Step 1: Access UEFI Firmware Settings.
