ISO_IEC_19678_2015.pdf

Information Technology BIOS Protection GuidelinesTechnologies de linformation Lignes directrices de protection BIOSINTERNATIONAL STANDARDISO/IEC19678Reference numberISO/IEC 19678:2015(E)First edition2015-05-01 ISO/IEC 2015 ii ISO/IEC 2015 All rights reservedCOPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT ISO/IEC 2015,Published in SwitzerlandAll rights reserved.Unless otherwise specified,no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical,including photocopying,or posting on the internet or an intranet,without prior written permission.Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISOs member body in the country of the requester.ISO copyright officeCh.de Blandonnet 8 CP 401CH-1214 Vernier,Geneva,SwitzerlandTel.+41 22 749 01 11Fax+41 22 749 09 47copyrightiso.orgwww.iso.orgISO/IEC 19678:2015(E)Contents PageForeword.v Introduction.vi 1 Scope.1 2 Conformance.1 3 Normative references.2 4 Terms and definitions.2 5 Symbols(and abbreviated terms).3 6 Background.4 6.1 System BIOS.4 6.2 Role of System BIOS in the Boot Process.5 6.3 Updating the System BIOS.8 6.4 Importance of BIOS Integrity.8 6.5 Threats to the System BIOS.9 7 Threat Mitigation.10 Bibliography.14 ISO/IEC 19678:2015(E)ISO/IEC 2015 All rights reservedForeword ISO(the International Organization for Standardization)and IEC(the International Electrotechnical Commission)form the specialized system for worldwide standardization.National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity.ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest.Other international organizations,governmental and non-governmental,in liaison with ISO and IEC,also take part in the work.In the field of information technology,ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,ISO/IEC JTC 1.International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives,Part 2.The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards.Draft International Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting.Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75%of the national bodies casting a vote.Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights.ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.Note:ITTF will provide the document number needed below ISO/IEC 19678 was prepared by the U.S.National Institute of Standards and Technology from NIST SP 800-147,BIOS Protection Guidelines.NIST SP 800-147 was reformatted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives,Part 2,while maintaining the technical content of the NIST publication(available at http:/csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-147/NIST-SP800-147-April2011.pdf).The resulting standard was adopted under a special“fast-track procedure”,by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1,Information technology,in parallel with its approval by the national bodies of ISO and IEC.ISO/IEC 19678:2015(E)ISO/IEC 2015 All rights reservedIntroduction Modern computers rely on fundamental system firmware,commonly known as the system Basic Input/Output System(BIOS),to facilitate the hardware initialization process and transition control to the operating system.The BIOS is typically developed by both original equipment manufacturers(OEMs)and independent BIOS vendors,and is distributed to end-users by motherboard or computer manufacturers.Manufacturers frequently update system firmware to fix bugs,patch vulnerabilities,and support new hardware.This International Standard provides security requirements and guidance for preventing the unauthorized modification of BIOS firmware on PC client systems.Unauthorized modification of BIOS firmware by malicious software constitutes a significant threat because of the BIOSs unique and privileged position within the PC architecture.A malicious BIOS modification could be part of a sophisticated,targeted attack on an organizationeither a permanent denial of service(if the BIOS is corrupted)or a persistent malware presence(if the BIOS is implanted with malware).The move from conventional BIOS implementations to implementations based on the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface(UEFI)may make it easier for malware to target the BIOS in a widespread fashion,as these BIOS implementations are based on a common specification.This International Standard focuses on current and future x86 and x64 desktop and laptop systems,although the controls and procedures could potentially apply to any system design.Likewise,although the guide is oriented toward enterprise-class platforms,the necessary technologies are expected to migrate to consumer-grade systems over time.The securi