Conceptual design of a secure personal computer

The majority of secure computer systems rely on security kernels implemented predominantly in software. However, software security kernels demonstrate a number of problems; the performance of the system is degraded, incompatibilities are created with existing software, and the entire kernel must be reverified every time a software upgrade is made. This paper presents a conceptual security system for an existing, single user, multitasking personal computer (PC) that relies largely on hardware. The security system includes a login authentication mechanism, a reference monitor, and encryption mechanisms for the data in secondary as well as primary memory