Microsoft patents secure data handoff for moving virtual machines
This filing describes a method for securely moving a protected virtual computer from one server to another. It uses digital fingerprints, or hashes, to verify that the external hardware connected to the new server matches the original setup before allowing the system to continue running.
In the filing’s own words
Methods, apparatuses, and products for secure peripheral device state transfer during trusted virtual machine migration, including: receiving, by a first instance of a trusted virtual machine and from a first peripheral device coupled to a first host executing the first instance of the trusted virtual machine, a first hash value calculated based on a state of the first peripheral device; loading, by the first instance of the trusted virtual machine, a second hash value calculated based on a state of a second peripheral device coupled to a second host; and trusting, by the first instance of the trusted virtual machine, the first peripheral device based on a match between the first hash value and the second hash value.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A method of secure peripheral device state transfer during trusted virtual machine migration, comprising: receiving, by a first instance of a trusted virtual machine and from a first peripheral device coupled to a first host executing the first instance of the trusted virtual machine, a first hash value calculated in a trusted execution environment of the first host and based on a state of the first peripheral device; loading, by the first instance of the trusted virtual machine, a second hash value calculated based on a state of a second peripheral device coupled to a second host; and trusting, by the first instance of the trusted virtual machine, the first peripheral device based on a match between the first hash value and the second hash value.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- SECURE PERIPHERAL DEVICE STATE TRANSFER DURING TRUSTED VIRTUAL MACHINE MIGRATION
- Publication number
- US20260299988A1
- Application number
- 19096429
- Filed
- Mar 31, 2025
- Published
- Oct 1, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 9/45558 Physics & computingG06F 2009/4557 Physics & computingG06F 2009/45579 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in Security & privacy
- Microsoft patents system to call 911 for others during video calls Sep 22, 2026
- Microsoft patents system to block fake code suggested by AI Sep 15, 2026
- Microsoft patents one-way data flow to block network attacks Sep 10, 2026
- Microsoft patents voice coding that hides speaker identity for secure calls Sep 17, 2026
- Microsoft patents security checks for AI chats using user and model profiles Oct 1, 2026
Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.