A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a standards-based security chip that’s built into most of your laptop and desktop computers. In fact,  it has shipped in more than 600 million laptop and desktop computers from Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung and Toshiba.

The TPM is a secure micro-controller with cryptographic features that provides a root of trust and enables the secure generation of keys and the ability to limit the use of them (to signing / verification or encryption / decryption).

It also serves as a secure container for key storage and can safeguard other data deemed too sensitive for software protection alone.

The TPM standard was created almost a decade ago by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), an international security standards organization.