<P> The trusted computing base (TCB) of a computer system is the set of all hardware, firmware, and / or software components that are critical to its security, in the sense that bugs or vulnerabilities occurring inside the TCB might jeopardize the security properties of the entire system . By contrast, parts of a computer system outside the TCB must not be able to misbehave in a way that would leak any more privileges than are granted to them in accordance to the security policy . </P> <P> The careful design and implementation of a system's trusted computing base is paramount to its overall security . Modern operating systems strive to reduce the size of the TCB so that an exhaustive examination of its code base (by means of manual or computer - assisted software audit or program verification) becomes feasible . </P>

What is meant by the term trusted computing base