TEE Engineer License study plan

Define the TEE threat model vocabulary (TEE, REE, TA, TCB, trust boundary, attack surface) and map each term to a concrete component on a mobile SoC and a server CPU.

Compare at least three isolation mechanisms (ARM TrustZone secure/non-secure worlds, Intel SGX enclaves, AMD SEV encrypted VMs, RISC-V Keystone) by listing what each isolates and from whom.

Diagram the normal-world to secure-world transition path (SMC, monitor mode, world switch) and annotate the privilege levels involved.

Enumerate the assets a TEE protects (keys, biometrics, DRM, attestation secrets) and classify each by confidentiality, integrity, and availability requirements.

Describe the GlobalPlatform TEE architecture layers (Client Application, TEE Client API, Trusted Application, TEE Internal Core API) and trace one API call from REE to TA.

Explain secure monitor and hypervisor responsibilities in ARMv8/ARMv9, including exception level transitions and the role of the SPMC/SPM in FF-A.

Outline the lifecycle of a Trusted Application: installation, instantiation, session open, command invocation, session close, and deletion.

Identify the memory-isolation guarantees of a TA (private heap, stack, secure storage) and how shared memory between REE and TEE is validated.

Write and reason about TA entry points (TA_CreateEntryPoint, TA_OpenSessionEntryPoint, TA_InvokeCommandEntryPoint) and the parameter types (memref, value, temp memref) they receive.

Apply secure coding rules for TAs: validate all memrefs, avoid TOCTOU on shared buffers, zeroize secrets, and never trust REE-supplied lengths.

Explain the secure boot chain (ROM, first-stage bootloader, TEE OS, TA signature verification) and where root of trust keys are stored.

Compare attestation models: device attestation with a hardware key, SGX remote attestation quoting, and ARM CCA realm attestation tokens.

Design a key hierarchy (device root key, TA storage key, session keys) and state where each key lives, how it is derived, and how it is rotated or revoked.

Explain secure storage sealing and binding to device state (e.g., RPMB, encrypted filesystem, rollback protection) and the failure modes of each.

Classify TEE vulnerabilities by root cause: API misuse, shared-memory races, side channels, configuration errors, and supply-chain/TA signing weaknesses.

Analyze at least two published TEE attack classes conceptually (e.g., controlled-channel/page-fault side channels, SGX transient-execution leaks) and state the mitigation each prompted.

Build a TEE assessment checklist covering attestation verification, TA signature policy, secure-storage rollback, debug interfaces, and shared-memory handling.

Practice threat modeling with STRIDE applied to a TEE-based DRM player, producing at least one threat per STRIDE letter with a TEE-specific mitigation.

Explain how to test attestation end to end: nonce freshness, verifier trust anchors, revocation checks, and rejection of mismatched measurements.

Describe fuzzing and static-analysis approaches for TA command handlers and what inputs should be treated as hostile.

Compare confidential-computing deployment models: SGX enclave services, SEV-SNP confidential VMs, ARM CCA realms, and TEE-backed Kubernetes node pools.

Explain remote attestation flow in a cloud deployment, including who runs the verifier, how policies are expressed, and how secrets are released only to attested workloads.

Identify performance and operational costs of confidential computing (memory encryption overhead, attestation latency, debugging limits, live-migration restrictions).

Map the shared-responsibility model for a confidential VM across cloud provider, TEE hardware vendor, and tenant.

Summarize the scope of key standards and specifications: GlobalPlatform TEE Protection Profile and APIs, Arm FF-A, Confidential Computing Consortium projects, and relevant ISO/IEC criteria.

Explain certification and evaluation concepts (protection profile, evaluation assurance level, Common Criteria) and what a TEE certification does and does not guarantee.

Describe regulatory and governance drivers (data protection, key custodianship, export controls on cryptography) that shape TEE deployment decisions.

Distinguish vendor security advisories, CVE handling, and coordinated disclosure obligations for TEE components.

Synthesize the eight domains into a single end-to-end scenario: threat model, architecture choice, boot and attestation, TA design, assessment plan, deployment, and compliance evidence.

Complete timed practice sets weighted by domain percentage (14/16/14/16/14/14/12) and log every missed item by root cause.

Re-drill weak areas identified in the log, prioritizing domains 2, 4, and 6 where the weight is highest.

Rehearse explaining attestation and key management aloud in under three minutes each, as if to an auditor.