1. An article comprising: a computer program product stored in a computer readable storage device having instructions comprising: computer readable code to present a cryptographic key to an authentication module, said authentication module accessed through a trusted firmware layer; computer readable code for a validation module to process validation of said key through a firmware call; and computer readable code for an authentication module to restrict access of an unauthorized application to computer hardware resources in response to a determination of presentation of an invalid key, including allowing access of the unauthorized application to a reduced set of said hardware resources.