Securely recovering a computing device

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

• loading a code image digitally signed by a signature into a device, the code image being received from a server over a communication network;
• determining if the code image is certified by verifying the signature using a fingerprint embedded within ROM (read only memory) of the device;
• and
• executing the code image if the code image is certified to establish an operating environment of the device;
• entering a DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode if the code image is not certified to establish the operating environment of the device, wherein the DFU mode performs system management tasks for the device.

A digital processing system, comprising:

• a ROM (read only memory) to store a fingerprint embedded therein;
• a mass storage to store a code image digitally signed by a signature and received from a server over a communication network;
• a main memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the ROM, the mass storage, and the main memory to verify the code image using the fingerprint, to execute the code image in the main memory to establish an operating environment of the digital processing system if the code image is successfully verified, and to enter a DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) mode if the code image is not successfully verified, wherein the DFU mode performs system management tasks for the device.