The Trusted PLATFORM Module (TPM) is an international standard for a secure cryptoprocessor. The TPM TECHNICAL specification was written by a computer industry consortium ...
(IEC) standardized the specification as ISO/IEC 11889 in 2009.[1]
The Trusted Computing Group continues to revise the TPM specification. They published Version 1.2, Revision 116 of on 3 March 2011.[2] As of November 2013, a draft of the TPM 2.0 specification is in review.[3]

Password protection
Access to keys, DATA or systems is often protected and requires authentication by presenting a password. If the authentication mechanism is implemented in software only, the access typically is prone to 'dictionary attacks'. Since the TPM is implemented in a dedicated hardware module, a dictionary attack prevention mechanism was built in, which effectively protects against guessing or automated dictionary attacks, while still allowing the user a sufficient and reasonable number of tries. With this hardware based dictionary attack prevention, the user can opt for shorter or weaker passwords which are more memorable. WITHOUT this level of protection, only passwords with high complexity would provide sufficient protection.