Information storage apparatus and password collation method

• US 20060075485A1
• Filed: 09/22/2005
• Published: 04/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Funahashi, Takeshi, Nagato, Sakiko, Nagashima, Toshiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,275,994 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/83 input devices, e.g. keyboards, mice or controllers thereof

Abstract

A password is effectively prevented from being leaked to enhance the degree of security and, at the same time, can be input without difficulty. There is provided a removable information storage apparatus equipped with a predetermined interface for connecting itself to an external appliance and a security section with limited accesses from the external appliance, which includes a password input unit to be used that inputs a password of a predetermined number of words to be notified only to the information storage apparatus without being output to the external appliance connected to it by way of the predetermined interface, a password collating unit that collates the password input by way of the password input unit, and an access authorizing unit that authorizes an access to the security section from the external appliance connected to it by way of the predetermined interface in response to the collation of the password by the password collating unit. The password input unit is adapted to be used for inputting a password of not greater than a predetermined number of words as the password to be collated by the password collating unit, and the password collating unit is adapted to collate the password of not greater than the predetermined number of words input by way of the password input unit.

Claims

1. A removable information storage apparatus equipped with a predetermined interface for connecting itself to an external appliance and security means with limited accesses from the external appliance, the apparatus comprising:

password input means for inputting a password of a predetermined number of words to be notified only to the information storage apparatus without being output to the external appliance connected to it by way of the predetermined interface;

password collating means for collating the password input by way of the password input means; and

access authorizing means for authorizing an access to the security means from the external appliance connected to it by way of the predetermined interface in response to the collation of the password by the password collating means;

the password input means being adapted to be used for inputting a password of not greater than a predetermined number of words as the password to be collated by the password collating means;

the password collating means being adapted to collate the password of not greater than the predetermined number of words input by way of the password input means.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the password of not greater than the predetermined number of words input by way of the password input means is randomly specified from passwords of the predetermined number of words.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the randomly specified password of not greater than the predetermined number of words is a string of the characters of the password.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising as security means:

first storage means having;

a first storage region that always authorizes accesses from the external appliance connected to the apparatus by way of the predetermined interface; and

a second storage region that limits accesses from the external appliance connected to the apparatus by way of the predetermined interface.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising as security means:

a PKI controller having;

PKI processing means for generating a public key and a private key according to the PKI (public key infrastructure) system and executing a predetermined security process using the generated private key; and

second storage means having a write-only region to which the private key generated by the PKI processing means is written and that cannot be read out externally.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the password input means inputs the password as desired character codes are selected from a password table where a plurality of character codes including the character codes constituting the password are arranged one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the password input means is a jog dial for inputting a password by selecting each of the desired character codes in a predetermined one-dimensional direction from the password table so as to correspond to a rotary operation in a one-dimensional direction and finalizing the selected desired character code by depressing the jog dial.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

switching means for switching the selecting direction of the two-dimensionally arranged password table so as to correspond to a rotary operation of the jog dial, which is the password input means, in the one-dimensional direction.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the switching means is adapted to switch the selecting direction of the password table in response to the selection of one of the character codes in the plurality of character codes arranged two-dimensionally in the password table.

10. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the password input means is a multi-switch for inputting a password by selecting each of the desired character codes freely from the password table so as to correspond to a rotary operation in a one-dimensional direction or in two-dimensional directions and finalizing the selected desired character code by a depressing operation.

11. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the password table is acquired dynamically from the external application connected to the apparatus by way of the predetermined interface.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:

display means for displaying each of the character codes input by way of the password input means.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a password register for storing the password temporarily collated by the password collating means; and

a timer for counting the time since the time when the authorization of access to the security means by the access authorizing means is cancelled;

the password collating means being adapted to automatically collate the password stored in the password register when the apparatus receives a request for accessing the security means provided that the time counted by the timer is within a predetermined period of time;

the access authorizing means being adapted to authorize an access to the security means from the external appliance connected to the apparatus by way of the predetermined interface in response to the automatic collation of the password by the password collating means.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

notifying means for notifying the number of words currently input for the password by way of the password input means.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the notifying means is light emitting means for notifying the number of words input for the password by emitting light.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the notifying means is oscillation means for notifying the number of words input for the password by oscillating.

17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the password collating means combines the password input from the external appliance connected to the apparatus by way of the predetermined interface and the password input by way of the password input means for collation.

18. A password collation method to be used for a removable information storage apparatus equipped with a predetermined interface for connecting itself to an external appliance and security means with limited accesses from the external appliance, the method comprising:

a password input step of inputting a password of a predetermined number of words to be notified only to the information storage apparatus without being output to the external appliance connected to it by way of the predetermined interface;

a password collating step of collating the password input in the password input step; and

an access authorizing step of authorizing an access to the security means from the external appliance connected to the removable information storage apparatus by way of the predetermined interface in response to the collation of the password in the password collating step;

the password input step being adapted to be used for inputting a password of not greater than a predetermined number of words as the password to be collated in the password collating step;

the password collating step being adapted to collate the password of not greater than the predetermined number of words input in the password input step.

19. A removable information storage apparatus equipped with a predetermined interface for connecting itself to an external appliance and a security section with limited accesses from the external appliance, the apparatus comprising:

a password input unit to be used that inputs a password of a predetermined number of words to be notified only to the information storage apparatus without being output to the external appliance connected to it by way of the predetermined interface;

a password collating unit that collates the password input by way of the password input unit; and

an access authorizing unit that authorizes an access to the security section from the external appliance connected to it by way of the predetermined interface in response to the collation of the password by the password collating unit;

the password input unit being adapted to be used for inputting a password of not greater than a predetermined number of words as the password to be collated by the password collating unit;

the password collating unit being adapted to collate the password of not greater than the predetermined number of words input by way of the password input unit.