Storage device and method for protecting data stored therein
First Claim
1. A storage device to be connected to a terminal host, which runs a biometrics application program and a host-specific-code generating program, the storage device comprising:
- a host interface to be connected to the terminal host;
a control module, which is connected to the host interface and comprises a microprocessor, a random access memory (RAM) and a read only memory (ROM), wherein the RAM serves as a working memory for data processing, and the ROM stores firmware for enabling the storage device to work and a device-specific-code generating program;
a biometrics sensor, which is connected to the control module, for sensing to-be-identified biometrics data of a user;
a data protection unit, which is connected to the control module, for storing to-be-protected data; and
a storage unit, which is connected to the control module, for storing biometrics template data, wherein;
the biometrics template data is transferred to the terminal host through the microprocessor of the control module;
the control module controls the biometrics sensor to read the to-be-identified biometrics data of the user and to transfer the to-be-identified biometrics data to the terminal host according to the biometrics application program;
the terminal host executes the biometrics application program to process and determine whether the to-be-identified biometrics data matches with the biometrics template data, executes the host-specific-code generating program to generate a host specific code when the to-be-identified biometrics data matches with the biometrics template data, and transfers the host specific code back to the microprocessor; and
the microprocessor utilizes the device-specific-code generating program to generate a device specific code, determines whether the device specific code matches with the host specific code, and enables the data protection unit to be accessed when the codes substantially match with each other, or otherwise disables the data protection unit from being accessed by the terminal host without the device specific code being transferred back to the terminal host.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A storage device to be connected to a terminal host includes a control module to be connected to the host, and a biometrics sensor and a storage unit both connected to the control module. The host runs a biometrics application program (AP) to inform the control module to control the sensor to read to-be-identified biometrics data of a user and to determine whether the to-be-identified biometrics data matches with biometrics template data stored in the storage device. When the two sets of data match with each other, the host runs a host-specific-code generating program to generate and transfer a host specific code to the control module. The control module generates a device specific code using a device-specific-code generating program stored therein, determines whether the codes match with each other, and enables the host to access a data protection unit of the storage device when the codes match with each other.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A storage device to be connected to a terminal host, which runs a biometrics application program and a host-specific-code generating program, the storage device comprising:
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a host interface to be connected to the terminal host; a control module, which is connected to the host interface and comprises a microprocessor, a random access memory (RAM) and a read only memory (ROM), wherein the RAM serves as a working memory for data processing, and the ROM stores firmware for enabling the storage device to work and a device-specific-code generating program; a biometrics sensor, which is connected to the control module, for sensing to-be-identified biometrics data of a user; a data protection unit, which is connected to the control module, for storing to-be-protected data; and a storage unit, which is connected to the control module, for storing biometrics template data, wherein; the biometrics template data is transferred to the terminal host through the microprocessor of the control module; the control module controls the biometrics sensor to read the to-be-identified biometrics data of the user and to transfer the to-be-identified biometrics data to the terminal host according to the biometrics application program; the terminal host executes the biometrics application program to process and determine whether the to-be-identified biometrics data matches with the biometrics template data, executes the host-specific-code generating program to generate a host specific code when the to-be-identified biometrics data matches with the biometrics template data, and transfers the host specific code back to the microprocessor; and the microprocessor utilizes the device-specific-code generating program to generate a device specific code, determines whether the device specific code matches with the host specific code, and enables the data protection unit to be accessed when the codes substantially match with each other, or otherwise disables the data protection unit from being accessed by the terminal host without the device specific code being transferred back to the terminal host. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of protecting data stored in a storage device, the method comprising the steps of:
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connecting the storage device to a terminal host; running a biometrics application program in the terminal host; transferring biometrics template data stored in the storage device to the terminal host; guiding a user to use a biometrics sensor of the storage device, enabling the biometrics sensor to capture to-be-identified biometrics data of the user, and transferring the to-be-identified biometrics data to the terminal host; utilizing the biometrics application program to process and determine whether the to-be-identified biometrics data matches with the biometrics template data, generating a host specific code using a host-specific-code generating program when the to-be-identified biometrics data substantially matches with the biometrics template data, and transferring the host specific code back to the storage device; and generating a device specific code using a device-specific-code generating program in the storage device, and enabling a data protection unit of the storage device to be accessed by the terminal host when a microprocessor of the storage device has determined that the device specific code substantially matches with the host specific code, or otherwise disables the data protection unit from being accessed by the terminal host without the device specific code being transferred back to the terminal host. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification