Protecting confidential information on portable storage media

• US 7,685,375 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2006
• Issued: 03/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Narayanaswami, Chandrasekhar, Raghunath, Mandayam Thondanur
• Primary Examiner(s): Chace; Christian P
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAVIDSON, CHAD
• Application Number:
  US11/447,394
• Publication Number:
  US 20070283094A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,386 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/152
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database

Abstract

A portable storage system for connecting to a host, the portable storage system includes a storage device for storing information and a switch. The switch includes a get mode wherein the host sees only the free space in the storage device and not the part storing the information. Optionally, the portable storage system includes a give mode wherein the storage medium shows an empty space to the host and any file or directory is marked as shared and wherein the host sees a file-system whose size equals the amount of empty storage space on the storage device and an owner mode showing all of the stored information to the host and enabling the owner of the system to uncheck a shared flag on a storage device that received from another user that added files.

Claims

1. A portable storage system for connecting with a host information processing system, the portable storage system comprising:

a storage device for storing information, said information comprising files and directories wherein each file and directory has a flag associated with it that indicates whether it is shared, and wherein the storage device comprises;

a visible partition comprising those files and directories that are visible to a user of the host information processing system when the storage device is connected therewith;

a non-visible partition comprising those files and directories that are not visible to the user of the host information processing system when the storage device is connected therewith, such that access to the files and directories in the non-visible partition is blocked;

wherein the host information processing system, when connected with the storage device, perceives a file system whose size equals a sum of an amount of empty storage space and a combined size of the files and directories marked as shared on the portable storage system;

a processor;

a switch operatively coupled with the storage device and configured to be set in a plurality of modes, wherein the plurality of modes comprise;

an owner mode wherein all of the files and directories are in the visible partition, wherein the owner mode, when selected, shows a shared flag indicating that the files marked with the flag are shared between the storage system and the host system and further comprising an apparatus for an owner of the portable storage system to modify a shared flag and to add files to the visible partition by checking the shared flags;

a give mode wherein any file and directory created in said give mode is automatically marked as shared and only the files and directories marked as shared are in the visible partition; and

a get mode wherein no files or directories are in the visible partition and the storage device shows only free space in the storage device to the user of the host information processing system when the storage device is connected therewith, and wherein in the get mode a size of the storage device presented to the user of the host information processing system equals an amount of the free space on the storage device;

a write-protect switch wherein if the write-protect switch is set along with the switch in the give mode the files in the visible partition are write- protected;

a dial that allows the user to specify a date range for filtering the list of files shown in the give position to show only those files marked as shared within the specified date range; and

a display that shows the selected date range and a state of the device.

2. The system of claim 1, where the storage device comprises one selected from a group consisting of:

a USB interface, a disk drive, flash memory, and molecular storage.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the switch is recessed so that a user'"'"'s finger cannot get into the recess without a tool.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the switch is operable using a fingerprint reader.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein when the user places a first finger on the fingerprint reader for placing the storage unit in the get state and when the user places a second finger on the fingerprint reader that puts the storage unit in the give state and when the user places a third finger on the fingerprint reader that puts the storage unit in the owner state.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a dial for selecting a date range to additionally filter the list of files marked shared that are in the visible partition.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising the host information processing system comprising an interface for connecting the portable storage system to the host information processing system.

8. A method for a first user getting a file from a second user in a portable storage device comprising a get mode, a give mode, and an owner mode of operation, the method comprising:

receiving the portable storage device set in the get mode of operation on the portable storage device,

wherein the storage device stores information comprising files and directories,

wherein each file and directory has a flag associated with it that indicates whether it is shared, and

wherein the storage device further comprises;

a visible partition comprising those files and directories that are visible to a user of the host information processing system when the storage device is connected therewith; and

a non-visible partition comprising those files and directories that are not visible to the first user of the host information processing system when the storage device is connected therewith, such that access to the files and directories in the non-visible partition is blocked;

wherein setting the get mode comprises;

using storage virtualization to obscure any files and directories in the portable storage device; and

setting a capacity of the storage device equal to a free space of the portable storage device;

wherein the host information processing system, when connected with the storage device, perceives a file system whose size equals a sum of an amount of empty storage space and a combined size of the files and directories marked as shared on the portable storage system;

receiving the portable storage device for coupling with a computing device from the second user, wherein the portable storage device comprises at least one file stored by the second user, and a shared flag associated with the at least one file;

setting the portable storage device to the owner mode, wherein setting the portable storage device to the owner mode comprises;

using virtualization to show all of the files and directories in the visible partition;

showing a shared flag indicating that the at least one file marked with the shared flag is shared between the storage system and the computing device; and

allowing the first user of the portable storage device to modify the shared flag and to add files to the visible partition by checking the shared flags;

coupling the portable storage device with computing device; and

un-checking the shared flag associated with the at least one file;

setting the give mode such that any file and directory created in the give mode is automatically marked as shared and only the files and directories marked as shared are in the visible partition, setting the give mode comprising;

setting a write-protect switch such that the files in the visible partition are write-protected;

setting a dial that allows the user to specify a date range for filtering the list of files shown in the give position to show only those files marked as shared within the specified date range, wherein the selected date range and a state of the device is presented on a display.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein in the get mode, an interruption of power in between the giving and receiving steps prompts the portable storage device to re-set the capacity of the portable storage device equal to the free space of the portable storage device such that the portable storage device appears to be empty.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein setting the portable storage device to the owner, give, and get modes is done by setting a switch.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein setting the portable storage device to the owner and give modes is done by entering a valid password.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein setting the get mode comprises the first user placing a first finger on a fingerprint reader;

setting the give mode comprises the first user placing a second finger on the fingerprint reader; and

setting the owner mode comprises the first user placing a third finger on the fingerprint reader.

13. A method for a first user giving a file to a second user in a portable storage device having a get mode, a give mode, and an owner mode of operation, comprising steps of:

storing in the portable storage device the at least one file said first user wants to give to the second user;

wherein the portable storage device comprises;

a visible partition comprising those files and directories that are visible; and

a non-visible partition comprising those files and directories that are not visible, such that access to the files and directories in said non-visible partition is blocked;

setting a shared flag on the at least one file;

setting the portable storage device to the give mode, wherein setting the portable storage device to the give mode comprises;

using storage virtualization to show only the files and directories marked as shared in the visible partition; and

setting a capacity of the portable storage device equal to a sum of a size of the shared files and the free space on the portable storage device;

setting a dial on the portable storage device to a specific date range for filtering the list of files shown in the give position to show only those files marked as shared within the specified date range;

giving the portable storage device to the second user for coupling to a computer system;

receiving the portable storage device from the second user.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising setting a write-protect switch, wherein if the write-protect switch is set along with the switch in the give mode the data in the file-system visible to the host system is write protected.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein setting the give mode comprises setting a password to obscure any files and directories in a non-visible partition of the portable storage device.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising setting a display on the portable storage device to display a selected data range to filter a list of files available.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising displaying a state of the portable storage device.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising setting a dial on the portable storage device to a date range such that moving the dial filters the list of files shown by date.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein setting the get mode comprises the first user placing a first finger on a fingerprint reader;

setting the give mode comprises the first user placing a second finger on the fingerprint reader; and

setting the owner mode comprises the first user placing a third finder on the fingerprint reader.