Method and system to provide security implementation for storage devices

• US 7,876,894 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Issued: 01/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Technology Properties Limited LLC
• Original Assignee: MCM Portfolio LLC
• Inventors: Iyer, Sree Mambakkam, Kumar, Santosh, Jones, Larry Lawson, Venkidu, Arockiyaswamy
• Primary Examiner(s): Zand; Kambiz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kaplan; Benjamin A
• Application Number:
  US11/559,749
• Publication Number:
  US 20080114994A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,533 Days
• Field of Search: 380/37, 380/43, 380/201, 380/262, 713/193
• US Class Current: 380/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1408 by using cryptography for digital transmission H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/79 in semiconductor storage media, e.g. directly-addressable memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2107 File encryption
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00115 wherein the record carrier stores a unique medium identifier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00152 involving a password
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/0021 involving encryption or decryption of contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/60 Solid state media details of solid state memory devices G11C

Abstract

In one embodiment, method that can be performed on a system, is provided to security implementations for storage devices. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing a separate encryption seed for each of a plurality of separate addressable blocks of a non-volatile storage device, wherein a common encryption method is to encrypt data to be stored on the plurality of separate addressable blocks. In one embodiment, the storage device is a portable storage device. In one embodiment, encryption seed is an Initialization Vector (IV). In one embodiment, the encryption seeds comprise at least one of a media serial number and a logical block address corresponding to the respective block of the non-volatile storage device. In an alternative embodiment, the method further comprises storing at least a part of the separate encryption seed of the separate blocks of the non-volatile storage device within the respective blocks of the storage device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

for each addressable block of a storage device into which encrypted data is stored, generating a multi-byte random number unique to that block from a random number generator, the random number generator comprising a hardware register whose value is unpredictable on power up;

generating an initialization vector from the random number, the initialization vector being completely independent of the data;

encrypting data to be stored in a block employing the initialization vector as at least a portion of an encryption key;

storing the random number in the block; and

storing the encrypted data into the block;

wherein the initialization vector depends on a random number stored with the data and is not dependent upon the data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the initialization vector by combining the random number with the address of the block.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the initialization vector further comprises combining with the random number and the address of the block a serial number of the storage device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the address of the block comprises a logical block address.

5. Article of manufacture, comprising storage device media encrypted according to the method of claim 1.

6. A method of decrypting data encrypted according to the method of claim 1, comprising:

reading the random number stored in a block; and

generating an initialization vector for decoding the data in the block from the random number read from the block.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the generating step comprising concatenating the address of the block with the read random number.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the generating step comprising concatenating with the read random number the address of the block and a media serial number of the storage device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing of the random number in a block further comprises storing the random number within at least a first addressable bytes of the respective blocks of the storage device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one or more of the blocks are one of 528 bytes or a multiple of 528 bytes.

11. A machine readable-medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which when executed perform a method according to claim 1.

12. A method comprising:

for each set of consecutively addressable blocks of a storage device into which encrypted data is stored, a set comprising two or more consecutively addressable blocks, generating a multi-byte random number unique to that set from a random number generator, the random number generator comprising a hardware register whose value is unpredictable on power up;

generating an initialization vector from the random number, the initialization vector being independent of the data;

encrypting data to be stored in a set employing the initialization vector as at least a portion of an encryption key;

storing the random number in the set; and

storing the encrypted data into the set.

13. Article of manufacture, comprising storage device media encrypted according to the method of claim 12.