Spatial security for stored data

• US 9,767,323 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dolph, Blaine H., Patil, Sandeep R., Shiraguppi, Riyazahamad M., Sivakumar, Gandhi, Trevathan, Matthew B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Popham, Jeffrey D
• Application Number:
  US13/833,497
• Publication Number:
  US 20140283111A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,649 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/80 in storage media based on magnetic or optical technology, e.g. disks with sectors preventing unauthorised reproduction or copying of disc-type recordable media G11B20/00

Abstract

Systems and methods of providing spatial security of data stored on a hard disk drive. A method includes associating a user with at least one track and/or sector of the hard disk drive. The method also includes locking the at least one track and/or sector as a default setting. The method additionally includes determining the user has moved into a predefined area. The method further includes unlocking the at least one track and/or sector based on the determining the user has moved into the predefined area.

Claims

1. A method of providing spatial security of data stored on a hard disk drive, comprising:

enabling access by a user to a computer device including a hard disk drive having at least one predefined secure track and/or sector, and at least one predefined unlocked track and/or sector, wherein the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector is locked as a default setting to prevent read/write access of all users and the at least one predefined unlocked track and/or sector is unlocked to permit read/write access of all users at any time;

associating, in a data structure, a unique identifier of the user with a pointer to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector of the hard disk drive to indicate that the user has permission to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector, wherein the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector is defined by an administrator in the data structure, the at least one predefined secure track is arranged as a concentric circle on a surface of a disk platter, and the at least one predefined secure sector is a subdivision of the at least one predefined track on a magnetic or optical disc;

determining the user has moved into a predefined area, wherein the predefined area is defined as a boundary with a predefined distance around the computer device that contains the hard disk drive;

based upon and after determining the user has moved into the predefined area, comparing the unique identifier of the user to the data structure to determine that the user has permission to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector;

based upon and after determining that the user has permission, unlocking only the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector such that the user may access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector using the computer device when the computer device is inside of the boundary and the user is inside of the boundary;

determining that the user has moved out of the predefined area;

re-locking the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector based on the determining that the user has moved out of the predefined area so that the user can access the predefined unlocked track and/or sector at any time without regard to a location of the user but can only access the predefined secure track and/or sector when the user is inside of the boundary of the predefined area, and

generating an alert and locking security doors to secure the predefined area when the user attempts to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector while the at least one track and/or sector is locked and the user is outside of the boundary of the predefined area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the locking comprises causing a hard disk controller to prevent read/write access to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the unlocking comprises causing a hard disk controller to permit read/write access to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising prompting the user to provide at least one additional security measure after the unlocking before permitting the user to access the unlocked at least one predefined secure track and/or sector.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one additional security measure comprises at least one of a password and a decryption key.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the user has moved into the predefined area comprises detecting that a geo-spatial coordinate locator associated with the user has crossed a boundary of the predefined area.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the user has moved into the predefined area comprises:

determining coordinates of a geo-spatial coordinate locator associated with the user; and

comparing the determined coordinates to coordinates of a boundary of the predefined area.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the user has moved into the predefined area comprises detecting that a geo-spatial coordinate locator associated with the user is within a predefined distance from the computer device that is connected to the hard disk drive.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating, in the data structure, a unique identifier of a second user with a pointer to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector of the hard disk drive to indicate that the second user has permission to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector; and

locking the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector when the computer device is inside the boundary and both the user and the second user are outside of the boundary.

10. A system implemented in hardware, comprising:

a hard disk drive located at a node in a storage cloud, the hard disk drive including at least one predefined secure track and/or sector locked as a default setting to prevent read/write access;

a user accessible computer device remote from the hard disk drive and in communication with the hard disk drive;

a geo-spatial reader substrate configured to determine when a geo-spatial coordinate locator of a user moves into or out of a predefined area which is a boundary with a predefined distance around the computer device;

an intelligent spatial security steward storage controller (ISSSC) configured to;

access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector, wherein the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector is associated with a unique identifier of the user and defined by an administrator in a data structure, the at least one predefined secure track being arranged as a concentric circle on a surface of a disk platter and the at least one predefined sector being a subdivision of the at least one predefined secure track on a magnetic or optical disc;

compare the unique identifier of the user to the data structure to determine that the user has permission to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector;

unlock only the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector such that the user may access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector using the computer device upon determining by the geo-spatial reader that the computer device is inside of the predefined area and the user is inside of the predefined area and upon determining that the user has permission to access the at least one predefined secure track and or sector;

prompt the user to provide at least one additional security measure after the unlocking of the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector before permitting the user to access the unlocked at least one predefined secure track and/or sector;

lock the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector upon determining by the geo-spatial reader that the computer device is inside the predefined area and the user is outside of the predefined area, wherein predefined unsecured tracks and/or sectors of the hard disk drive are accessible using the computer device at any time by the user without regard to a location of the user while the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector is locked because the user is outside of the predefined area; and

generate an alert and lock security doors to secure the predefined area when the user attempts to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector while the at least one track and/or sector is locked and the user is outside of the boundary of the predefined area.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the geo-spatial reader substrate determines when a geo-spatial coordinate locator moves into or out of the predefined area using at least one of:

radio-frequency identification, global positioning system coordinates, and near field communication.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the predefined area is associated with a computer device connected to the hard disk drive;

the computer device provides access to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector of the hard disk drive when the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector of the hard disk drive is unlocked;

the computer device is within the predefined area; and

the computer device is separate from the geo-spatial coordinate locator.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the ISSSC is further configured to:

unlock only the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector such that the user or a second user may access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector using the computer device upon determining by the geo-spatial reader that the computer device is inside of the predefined area and the user or the second user is inside of the predefined area; and

lock the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector only upon determining by the geo-spatial reader that the computer device is inside the predefined area and both the first user and the second user are outside of the predefined area, wherein the predefined unsecured tracks and/or sectors of the hard disk drive are accessible using the computer device while the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector is locked, and wherein the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector is associated with a unique identifier of the user and a unique identifier of the second user.

14. A computer program product for providing spatial security of data stored on a hard disk drive, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to associate a unique identifier of a user with at least one predefined secure track and/or sector of the hard disk drive, wherein the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector is defined by an administrator in a data structure, the at least one predefined secure track is arranged as a concentric circle on a surface of a disk platter, and the at least one predefined secure sector is a subdivision of the at least one predefined track on a magnetic or optical disc;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to prevent read/write access to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector of the hard disk drive when the user is determined to be outside of a predefined area, wherein predefined unsecure tracks and/or sectors of the hard disk drive are accessible to the user when the user is determined to be outside of the predefined area and while access is prevented to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to permit read/write access to the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector of the hard disk drive when the user is determined to be inside the predefined area;

program instructions, stored on the at least one of the one or more storage devices, to determine that a geo-spatial coordinate locator associated with the user moves within the predefined area, the predefined area being the boundary with a predefined distance around the computer device that contains the hard disk drive with the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector;

program instructions to unlock only the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector such that the user may access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector using the computer device when the computer device is inside of the boundary and the user is inside of the boundary and lock the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector when the computer device is inside the boundary and the user is outside of the boundary,

program instructions to determine that the user has moved out of the predefined area;

program instructions to re-lock the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector based on the determining that the user has moved out of the predefined area so that the user can access the predefined unlocked track and/or sector at any time without regard to a location of the user but can only access the predefined secure track and/or sector when the user is inside of the boundary of the predefined area; and

program instructions to lock security doors to secure the predefined area when the user attempts to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector while the at least one track and/or sector is locked and the user is outside of the boundary of the predefined area.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

the preventing read/write access comprises causing a hard disk controller to prevent read/write access from a computing device associated with the predefined area; and

the permitting read/write access comprises causing the hard disk controller to permit read/write access from the computing device associated with the predefined area.

16. A computer system for providing spatial security of data stored on a hard disk drive, the system comprising:

one or more computer processors;

one or more computer readable hardware storage devices;

program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable hardware storage devices for execution by the one or more computer processors, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to associate a unique identifier of a user with a plurality of predefined secure tracks and/or sectors of the hard disk drive, wherein the unique identifier is defined by an administrator in a data structure, the plurality of predefined secure tracks being arranged as a concentric circle on a surface of a disk platter and the plurality of predefined secure sectors being subdivisions of the plurality of predefined secure tracks on a magnetic or optical disc;

program instructions to determine when a user moves into or out of a predefined area associated with a computer device connected to the hard disk drive;

program instructions to unlock only the plurality of predefined secure tracks and/or sectors of the hard disk drive upon determining that the user moves into the predefined area;

program instructions to lock the plurality of predefined secure tracks and/or sectors when the user moves out of the predefined area, wherein predefined unsecure tracks and/or sectors of the hard disk drive are accessible at any time by the user without regard to the location of the unsecure tracks and/or sectors using the computer device while the plurality of predefined secure tracks and/or sectors are locked because the user is outside of the predefined area; and

program instruction to generate an alarm and lock security doors to secure the predefined area when the user attempts to access the at least one predefined secure track and/or sector while the at least one track and/or sector is locked and the user is outside of the boundary of the predefined area,

wherein the determining when the user moves into or out of the predefined area comprises detecting that a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag possessed by the user crosses a boundary of the predefined area, and the predefined area is the boundary with a predefined distance around the computer device that contains the hard disk drive with the at least one predefined track and/or sector.