Portable Storage Device Trusted Host Authentication
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current portable storage devices require manual effort and matching security software at both ends for secure data transfer, making them inconvenient and impractical for secure data access, leading to users often opting for unsecured data transfer due to the conflict between security and convenience.
Innovation Solution
A portable storage device that automates unlocking when mounted on a trusted host device, using mechanisms such as trusted host lists, cookie files, and cryptoprocessors to allow access without requiring user input, while maintaining the option for conventional unlocking on untrusted devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual password entry is required for secure data access, then security is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically authenticating trusted host devices during the mounting process before data access is requested. The portable storage device identifies the host device and verifies trust status in advance, eliminating the need for manual password entry during subsequent data operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The portable storage device provides self-service authentication by automatically managing the trusted host verification process. The device maintains internal records of trusted hosts and performs automated authentication without requiring user intervention, allowing the system to serve itself in the security verification process.
2Ease of operation
If automated unlocking is implemented for trusted devices, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authentication during the device mounting phase, storing trust relationships in advance. This preliminary action eliminates the need for complex real-time authentication protocols during data access, as the trust status is already determined and stored.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated authentication feature is selectively applied only to trusted host devices, while maintaining manual password requirements for untrusted devices. This local quality approach allows the system to implement complexity only where security risks are minimized, rather than uniformly across all access scenarios.
3Reliability
If security software must be installed on both source and target computers, then security is improved, but ease of manufacture and deployment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The security functionality is extracted from the host computer software and relocated to the portable storage device itself. The device contains its own authentication logic and trusted host management capabilities, eliminating the requirement for matching security software installations on connected computers.
Solution Approach 2:
The portable storage device is designed with universal compatibility to work with any host device that meets basic system requirements. The device handles all security operations independently, allowing it to function across different operating systems and hardware platforms without requiring platform-specific security software.
Data Source
AI summary
A data storage device that can be reversibly associated with one or more of a plurality of hosts. A “trusted” host on which the device is mounted is allowed access to a secure data area of the device automatically, without the user having to enter a password. Ways in which a host is designated as “trusted” include storing the host's ID in a trusted host list of the device, storing a representation of the host's ID that was encrypted using a trust key of the device in a cookie in the host, or storing a storage password of the device in a password list of the host. Alternatively, an untrusted host is allowed access to the secure data area if a user enters a correct user password.