Encrypting file system and method
US6249866A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 16, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jun 19, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 16, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2221/2153
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for encryption and decryption of files. The system and method operate in conjunction with the file system to transparently encrypt and decrypt files in using a public key-private key pair encryption scheme. When a user puts a file in an encrypted directory or encrypts a file, all data writes to the disk for that file are encrypted with a random file encryption key generated from a random number and encrypted with the public key of a user and the public key of at least one recovery agent. The encrypted key information is stored with the file, whereby the user or a recovery agent can decrypt the file data using the private key thereof. When a proper private key is used, encrypted reads from the disk are decrypted transparently by the file system and returned to the user.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.