Methods and apparatus using human electrocardiogram to protect electronic data

An apparatus with support for protection of electronic data, the apparatus comprising:

• a non-transitory machine accessible medium;
• and
• security software in the machine accessible medium which, when accessed by a processor of a data processing system, enables the data processing system to:
• use (a) a master electrocardiogram (ECG) identifier for an authorized user of the data processing system and (b) a secret chip key for the data processing system to generate ECG-encrypted data;
• store the ECG-encrypted data in external storage;
• and
• in response to a request for a decrypted version of the ECG-encrypted data:
• collect at least one ECG reading for a current user of the data processing system;
• use (a) the at least one collected ECG reading for the current user and (b) at least one predetermined ECG identifier (EID) vector of a collection of predetermined EID vectors for the authorized user to determine whether the current user is the authorized user, wherein the collection of predetermined HD vectors is based on ECG readings taken from the authorized user in different physical states;
• and
• in response to determining that the current user is the authorized user, use the master ECG identifier for the authorized user and the secret chip key for the data processing system to decrypt the ECG-encrypted data.

A method for protecting electronic data, the method comprising:

• using (a) a master electrocardiogram (ECG) identifier for an authorized user of a data processing system and (b) a secret chip key for the data processing system to encrypt data in the data processing system;
• and
• before allowing the encrypted data to be decrypted, performing operations comprising:
• collecting at least one ECG reading for a current user of the data processing system;
• using (a) the at least one collected ECG reading for the current user and (b) at least one predetermined ECG identifier (EID) vector of a collection of predetermined EID vectors for the authorized user to determine whether the current user is the authorized user, wherein the collection of predetermined EID vectors is based on ECG readings taken from the authorized user in different physical states;
• and
• in response to determining that the current user is the authorized user, using the master ECG identifier for the authorized user and the secret chip key for the data processing system to decrypt the data.