Hard drive security for fast boot
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorKerry B. VanDer Kamp
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods secure a hard drive with a password. These systems and methods prevent unauthorized access to valuable data on the hard drive and prevent a hacker from sniffing the password as it is communicated over a bus. Data on the hard drive is protected, even if it is not encrypted. Responsibility for managing the security features is shared between the operating system and the BIOS in such a way as to maximize security and minimize boot time.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- requesting a password from a basic input-output system (BIOS), after loading an operating system kernel;
- receiving the password;
- and
- unlocking a hard drive with the password.
A system, comprising:
- a processor;
- a hard drive coupled to the processor;
- an operating system to execute on the processor;
- a basic input-output system (BIOS) to execute on the processor;
- a password stored in the basic input-output system (BIOS) to unlock the hard drive;
- and
- a driver to execute from the operating system on the processor and to call the basic input-output system (BIOS) to retrieve the password.
A machine-accessible medium having associated content capable of directing the machine to perform a method, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a basic input-output system (BIOS), a hard drive password request from an operating system;
- determining, by the basic input-output system (BIOS), if a system is in a maintenance mode;
- retrieving, by the basic input-output system (BIOS), a password, when the system is not in a maintenance mode;
- encrypting, by the basic input-output system (BIOS), the password;
- and
- passing, by the basic input-output system (BIOS), the encrypted password to the operating system.
A method, comprising:
- determining, by an operating system, that a hard drive is locked;
- receiving, by the operating system, a password from a basic input-output system (BIOS);
- and
- unlocking, by the operating system, the hard drive using the password.
A method, comprising:
- executing a basic input-output system (BIOS);
- loading an operating system kernel;
- executing the operating system kernel;
- loading at least one integrated device electronics (IDE) driver;
- querying a hard drive to determine if the hard drive is locked;
- if the hard drive is locked, querying the basic input-output system (BIOS) for a password;
- returning the password from the basic input-output system (BIOS) to the at least one integrated device electronics (IDE) driver;
- and
- unlocking the hard drive.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.