Storage system and method for performing and authenticating write-protection thereof

A method, comprising:

• receiving, at a storage device, a request, the request including a request message authentication code, writable information, and write protection information, the write protection information including at least one of start address information, length information, writable information indicating whether to apply write protection to a memory area, and a selection value selected from among at least first to third write-protection values of a field indicating a kind of write-protection to apply to the memory area in response to a power-off, a hardware reset, a power-on, or the request,
• the first write-protection value indicating that the writable information is changed to a first value after a powering on of the storage device, the first value indicating that the memory area is writable, the second write-protection value indicating that the writable information is changed to a second value after a powering off or a hardware reset of the storage device, the second value indicating that the memory area is protected against writing, and the third write-protection value indicating that the writable information is changed by the request, the start address information indicating a logical block address at which the memory area in a non-volatile memory of the storage device starts, and the length information indicating a length of the memory area;
• and
• generating, at the storage device, a generated message authentication code based on (1) at least one of the start address information and the length information, and (2) a key stored at the storage device;
• authenticating, at the storage device, the request based on the generated message authentication code and the request message authentication code;
• and
• processing, at the storage device, the request based on a result of the authenticating.

An electronic device comprising:

• a host including a processor configured to execute an application program;
• and
• a storage device connectable to the electronic device and communicating with the host, wherein
• the storage device includes a first memory being a non-volatile memory and a second memory,
• the second memory is configured to store a write-protect descriptor, the write-protect descriptor including a memory partition identifier identifying a partition of the first memory, start address information indicating a logical block address for a memory area in the identified memory partition, length information indicating a length of the memory area in the identified memory partition, writable information indicating whether to apply write protection to the memory area, and a selection value selected from among at least first to third write-protection values of a field indicating a kind of write protection to apply to the memory area,
• the field includes the at least first to third write-protection values,
• the first write-protection value indicates that the writable information is changed to a first value after a power-on of the storage device where the first value represents that the memory area is writable,
• the second write-protection value indicating that the writable information is changed to a second value after a power-off of the storage device or a hardware reset of the storage device where the second value represents that the memory area is protected against writing, and
• the third write-protection value indicating that the writable information is changed by a request of the host.