Security and selective data destruction
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsBen Sasson, Miles Mulholland, Lee Jason Sanders, Gordon Douglas Hutchison
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and a system for permanently deleting data from storage. The method includes receiving a wipe command to permanently delete a data segment stored in a storage system. The data segment includes an address to blocks where the data of the data segment is stored. The method also includes sanitizing the data segment, marking the address as sanitized, locating a last journal entry in a journal. The last journal entry includes metadata regarding the data segment. The method also includes sanitizing the last journal entry, traversing the journal, and sanitizing each journal entry of the data segment.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method for selectively destroying data on a storage system, the method comprising:
- sanitizing, in response to a wipe command to permanently delete a data segment stored in the storage system, the data segment, wherein the data segment includes an address to blocks where data of the data segment is stored in the storage system;
- marking the address to the blocks as sanitized;
- based on sanitizing the data segment,
- locating a last journal entry for the data segment located in a journal for the storage system, wherein the last journal entry contains information regarding the data segment;
- sanitizing the last journal entry;
- traversing the journal to locate one or more previous journal entries for the data segment;
- and
- sanitizing the one or more previous journal entries in the journal.
A computer-readable medium having instruction stored therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations, the operations comprising:
- sanitize, in response to a wipe command to permanently delete a data segment stored in the storage system, the data segment, wherein the data segment includes an address to blocks where data of the data segment is stored in the storage system;
- mark the address to the blocks as sanitized;
- based on sanitizing the data segment,
- locate a last journal entry for the data segment located in a journal for the storage system, wherein the last journal entry contains information regarding the data segment;
- sanitize the last journal entry;
- traverse the journal to locate one or more previous journal entries for the data;
- and
- sanitize the one or more previous journal entries in the journal.
A system, comprising:
- a processor;
- a memory to store instructions, which when executed from the memory, cause the processor to perform operations on the system,
- sanitizing, in response to a wipe command to permanently delete a data segment stored in the storage system, the data segment, wherein the data segment includes an address to blocks where data of the data segment is stored in the storage system;
- marking the address to the blocks as sanitized;
- based on sanitizing the data segment,
- locating a last journal entry for the data segment located in a journal for the storage system, wherein the last journal entry contains information regarding the data segment;
- sanitizing the last journal entry;
- traversing the journal to locate one or more previous journal entries for the data segment;
- and
- sanitizing the one or more previous journal entries in the journal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.