Patent Application
20080080327
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The power supplying unit 14 supplies operating power to the HDD 2, and is physically connected to the HDD 2 with a power cable.
The main control unit 11 controls the entire information leak-preventing apparatus 1, and includes a command processing unit 11a and a format-error causing unit 11b. The command processing unit 11a performs a process of controlling operation of the HDD 2 by issuing a format command for format of the HDD 2, a reset command for interrupting a process of the HDD 2, a read command for reading data from the HDD 2, a write command for writing data to the HDD 2, based on the operation by a user.
The format-error causing unit 11b performs a process of causing a format error in the HDD 2. Specifically, after the format command is sent to the HDD 2 by the command processing unit 11a, the format-error causing unit 11b issues the reset command before the format of the HDD 2 is complete or stops the power supply for forcibly ending the formatting of the HDD 2.
If the format process is interrupted in such a manner, the HDD 2 stores therein information indicating that a format error has occurred, and rejects any read or write command that is issued thereafter. Then, the format process is executed again, and if the process is completed normally, it is possible to accept subsequent read or write command.
In other words, the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 intentionally causes a format error in the HDD 2, which makes the data in the HDD 2 unreadable. Specifically, the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 issues the reset command to the HDD 2 or interrupts the power supply of the HDD 2 after sending the format command to the HDD 2, to cause a format error in the HDD 2. Therefore, the user need not wait for the normal completion of formatting of the HDD 2, and it is possible to complete the task of data leak prevention in an extremely short period of time. Time required for such a task is of the order of a few minutes, and is not dependent on the capacity of the HDD 2.
Furthermore, once a format error occurs in the HDD 2, use of the HDD 2 for reading or writing of data is possible only when formatting is completed in a normal manner, which makes reading of recorded data through format process impossible, leading to prevention of leakage of information.
Moreover, the format command, the reset command, and the like are functions that are generally available in almost all the magnetic disk devices such as HDDs. Therefore, the present invention is applicable to any storage medium.
Some magnetic disks may not end formatting in an abnormal manner even when the formatting process is forcibly interrupted. Therefore, it is preferable to issue a read command to check that formatting has ended in an abnormal manner. If reading is possible, i.e., formatting has not ended in an abnormal manner, a format command can be reissued, complete process of formatting (normal completion) is executed, and an original data is deleted.
Process procedure performed by the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 in case of causing a format error in the HDD 2 by issuing a reset command to the HDD is shown in
Subsequently, the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 outputs a read command (step S103) to the HDD 2, and confirms whether data is unreadable (step S104) from the HDD 2. If the data is unreadable (Yes at step S104), the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 ends the process at that point.
On the other hand, if the data is readable (No at step S104), the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 executes the format command (step S105), and waits until formatting of the HDD 2 is completed normally (step S106). When formatting is completed (Yes at step S106), the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 ends the process.
Process procedure performed by the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 in case of causing a format error in the HDD 2 by interrupting power supply of the HDD 2 is shown in
The information leak-preventing apparatus 1 restarts the power supply to the HDD 2 (step S203). Subsequently, the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 outputs a read command (step S204) to the HDD 2, and confirms whether data is unreadable (step S205) from the HDD 2. If the data is unreadable (Yes at step S205), the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 ends the process at that point.
On the other hand, if the data is readable (No at step S205), the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 outputs a format command (step S206) to the HDD 2, and waits until formatting of the HDD 2 is completed normally (step S207). When formatting of the HDD 2 is completed normally (Yes at step S207), the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 ends the process.
As explained above, the information leak-preventing apparatus 1 forcibly interrupts the formatting process of the HDD 2, and intentionally causes a format error in the HDD 2. Thus, it is possible to make data from the HDD 2 unreadable in a short period of time.
While the present invention has been described with reference to a few specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. The present invention can be arbitrarily changed or modified. For example, in the embodiment, a format error in the HDD 2 is caused by interrupting formatting of the HDD 2. However, if the storage medium can access data that indicates whether the format error occurs, it is possible to cause a format error in the storage medium by altering the data.
Although the invention has been described with respect to a specific embodiment for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-265889 | Sep 2006 | JP | national |
