JP2005004672A - Storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a storage device capable of preventing the alteration or breakage of stored data without deteriorating the operability of an information procesosr, and also preventing the leak of personal information of a user in the use of the information processor by general public users. <P>SOLUTION: The storage device 1 stores initial data in a first drive 4. On receipt of a write request, the storage device 1 regularly writes data based on the write request in a second drive, even if it is a write request for rewrite of the initial data, and does not rewrite the initial data stored in the first drive 4. At the time of starting, the second drive 5 is initialized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a storage device such as a hard disk for storing data used in an information processing device such as a personal computer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in a storage device such as a hard disk, reading of data is prohibited to prevent leakage of stored data, and writing or initialization is prohibited to prevent falsification or destruction of stored data. It has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a storage device that can be set to prohibit reading, writing, and initialization for each data storage unit in order to achieve both data protection and effective use of a storage area.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-5-224828 [0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Recently, there have been an increase in so-called Internet cafes where stores are installed with personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs) connected to the Internet so that customers can use them. In this type of store, since there are an unspecified number of customers who use the installed PCs, the writing and initialization of data on the hard disk is prohibited, the data stored on the hard disk is altered, It is preferable to prevent destruction.
[0005]
However, if data writing to the hard disk is prohibited, the operability of the PC is greatly reduced, so Internet cafes and the like do not prohibit data writing to the hard disk. For this reason, a program for storing the key operation history on the hard disk, so-called spyware, is installed, and the key operation history of another person using this PC is read from the hard disk at a later date, and personal information such as the ID and password of the other person is read. There are many crimes that illegally collects and is a social problem.
[0006]
In order to prevent this kind of crime, after the user has finished using the PC, it is possible to make another user use this PC after confirming whether an unauthorized program such as spyware is written on the hard disk. However, there is a problem that it takes a lot of manpower and time to perform such confirmation.
[0007]
The object of the present invention is to prevent tampering or destruction of stored data without deteriorating the operability of the information processing apparatus, and to use the information processing apparatus with an unspecified number of users. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage device that can prevent leakage of personal information.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the storage device of the present invention has the following configuration.
[0009]
(1) first and second storage means for storing data;
An interface port for receiving a write request and a read request for the first and second storage means;
When there is a write request for rewriting the data stored in the first storage means at the interface port, the data based on the write request is not rewritten without rewriting the data stored in the first storage means. Writing means for writing to the second storage means;
A reading means for reading data based on the read request from the first storage means or the second storage means and outputting the data from the interface port when there is a read request for reading data at the interface port; Prepared,
Initial data is stored in the first storage means,
The writing means writes data based on the write request to the second storage means even when there is a write request for writing new data.
When there is a read request for the initial data, the reading means writes the data required for rewriting to the second storage means for the initial data based on the current read request. Read from the second storage means.
[0010]
In this configuration, when a write request for rewriting or writing data is received from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer at the interface port, data based on the write request is always written to the second storage means, and the first storage is performed. Since the data is not written to the means, the data stored in the first storage means is not rewritten. For this reason, if the first storage means stores the OS, application program, various setting data, and the like as initial data, the initial data can be prevented from being falsified or destroyed.
[0011]
Further, when there is a read request for the initial data, if the initial data based on this read request is stored in the second storage means, that is, if the user has already rewritten the initial data, Since the data is read from the second storage means, the user can use the rewritten initial data. Therefore, the user operability is not lowered.
[0012]
Furthermore, even if a program such as spyware that stores the history of key operations is illegally installed, all of these programs are written in the second storage means, so by initializing the second storage means, Erase illegally installed programs. Therefore, even when the information processing apparatus is used by an unspecified number of users, leakage of personal information of users can be prevented by a simple method of initializing the second storage unit.
[0013]
(2) For the first storage means, management information indicating whether or not the writing means has written data to be rewritten into the second storage means for the initial data stored for each predetermined storage unit. Management information storage means for storing
When there is a read request for the initial data, the reading means rewrites the initial data based on the current read request based on the management information stored in the management information storage means. It is determined whether data is written in the second storage means.
[0014]
In this configuration, since the management information indicating whether or not the user has already rewritten the initial data stored in the first storage unit is stored in the management information storage unit, the read related to the initial data is read. When requested, initial data based on the read request can be smoothly read from the first storage means or the second storage means.
[0015]
(3) An initialization means for clearing the management information stored in the management information storage means is provided.
[0016]
In this configuration, the management information is cleared by executing the initialization means, and the initial data stored in the first storage means can be returned to the initial state where it has not been rewritten at all.
[0017]
(4) The initialization means includes means for initializing the second storage means.
[0018]
In this configuration, the initialization unit also initializes the second storage unit. Therefore, even if an unauthorized program such as spy software that stores the key operation history is installed in the second storage unit, the initialization unit is not used. Since it can be deleted by executing, leakage of personal information can be prevented and security can be improved.
[0019]
(5) The initialization means is executed when the main body is started up or shut down.
[0020]
In this configuration, the initialization unit can be executed simply by restarting the main body.
[0021]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0022]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The storage device 1 of this embodiment includes an interface controller that receives a read request or a write request from a control unit 2 that controls the operation of the main body and a personal computer 10 (hereinafter referred to as a PC 10) connected to the interface port 3a. 3, a first drive 4 for storing initial data, and a second drive 5 to which data based on a write request for rewriting or writing from the PC 10 is written.
[0023]
The storage device 1 of this embodiment may be a hard disk built in the PC 10 or an external hard disk.
[0024]
The interface controller 3 controls input / output between the storage device 1 and the PC 10.
[0025]
The first drive 4 stores an OS, application programs, various setting data, and the like as initial data. The second drive 5 is initialized at the time of start-up, and stores data related to a write request from the PC 10. The first drive 4 and the second drive 5 may be configured by physically partitioning one hard disk into partitions, or may be configured by two physically different hard disks.
[0026]
In the control unit 2, there is a write request for rewriting the initial data stored in the first drive 4 from the PC 10, and management indicating whether or not data based on this write request is written in the second drive 5 Information is stored. Specifically, for the first drive 4, for each sector in the storage area, management for setting whether or not data based on a write request for rewriting from the PC 10 has been written to the second drive 5 (whether or not rewriting is performed). A table 11 (see FIG. 2) is stored. When there is a write request for rewriting the initial data stored in the first drive 4, the control unit 2 writes the data based on this write request to the second drive 5 and rewrites this time in the management table 11. The presence / absence of rewriting corresponding to the sector number of the first drive 4 storing the initial data is set to “present”.
[0027]
At this time, if the presence / absence of rewriting corresponding to the sector number of the first drive 4 in which the initial data related to the current rewriting in the management table 11 is stored is “present”, it remains as it is. Further, when there is a write request for rewriting the initial data, the data stored in the corresponding sector of the first drive 4 is not rewritten or erased.
[0028]
Next, the operation of the storage device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a flow showing the operation of the storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention. When the power is turned on, the storage device 1 clears the management table 11 and initializes the second drive 5 (s1, s2). The clearing of the management table 11 related to s1 is a process of setting the presence / absence of rewriting to “none” for all sectors. The initialization of the second drive 5 related to s2 is a process of erasing the FAT (File Allocation Table) of the second drive 5.
[0029]
When the initialization of the second drive 5 relating to s2 is completed, the storage device 1 waits for any of a write request, a read request, or a shutdown request from the PC 10 to be input to the interface port 3a (s3, s5, s7). . The storage device 1 performs a write process if there is a write request (s4), performs a read process if there is a read request (s6), and performs a shutdown process if there is a shutdown request (s8).
[0030]
Here, the write process according to s4 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the write process.
[0031]
The storage device 1 determines whether the current write request is for rewriting data stored in the first drive 4 or the second drive 5 or for writing new data. (S11). If it is determined that the request is a write request for writing new data, data based on the current write request is written to the second drive 5 (s12), and this process is terminated.
[0032]
In this way, the storage device 1 writes all data to the second drive 5 when a new data write request is made.
[0033]
If the storage device 1 determines in s11 that the current write request is related to the rewrite of data stored in the first drive 4 or the second drive 5, the current rewrite is requested. It is determined whether the data is initial data (s13). When the data requested to be rewritten is not initial data, all the data requested to be rewritten this time is stored in the second drive 5. If the storage device 1 determines that it is not initial data in s13, all the corresponding data stored in the second drive 5 is rewritten based on the current write request (s14), and this processing is terminated.
[0034]
As is clear from the above description, data that is not initial data is written to the second drive 5 in s12 or s14.
[0035]
If the storage device 1 determines that the data is initial data in s13, the first drive 4 performs the following processing from s15 to s19 for each sector storing the initial data for which rewriting is requested. The storage device 1 determines the presence / absence of rewriting in the management table 11 for the sector storing the initial data for which rewriting is requested (s15). Here, if the presence / absence of rewriting of the corresponding sector is “None”, the rewriting data requested for this sector is written to the second drive 5 (s17), and the rewriting of the corresponding sector in the management table 11 is performed. Is changed to “present” (s18).
[0036]
In addition, if the presence / absence of rewriting of the sector in the management table 11 is “present” in s15, the storage device 1 is initial data that has already been requested to be rewritten at least once and the processing related to s17 and s18 has been performed. If so, the corresponding data stored in the second drive 15 is rewritten (s16). When the storage device 1 completes the processing of s16 or s18, it determines whether or not the processing after the upper unit s15 has been completed for all sectors storing the initial data for which rewriting is requested in the first drive 4 However, if there is an unprocessed sector (s19), the processing after s15 is performed on this sector. If the storage device 1 determines that there is no unprocessed sector in s19, it ends this write processing.
[0037]
Next, the read process related to s6 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the read process.
[0038]
The storage device 1 determines whether or not the current read request is related to reading of initial data (s21). If the storage device 1 determines that it is not initial data in s21, it reads all the corresponding data from the second drive 5 and outputs it from the interface port 3a (s22).
[0039]
On the other hand, when the storage device 1 determines in s21 that the read request is related to reading of the initial data, the first drive 4 shows the following for each sector storing the initial data requested to be read. The process of s23-s26 is performed. The storage device 1 determines the presence / absence of rewriting in the management table 11 for each sector of the first drive 4 storing the initial data requested to be read (s23). Here, if the presence / absence of rewriting of the corresponding sector is “None”, the data is read from the first drive 4 for this sector (s25). For this sector, data is read from the second drive 5 (s24). When the processing of s24 or s25 is completed, the storage device 1 determines whether or not all data has been read (s26). If there is a sector from which data has not been read, the processing from s23 onward is performed for this sector. Do. If the storage device 1 determines that all the data has been read in s26, the processing ends.
[0040]
Thus, the storage device 1 does not rewrite the initial data stored in the first drive 4 or write new data to the first drive 4 in response to a write request from the PC 10. Therefore, the storage content of the first drive 4 does not change, and the data stored in the first drive 4 can be reliably prevented from being falsified or destroyed.
[0041]
Further, all the data related to the write request from the PC 10 is written to the second drive 5, and when there is a read request from the PC 10, the already rewritten initial data is read from the second drive 5 and output. Therefore, the user can use the PC 10 without any restrictions on rewriting of data stored in the storage device 1 and writing of new data. Therefore, the user's operability does not deteriorate.
[0042]
Furthermore, since the storage device 1 executes the processes related to s1 and s2 at the time of start-up, a program for storing a key operation history by a specific user, so-called spyware, is installed by restarting the storage device 1. However, it is possible to easily delete the installed spyware and prevent leakage of personal information by simply restarting it before the next user uses it.
[0043]
Therefore, it is suitable as the storage device 1 of the PC 10 that is used by an unspecified number of users in an Internet cafe or the like. In this case, the user may start up when the user starts to use the PC 10 and shut down when the user ends. A store clerk may perform this operation.
[0044]
The storage device 1 of this embodiment is also suitable as a storage device for the PC 10 that allows students to operate in a personal computer classroom. Since the students in the PC classroom are unfamiliar with the operation of the PC 10, there is a high risk of destroying the initial data due to an erroneous operation. However, since the storage device 1 of this embodiment does not rewrite the initial data stored in the first drive 4 as described above, there is no situation where the initial data is destroyed due to an erroneous operation of the student. . Further, even if the PC 10 does not operate normally due to an erroneous operation by the user, it can be restored to the original state only by restarting.
[0045]
Furthermore, when using the storage device 1 of the present embodiment, the user does not need to install special software, drivers, or the like in the PC 10, and the user is not required to perform troublesome work.
[0046]
In the above embodiment, the processes related to s1 and s2 are performed at the time of start-up, but these processes may be performed in the shutdown process related to s8. Further, when a predetermined operation is performed on the PC 10, the processes relating to the above s1 and s2 may be executed. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, whether or not the data stored in the first drive 4 is rewritten is managed in units of sectors, but may be managed in units of tracks.
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the initial data stored in the first storage means can be prevented from being falsified or destroyed, and data can be rewritten or new data can be rewritten to the user. Since the writing of is substantially not limited, the operability of the user is not deteriorated. In addition, since a program for storing a history of key operations, so-called spyware, can be easily deleted even if it is illegally installed, leakage of personal information can be prevented. Furthermore, the user does not need to install special software, drivers, or the like in the personal computer at the time of use, and the user is not required to perform troublesome work.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a management table of the storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the storage device according to the embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing write processing in the storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing read processing in the storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention;
[Explanation of symbols]
1-storage device 2-control unit 3-interface controller 3a-interface port 4-first drive 5-second drive 10-personal computer (PC)
11-Management table

Claims (5)

First and second storage means for storing data;
An interface port for receiving a write request and a read request for the first and second storage means;
When there is a write request for rewriting the data stored in the first storage means at the interface port, the data based on the write request is not rewritten without rewriting the data stored in the first storage means. Writing means for writing to the second storage means;
A reading means for reading data based on the read request from the first storage means or the second storage means and outputting the data from the interface port when there is a read request for reading data at the interface port; Prepared,
Initial data is stored in the first storage means,
The writing means writes data based on the write request to the second storage means even when there is a write request for writing new data.
When there is a read request for the initial data, the reading means writes the data required for rewriting to the second storage means for the initial data based on the current read request. A storage device that reads from the second storage means. For the first storage means, management information indicating whether or not the writing means has written data to be rewritten to the second storage means for the initial data stored for each predetermined storage unit is stored. Management information storage means,
When there is a read request for the initial data, the reading means rewrites the initial data based on the current read request based on the management information stored in the management information storage means. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether data is written in the second storage means. The storage device according to claim 2, further comprising an initialization unit that clears the management information stored in the management information storage unit. 4. The storage device according to claim 3, wherein the initialization unit includes a unit that initializes the second storage unit. 5. The storage device according to claim 3, wherein the initialization unit is executed when the main body is started up or shut down.

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