TW202014923A - Data protection method and associated storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a data protection method and associated storage device. The data protection method includes: (A): during an initiation period after the storage device is connected to a host, performing detection upon the storage device, and determining whether the storage device needs to be performed with data protection; (B): when it is determined that the storage device needs to be performed with data protection, modifying a predetermined write location that the host writes to the storage device, in order to make the data written from the host to the storage device to another write location instead of the write location; or writing the data from the host into a control chip or bridge chip of an inner memory or an inner register, rather than writing the data from the host into the storage unit; and (C): reporting to the host that the writing operation is completed.

Description

Data protection method and related storage device

In summary, the object of the present invention is to provide a method that can protect the internal storage within a period of time when the external storage device is mounted on the computer host when the vulnerability still exists or the malicious program has not been cleared. The data will not be arbitrarily deleted, modified and destroyed.

Incidentally, "within a period of time" refers to the time when the user mounts the external storage device on the computer host, and the computer host recognizes the external storage device and displays the storage device on the computer host. The period of time after which access can begin and end. In addition, the term "mounting" includes inserting the device into the host computer or uninstalling the device from the host computer before mounting it. The so-called "after uninstalling, then mount it" can include software actions and hardware actions, where software actions mean that the device is not actually unplugged from the computer host, while hardware actions mean that the device is actually unplugged and then plugged back in Computer host.

External storage devices (such as external hard drives, flash memory devices, etc.) have become extremely popular on the market due to ease of portability and plugging and unplugging, and storing photos and work files in external storage devices is a common application. . In general, after the device is connected to the host computer, if the user does not perform further operations on the host computer, its data should not be arbitrarily deleted, modified, or destroyed. However, relevant practical research shows that there is a potential risk of data loss from external storage devices in computer hosts all over the world. This is because the operating system itself may be affected by the system vulnerability or malicious programs. The data in the external storage device is copied or deleted, and even if the user just connects the external storage device to the host computer for a period of time, the stored data may be suddenly damaged or disappear. For example, after a user connects a hard drive or flash drive to the USB slot of a computer via a USB cable, a few seconds later, a window of "your device is available" will pop up on the screen, but when the user It may be too late to see this message, and the storage device may be rewritten during this short period of time.

Further, the malicious program will perform abnormal singular or plural writing operations to the file system in the storage device for a period of time after the external storage device is mounted on the host computer, thereby causing data damage or disappear.

Computer host system manufacturers usually lack the will to resolve these potential vulnerabilities, and even if system update files (or system patches) are provided on the website to reduce the damage caused by specific malicious programs, users often do not actively download these update files. And it is difficult for manufacturers to solve all possible potential risks at once. Manufacturers often recommend users to backup data to the cloud, but this approach is not without its shortcomings, and the use of external storage devices still has its irreplaceable convenience

In view of the above problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a method that can protect the internal storage within a period of time when the external storage device is mounted on the computer host when the vulnerability still exists or the malicious program has not been cleared. The data will not be arbitrarily deleted, modified and destroyed. Specifically, the present invention can achieve this goal by updating the firmware of the external storage device.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a data protection method for providing security protection. The data protection method includes the following steps: (A): at the initial period when a storage device is connected to a host, the storage device is detected, and whether the storage device needs data protection is determined; (B): when step A When it is judged that the storage device needs data protection, change a predetermined writing position of the host to the storage device, so that the data from the host is written to another writing position different from the predetermined writing position; or The data from the host is written to the control chip of the storage device or the internal memory or internal register of the bridge chip without writing to the storage unit; and (C): reporting that the host system write operation has been completed .

An embodiment of the present invention provides a storage device for data processing and security protection. The storage device includes a storage unit and a processor, wherein the processor is used to perform the following steps: (A): in the storage device Connect to the initial period of a host, detect the storage device, and determine whether the storage device needs data protection; (B): when step A determines that the storage device needs data protection, change the host to the storage A predetermined writing position of the unit, so that data from the host is written to the storage unit at another writing position different from the predetermined writing position; or writing data from the host to the storage device Control the internal memory or internal registers of the chip or bridge chip without writing to the storage unit; and (C): report that the write operation of the host system has been completed.

In summary, the present invention can provide protection during the waiting period when the external hard disk is just connected to the computer to prevent data from being deleted or tampered with. In addition, in the process of the computer host system transmitting commands and data to the storage unit, the present invention uses the controller to filter specific commands and data, so the possibility of data being attacked can be greatly reduced, thereby protecting the data in the storage device It will not be destroyed by malicious actions during this time.

In the description and subsequent patent applications, certain words are used to refer to specific elements. Those with ordinary knowledge in the field should understand that hardware manufacturers may use different nouns to refer to the same components. The scope of this specification and subsequent patent applications does not use the difference in names as a means of distinguishing elements, but the difference in function of elements as a criterion for distinguishing. The "include" mentioned in the whole specification and the subsequent request items is an open-ended term, so it should be interpreted as "include but not limited to". In addition, the term "coupled" here includes any direct and indirect electrical connection means. Therefore, if it is described that a first device is coupled to a second device, it means that the first device can be directly electrically connected to the second device, or indirectly electrically connected to the second device through other devices or connection means.

In order to solve the time period when the external storage device is connected to the host computer, it can prevent malicious programs from modifying and destroying the external storage device, the present invention proposes a novel method to protect the data in it from being arbitrarily deleted and modified And destruction.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a storage device 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The storage device 100 includes a storage unit 120 and a controller 110, and the controller 110 is used to access the storage unit 120. According to this embodiment, the controller 110 includes a processor 112, a memory 112M, a control logic 114, an interface logic 118, and an interface logic II 119. The memory 112M is used to store a program code 112C, and the processor 112 is used to execute the program code 112C to control access to the storage unit 120 (Access). The control logic 114 or the interface logic II 119 is used to perform control on the storage unit 120. Please note that many of the components in Figure 1 are for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. As long as the operation of related functions can be substantially maintained, some of the components may be replaced or omitted.

In an embodiment, the storage device 100 may be a portable memory device (for example: a memory module conforming to SD/MMC, CF, MS, XD standards), and the main device 130 is an electronic device that can be connected to the memory device , Such as mobile phones, notebook computers, desktop computers... and so on. In another embodiment, the storage device 100 may be a solid-state hard drive or an embedded storage that conforms to Universal Flash Storage (UFS) or Embedded Multi Media Card (EMMC) specifications The device may be installed in an electronic device, such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, or a desktop computer, and the main device 130 may be a processor of the electronic device.

Furthermore, the storage device 100 can be implemented as an external hard disk box, such as a 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch external hard disk box. When the storage device 100 is a 2.5-inch hard disk external box, the main device 130 can supply power; when the storage device 100 is a 3.5-inch hard disk external box, it can be additionally powered by an external power supply. The storage device 100 includes a controller 110 and a storage unit 120, wherein the controller 110 includes: interface logic 118 to perform transmission with the main device 130; a processor 112 to perform various related operations; and control logic 114 or The interface logic II 119 is used to communicate with the storage unit 120.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a flowchart of a data protection method 200 applied to a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please note that if substantially the same result can be obtained, these steps do not necessarily need to be executed in the order shown in Figure 2, and the possibility of inserting other steps is not excluded between these steps. The method shown in FIG. 2 can be adopted by the storage device 100 shown in FIG. 1 and can be simply summarized as follows:

Step 202: First, mount an external storage device (such as storage device 100) on the host computer, for example, through a USB cable, USB slot, etc., but the present invention does not limit the method of external device only through USB Connect to the host side. In addition, the host can have a built-in card reader (or an external card reader is also acceptable) for inserting a memory card.

Step 204: The controller reads back the file system on the storage unit (such as the storage unit 120) and collects relevant information in the file system.

Step 205: Determine whether the file system exists?

Step 206: When it is determined that there is no file system in the storage unit, or the file system has been damaged, the controller does not start (close) the data protection operation (because there is no need to protect the data in this case), and the flow jumps to step 218.

Step 207: When it is determined that a file system exists in the storage unit, the controller initiates the data protection operation during the initialization process of the computer host system identifying the external storage device.

Step 208: When the data protection operation has been started, determine the type of command received by the controller. When the controller receives at least one specific command, the process proceeds to step 210; when the controller receives the write command, the process enters Step 212.

Step 210: Close the data protection operation, and then skip to step 214.

Step 212: Rewrite the write position of the write command (for example, rewrite to another write position different from the predetermined write position; or rewrite to the internal memory or internal register of the control chip or bridge chip of the storage device , Without writing to the storage unit), or discard the write command.

Step 214: Report to the computer host that the write command has been successfully written, so that the host system determines that the write operation (that is, the tampering operation of the malicious program) has been completed.

Step 216: Determine whether the predetermined time has been reached (that is, the time when the external device has just been plugged into the host computer). If yes, go to step 218; if no, go back to step 205 and repeat the process until the data protection operation is closed (for example, from step 208 to step 210) or the process has reached a predetermined time.

Step 218: Once the data protection operation is closed, it will no longer be activated. (Until the external storage device "mounts" the host again, it will again determine whether it is necessary to start the data protection operation).

In the case of a file system in the storage unit, within the period of time during which the host computer system recognizes the initialization process of the external storage device (that is, the period when data is vulnerable to attack), the controller can There are several ways to start the data protection operation:

I. Whether the order of certain commands or a combination of certain commands is received.

II. Whether a special command is received, or a special command is received regularly (for example, a special command is received every few seconds).

III. Whether one or more locations written by one or more write commands are received (for example, logical block address (Logical Block Address, LBA), for example, when the write location points to the file system sector or Cluster When the position is within the range, the data protection operation is started.

IV. Whether one or more locations (such as LBA) read by one or more read commands are received, for example, when the read command reads the last LBA on the storage unit, the data protection operation is initiated .

V. Unconditional direct start.

When the data protection operation is started, it will decide whether to turn off the data protection operation according to whether the controller receives a specific command, that is to say, certain types of commands can be directly judged as not malicious program attacks, so subsequent protection can be omitted action. For example, specific instructions may include (but are not limited to) the following instructions:

I. Data synchronization commands (such as the SYNCHRONIZE CACHE command of the SCSI command).

II. The order of a certain instruction or a combination of certain instructions.

In step 212, when the data protection operation has been initiated and the controller receives the "write command", it selects one of the following two command processing methods:

I. Rewrite the write location of the command and import the write location to the free space that is not actually present in the file system (you can use the file system information collected in step 204 to determine which is the free space).

II. Import the written data carried by the command into a specific storage space inside the controller, and then ignore or discard it, where the specific storage space refers to internal memory or internal temporary storage, but not limited to these two Storage element. The specific storage space can also be understood as a garbage collection area, and its garbage (that is, these malicious programs and writing instructions) can be ignored or removed when the garbage reaches a certain amount.

The above two methods can protect the existing data from being destroyed. In other words, because the malicious program, the write command has been imported to a non-existent location or a separate space that has no effect on the stored data, it can completely prevent the stored data from being damaged. To modify or delete.

In step 214, after reporting to the computer host that the write command has been successfully written, the purpose of "spoofing" the host system is achieved, so that the host system determines that the write action (that is, the tampering action of the malicious program) has been completed, so data protection is achieved the goal of.

Step 216 is to continuously determine whether there is a need to start the data protection operation at the predetermined time (that is, the time when the external device is just plugged into the computer host) until the predetermined time ends. Once the predetermined time is over, the data protection operation will not be started after it is turned off, because the storage device will no longer be tampered with at the predetermined time, until the external storage device is removed from the host, the next time The flow of Figure 2 will be executed again when connected.

In summary, the present invention can provide protection during the waiting period when the external hard disk is just connected to the computer to prevent data from being deleted or tampered with. In addition, in the process of the computer host system transmitting commands and data to the storage unit, the present invention uses the controller to filter specific commands and data, so the possibility of data being attacked can be greatly reduced, thereby protecting the data in the storage device It will not be destroyed by malicious actions during this time. The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

100: storage device 110: controller 120: storage unit 112: processor 112M: Memory 112C: Code 114: control logic 118: Interface logic 119: Interface Logic II 130: Main device 200: Method 202～218: Step

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a storage device according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a data protection method applied to a storage device according to an embodiment of the invention.

200: Method

202~218: steps

Claims (10)

A data protection method for providing security protection, including the following steps: (A): At the initial period when a storage device is connected to a host, the storage device is detected, and whether the storage device needs data protection is determined; (B): When it is determined in step A that the storage device needs to be protected, change a predetermined writing position of the storage device by the host, so that the data from the host is written to another location different from the predetermined writing position A write location; or write data from the host to the control chip of the storage device or the internal memory or internal register of the bridge chip without writing to the storage unit; and (C): Report that the host system write operation has been completed. The data protection method according to claim 1, wherein if it is determined in step A that data protection is not required, step B is not performed to maintain the predetermined write location written by the host to the storage device. The data protection method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether data protection is required includes: Read back the file system on a storage unit in the storage device and collect relevant information in the file system. The data protection method as described in claim 3, additionally includes: When it is detected that no file system exists in the storage unit, or the file system has been damaged, the controller does not start the data protection operation, because there is no need to protect the data in this case. The data protection method as described in claim 3, additionally includes: When it is detected that a file system exists in the storage unit, the controller initiates the data protection operation during the initialization process of the computer host system to recognize the external storage device. The data protection method described in claim 5 additionally includes: When the data protection operation has been initiated and the controller receives the write command, the write position of the command is rewritten, or the write command is discarded. The data protection method according to claim 5, wherein, when the data protection operation has been started and the controller receives at least one specific instruction, the data protection operation is turned off. The data protection method according to claim 5, wherein, within the initial period, before the data protection operation is closed, steps A to C are repeatedly executed. The data protection method according to claim 5, wherein, once the data protection operation is turned off, the host is not started again when the storage device is connected next time. A storage device for data processing and providing security protection. The storage device includes: A storage unit; and A controller to perform the following steps: (A): At the initial period when the storage device is connected to a host, the storage device is detected, and whether the storage device needs to be protected is determined; (B): When it is determined in step A that the storage device needs data protection, a predetermined writing position of the host to the storage unit is changed so that the data from the host is written to the storage unit different from the predetermined writing Another write location into the location; or write data from the host to or write data from the host to the internal memory or internal register of the control chip or bridge chip without writing to the Storage unit; and (C): Report that the host system write operation has been completed.

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