Patent ID: 8856550

Claim:
An information handling system, comprising: a hardware processor; a memory communicatively coupled to the hardware processor; an encryption accelerator communicatively coupled to the hardware processor, the encryption accelerator configured to encrypt or decrypt data to perform an encryption or decryption task upon data associated with an input/output operation; and a basic input/output system (BIOS) communicatively coupled to the hardware processor and having a sealed encryption key and instructions stored thereon, the sealed encryption key issued to the BIOS for use with the encryption accelerator, the instructions configured to, when executed by the hardware processor: monitor for an input/output operation occurring prior to loading of an operating system into the memory; and in response to detection of the input/output operation, communicate a command and the sealed encryption key to the encryption accelerator; unseal the sealed encryption key; designate a particular one of a plurality of cryptographic hardware or software functions for encrypting or decrypting the data; and communicate the designation to the encryption accelerator; wherein the encryption accelerator is configured to: receive the command and the sealed encryption key from the BIOS; authenticate the command based on the sealed encryption key; and perform the encryption or decryption task upon the data associated with the input/output operation based on the sealed encryption key and authentication of the command.