Patent ID: 8130960

Claim:
A method of providing seamless file system encryption comprising: launching a firmware interface in a computer prior to loading an operating system (OS); publishing a physical access abstraction interface for a disk coupled to the computer, the disk having a Firmware Interface System Partition (FISP); determining if the FISP is encrypted and layering an encoded File Allocation Table (FAT) driver on top of the disk; if the FISP is encrypted, allowing the firmware interface to use an Embedded Root Key (ERK) to decrypt a set of data from the encrypted FISP corresponding to a first read request prior to loading the OS, if the first read request is from a trusted source; passing the ERK from the firmware interface to the OS; and allowing the OS to use the ERK to decrypt a second set of data from the encrypted FISP corresponding to a second read request, if the second read request is from a trusted source.