Patent ID: 7752408

Claim:
An access control apparatus that controls access to a storage device containing a plurality of file storage regions that are respectively capable of storing a plurality of files, the access control apparatus comprising: an access password input device that receives an input of an access password; an access control information acquiring unit that acquires access control information indicating an access password to be inputted for accessing to a file stored in a file storage region in the case where a region access password is set for the file storage region; and an access controller that controls access to a file stored in a file storage region, based on the inputted access password and the access control information, wherein the access controller is operable when different region access passwords are set for accessing a first file storage region and a second file storage region, respectively, to control access after a file stored in the first file storage region has been moved or copied to the second file storage region so that at least one password that could be used to access the file in the first file storage region is inherited after the file has been moved or copied to the second file storage region.