Patent ID: 8762738

Claim:
A method for protecting content on a storage device comprising: detecting, by a computing device, a connection of an external storage device to the computing device, creating, on the external storage device, a virtual volume having a storage capacity, wherein the external storage device contains the virtual volume; if a content object is detected on the external storage device outside said virtual volume, perform for each content object stored on said external storage device outside said virtual volume: encrypting said content object, copying said content object to said virtual volume, wherein encrypting said content object is performed prior to copying said content object to said virtual volume, deleting said content object from said external storage device outside said virtual volume, and extending the storage capacity of said virtual volume by the size of said content object while reducing the storage space of the external storage device outside the virtual volume by the size of the content object; and encrypting said virtual volume; and if no more content objects are detected on the external storage device, outside the virtual volume, extending the storage capacity of the virtual volume to the entire storage capacity of the external storage device.