Patent ID: 8695085

Claim:
An apparatus for managing passwords for accessing data in a storage, comprising: one or more processors; an initialization module configured to: generate a first password, and store the first password at a first location in a nonvolatile storage that is separate from the storage; and a storage access module configured to: generate and provide to the storage a second request to access data, in response to receiving a first request to access the data in the storage; receive, from the storage, a request for a password, retrieve, from the nonvolatile storage that is separate from the storage, the first password, in response to the request for the password, provide the first password to the storage to obtain access to the data in the storage, in response to successful access to the data in the storage using the first password: cause the first password to be stored at a second location in the nonvolatile storage, wherein the second location in the nonvolatile storage is different than the first location in the nonvolatile storage, cause a second password that is different than the first password to be generated and stored in the first location in the nonvolatile storage in place of the first password, in response to receiving from the storage, subsequent to the request for a password, a second request for a password, retrieving the second password from the first location in the nonvolatile storage and providing the second password to the storage to obtain access to the data in the storage, and in response to unsuccessful access to the data in the storage using the second password retrieved from the first location in the nonvolatile storage, retrieving the first password from the second location in the nonvolatile storage and providing the first password to the storage to obtain access to the data in the storage.