Patent ID: 7809958

Claim:
A method performed within a secure computational environment for reading application data from a data store, the method comprising steps for: receiving a read instruction comprising application data to be read; determining a location within the data store for the application data to be read, wherein the data store comprises a check tree represented as a hierarchical tree structure for storing primary items comprising: the application data and control information comprising a timestamp, a link to a check entry and a message authentication code; and check items comprising an array of at least two check entries, a check item timestamp, a link to a check entry, and a message authentication code; wherein the check item timestamp denotes a point in virtual time provided by a global counter when said check item was last written; reading the primary item from the location in the data store; validating a message authentication code for the primary item contained at the location; parsing the primary item to strip the control information comprising: a timestamp, a link to a check entry, and a message authentication code from the primary item to return only the application data to a calling application; iteratively performing elements a, b, and c for each check item associated with the primary item until reaching a root of the check tree by following the links to the check entries along a path from the primary item to the root: a) storing the timestamp in a timestamp variable for later comparison; b) authenticating the message authentication code for each check item associated with the primary item; c) comparing the check item timestamp with the value of the timestamp variable; comparing the timestamp variable which now holds the timestamp of the root item, with a value of a global counter logically located within the secure computational environment; and transmitting only the application data to the calling application if the timestamp comparison is successful.