Patent ID: 7653939

Claim:
A data processing system, comprising: a data processing apparatus for receiving data from or delivering data to a storage device, the storage device being external to said data processing apparatus and including a memory, the data received from the external storage device being reproduced from the memory of the external storage device and the data delivered to the external storage device being recorded in the memory of the external storage device, the receiving or delivering ordinarily being carried out on condition that mutual authentication between said data processing apparatus and the external storage device is successful; and a memory stick loaded in the data processing apparatus and operable to execute mutual authentication; the data processing apparatus including: a mutual authentication unit disposed within the data processing apparatus and operable to execute mutual authentication so that when the external storage device does not include any structure operable to execute the mutual authentication or is not operable to enable such mutual authentication or the memory of the external storage device is devoid of ciphering function, the mutual authentication is alternatively carried out between said mutual authentication unit disposed within the data processing apparatus and said memory stick loaded in the data processing apparatus instead of being carried out between said data processing apparatus and the external storage device, the data processing apparatus being operable to receive the data from the external storage device or to deliver the data to the external storage device when the mutual authentication between said mutual authentication unit and said memory stick is successful.