Patent ID: 7620976

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for protecting a plurality of electronic files, the computer-implemented method comprising using a portable access control lock that is adapted for automatically maintaining an audit trail and allowing for configuring of access control rules for constraining user access based on a mandatory presence of specified users before granting access for each electronic file including any copies of said each electronic file of said plurality of electronic files, wherein said constraining user access based on said mandatory presence of specified users further comprises specifying persons P 1 and P 2 both of whose presence are required in order to update or view any of said each electronic file including said copies of said each electronic file, wherein P 1 and P 2 are from a set of authorized users associated with said each electronic file, wherein persons P 1 and P 2 are prompted by a same access agent on a same access computer for authentication credentials to access said each electronic file, and wherein said each electronic file is accessed only when persons P 1 and P 2 are properly authenticated.