Patent ID: 8300825

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an integrated circuit to be comprised in a host, the host having a host processor to execute an operating system of the host, the integrated circuit to be removably communicatively coupled via an interface of a host to at least one storage device, the at least one storage device being capable of being removably communicatively coupled to the host via the interface, the integrated circuit being inaccessible to the host processor and the operating system, the integrated circuit being capable of encrypting, based at least in part upon a first key, first data for storage in at least one region of the at least one storage device, the at least one region and a second key being associated with at least one access privilege authorized by an administrator, the second key being stored, at least in part, in memory in the host that is external to the at least one storage device, the memory that is in the host and that is external to the at least one storage device being inaccessible to the host processor and the operating system, the first key being obtainable based, at least in part, upon at least one operation involving the second key.