Patent ID: 6993661

Claim:
A digital data storage subsystem for storing data in digital form comprising: A. a storage medium configured to store digital data; B. a storage control module configured to i. in response to a storage request requesting storage of digital data, receive the digital data that is to be stored in response to the storage request from a source, encrypt the received digital data using a selected encryption key and enable the encrypted digital data to be stored on the storage medium; and ii. in response to a retrieval request requesting retrieval of digital data, enable at least one selected portion of the encrypted digital data to be retrieved from the storage medium, decrypt the retrieved encrypted digital data using a selected decryption key, and provide the decrypted digital data to a destination; and C. a sanitization control module configured to, in response to a sanitization request, make the decryption key unavailable to the storage control module, thereby disabling the storage control module from thereafter decrypting the encrypted digital data stored on the storage medium.