Patent ID: 7962713

Claim:
An information storage device comprising: a memory for storing data; and a controller for performing access control on the memory, wherein, the controller is operatively configured to (1) establish, at both an initial physical placement of the information storage device in and subsequent interconnections with each of a plurality of information processing apparatus and without user intervention when so interconnected, an automatic authentication process performed between the information storage device and one of the plurality of information processing apparatus to unlock the memory in response to an automatic command input from the one of the plurality of information processing apparatus, (2) store lock status data corresponding to a unique identification for each of the plurality of information processing apparatus prior to the memory being unlocked in a storage unit, and (3) when the information storage device transitions from an off state to an on state, recreate a lock status of the memory on the basis of the lock status data stored in the storage unit and perform memory access control based on the recreated lock status, one of a plurality of unique identifiers and one of a plurality of lock keys correspond to each of the plurality of information processing apparatus, a key set comprises an identifier and a lock key, the key set is utilized to lock and unlock the memory by communicating with the controller, authentication that one of the plurality of information processing apparatus is authorized to access the memory of the information storage device is determined by the controller utilizing the key set, the controller requires the key set utilized to lock the memory to unlock the memory, the memory is locked according to three locking modes, the memory being locked in one of the three locking modes at a time, the three locking modes being standard locking, export locking and standard locking enabling group locking, in standard locking the key set being prevented from being output to another information processing apparatus for accessing the memory, and in export locking the key set being permitted to be output to another information processing apparatus for accessing the memory, the key set includes at least one sub key set, the at least one sub key set including a sub identification and a sub lock key, the at least sub key set being permitted to be copied to each of the plurality of information processing apparatus during the export locking lock status, the sub key set being required to unlock the memory in response to the sub key set being utilized to lock the memory previously, and the sub key set is imprinted to one of the plurality of information processing apparatus during the export locking or the standard locking enabling group locking.