Patent ID: 8656186

Claim:
A data storage device comprising: a data storage drive for writing data to a storage medium, the storage medium comprising a magnetic tape housed in a data storage cartridge and a cartridge memory housed in the data storage cartridge; and a controller coupled to the data storage drive, the controller being configured to process a plurality of derived data keys, the plurality of derived data keys being derived from a first data key, the controller using the plurality of derived data keys as encryption keys for encrypting respective user data to provide respective encrypted user data and writing the respective encrypted user data to respective portions of the magnetic tape housed in the data storage cartridge of the storage medium; and wherein the controller is configured to direct the data storage drive to store each of the plurality of derived data keys in one or more locations on the magnetic tape; and, the respective encrypted user data is written to respective portions on the magnetic tape; and wherein at least one copy of the encryption key is stored in wrapped form on the storage cartridge; at least one of the plurality of derived data keys is stored in wrapped form in at least one location on the magnetic tape; and, the at least one location on the magnetic tape comprises a non-user data area.