Patent ID: 8549278

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for managing access to an encrypted file, comprising: as implemented by one or more computing devices configured with specific executable instructions, (a) in response to a request to encrypt a file that includes information intended to be protected against unauthorized access, encrypting the file with a file encryption key, producing an encrypted file; (b) providing the file encryption key and an indication of one or more entities having a right to access the file encryption key to rights management services that are included in an operating system; (c) using the rights management services for cryptographically securing the file encryption key, producing a secured file encryption key; (d) including the secured file encryption key in a file structure of the encrypted file; (e) responding to an entity trying to access the information in the encrypted file, by determining with the rights management services whether the entity is included in the one or more entities that have a right to access the file encryption key, and if so: (i) extracting the file encryption key from the secured file encryption key, without requiring that the entity be associated with a key for decrypting the file encryption key; and (ii) providing the file encryption key to enable the entity trying to access the information to do so; and (f) if the entity is not authorized to access the file encryption key, denying the entity access to the information by not providing the file encryption key to enable the entity to access the information.