Method, a system and a computer program product for protecting a data-storing device

1 . A method for protecting a data-storing device, the method comprising, when the data-storing device is connected to a first computing system:

Writing, using the first computing system, data associated to an autorun file within the data-storing device, in such a way that said autorun file is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in a second computing system.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

Verifying, using the first computing system, if the autorun file is written within the data-storing device;

In case of positive result,

Manipulating, using the first computing system, said autorun file;

Writing, using the first computing system, a new autorun file within the data-storing device.

3 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein manipulating the autorun file comprises deleting said file.

4 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein manipulating the autorun file comprises renaming said file.

5 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

Verifying, using the first computing system, if the autorun file is written within the data-storing device;

In case of positive result,

Overwriting, using the first computing system, the autorun file with a new autorun file.

6 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein writing data associated to the autorun file comprises modifying at least one register in which the operating system stores the properties of said file.

7 . A method according to claim 6 , further comprising determining, using the first computing system, the file system of the data-storing device; and wherein modifying the register in which the operating system stores the properties of the autorun file is performed according to the determined file system.

8 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein the determined File System is FAT, and wherein modifying the register in which the operating system stores the properties of the autorun file comprises modifying the file attributes byte of said file with an attribute value which corresponds to a device.

9 . A method according to claim 8 , wherein modifying the file attributes byte of the autorun file comprises writing the value 1 in the bit 6 of said file attributes byte.

10 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein the determined File System is NTFS, and wherein modifying the register in which the operating system stores the properties of the autorun file comprises:

Writing the number of a reserved MFT entry associated to the autorun file, to the INDX index of the root directory of the data-storing device.

11 . A method according to claim 10 , wherein modifying the register in which the operating system stores the properties of the autorun file further comprises:

Writing to the reserved MFT entry associated to the autorun file, data associated to said autorun file.

12 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein writing to the reserved MFT entry associated to the autorun file further comprises writing the autorun file to said MFT entry.

13 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

Obtaining, using the first computing system, a univocal identifier of the data-storing device;

Sending, using the first computing system, the obtained univocal identifier to a data-storing device univocal identifier database, to be stored.

14 . A method according to claim 13 , wherein the univocal identifier of the data-storing device is a serial number.

15 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

Verifying, using the first computing system, if the content of the autorun file corresponds to a predetermined content;

In case of negative result,

overwriting, using the first computing system, in low-level code the predetermined content of the autorun file, in the data-storing device.

16 . A computer program product comprising program instructions for causing a computing system to perform the method for protecting a data-storing device, the method comprising, when the data-storing device is connected to a first computing system:

Writing, using the first computing system, data associated to an autorun file within the data-storing device, in such a way that said autorun file is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in a second computing system.

17 . A computer program product according to claim 16 , embodied on a storage medium.

18 . A computer program product according to claim 16 , carried on a carrier signal.

19 . A method for verifying the protection of a data-storing device that has been protected according to the method of claim 13 , the method comprising, when the data-storing device is connected to a computing system:

Obtaining, using the computing system, the univocal identifier of the data-storing device;

Verifying, using the computing system, if the obtained univocal identifier of the device is found in the data-storing device univocal identifier database;

In case of positive result,

verifying, using the computing system, if written data associated to the autorun file has been modified;

In case of positive result,

generating, using the computing system, a warning signal about the modification.

20 . A computer program product comprising program instructions for causing a computing system to perform the method for verifying the protection of a data-storing device that has been protected according to the method of claim 13 , the method comprising, when the data-storing device is connected to a computing system:

Obtaining, using the computing system, the univocal identifier of the data-storing device;

Verifying, using the computing system, if the obtained univocal identifier of the device is found in the data-storing device univocal identifier database;

In case of positive result,

verifying, using the computing system, if written data associated to the autorun file has been modified;

In case of positive result,

generating, using the computing system, a warning signal about the modification.

21 . A system for protecting a data-storing device, said system being comprised in a first computing system, the system comprising computer means for writing data associated to an autorun file within the data-storing device when the data-storing device is connected to the first computing system, in such a way that said autorun file is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in a second computing system.

22 . A system according to claim 21 , wherein the autorun file is a Windows “autorun.inf” type file.

23 . A data-storing device, connectable to a computing system, comprising written data associated to an autorun file, in such a way that, when the data-storing device is connected to the computing system, the autorun file is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in said computing system.

24 . A disk image comprising written data associated to an autorun file, in such a way that, when the disk image is restored in a data-storing device and said data-storing device is connected to a computing system, the autorun file is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in said computing system.

25 . A method for protecting a data-storing device, the method comprising:

Manipulating the data-storing device in such a way that, when said data-storing device is connected to a computing system, an autorun file comprised in the data-storing device is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in said computing system.

26 . A computer program product comprising program instructions for causing a computing system to perform the method for protecting a data-storing device, the method comprising:

Manipulating the data-storing device in such a way that, when said data-storing device is connected to a computing system, an autorun file comprised in the data-storing device is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in said computing system.

27 . A method for blocking, to an operating system running in a first computing system, the access to at least one file, the method comprising:

Writing, using a second computing system, data associated to the file, in such a way that said file is not accessible as such a file by the operating system of the first computing system.

28 . A computer program product comprising program instructions for causing a computing system to perform the method for blocking, to an operating system running in a first computing system, the access to at least one file, the method comprising:

Writing, using a second computing system, data associated to the file, in such a way that said file is not accessible as such a file by the operating system of the first computing system.

29 . A data-storing device, connectable to a computing system, comprising at least one file and data associated to said file, in such a way that, when the data-storing device is connected to the computing system, the file is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in said computing system.

30 . A disk image comprising at least one file and data associated to said file, in such a way that, when the disk image is restored in a data-storing device and said data-storing device is connected to a computing system, the file is not accessible as such a file by an operating system running in said computing system.

31 . A method for blocking, to an operating system running in a first computing system, the access to at least one file, the method comprising:

Manipulating, using a second computing system, the data-storing device in such a way that, when said data-storing device is connected to the first computing system, the file is not accessible as such a file by the operating system of the first computing system.

32 . A computer program product comprising program instructions for causing a computing system to perform the method for blocking, to an operating system running in a first computing system, the access to at least one file, the method comprising:

Manipulating, using a second computing system, the data-storing device in such a way that, when said data-storing device is connected to the first computing system, the file is not accessible as such a file by the operating system of the first computing system.