Self-encrypting flash drive

1. A method for storing user data in a flash storage device to enable detection of subsequent tampering, comprising:

receiving a plaintext comprising at least a portion of the user data;

receiving a user key;

reading stored first metadata associated with a sector of the flash storage device, wherein the first metadata comprises at least one attribute associated with a physical location;

generating an initialization vector based on the at least one attribute;

encrypting the plaintext based on the user key and the initialization vector to generate a cipher text and first authentication data;

storing the cipher text in the sector of the flash storage device; and

storing the first authentication data as second metadata associated with the sector of the flash storage device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a logical address for storing the at least a portion of the user data;

mapping the logical address to the physical location.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises at least one of an age attribute, utilization information, and erase count.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first metadata relates to flash storage device maintenance functions; and

the first authentication data is usable to detect tampering of the cipher text and the first metadata.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises sector maintenance metadata pertaining to the sector.

6. A method for detecting occurrence of tampering with data stored in a flash storage device, comprising:

determining a physical location in a sector of the flash storage device corresponding to encrypted user data to be read;

reading cipher text from the physical location, where the cipher text comprises the encrypted user data;

reading metadata associated with the sector of the flash storage device, the metadata comprising first authentication data and at least one attribute associated with the physical location; and

generating an initialization vector based on the at least one attribute;

decrypting the cipher text based on a user key and the initialization vector to generate a plaintext and second authentication data;

determining the occurrence of tampering based on the first authentication data and the second authentication data.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining a physical location comprises receiving a logical address corresponding to the encrypted user data to be read; and mapping the logical address to the physical location.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the initialization vector is generated based on the physical location and the at least one attribute.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises at least one of an age attribute, utilization information, and erase count.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises sector maintenance metadata pertaining to the sector.

11. A flash storage device comprising:

a memory configured in a plurality of sectors, each sector comprising storage for user data and for first and second metadata associated with the particular sector;

an encryption machine configured to:

receive first plaintext, a user key, and an initialization vector; and

encrypt the plaintext based on the user key and the initialization vector to generate a cipher text and an authentication tag; and

a memory controller configured to:

generate the initialization vector based on at least one attribute associated with a sector of the flash storage device;

store the cipher text as user data in the sector of the flash storage device; and

store the authentication tag as second metadata associated with the sector of the flash storage device.

12. The flash storage device of claim 11 , wherein the memory controller is further configured to:

receive a logical address corresponding to user data to be stored; and

map the logical address to a physical location associated with the sector of the flash storage device.

13. The flash storage device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises at least one of an age attribute, utilization information, and erase count.

14. The flash storage device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises sector maintenance metadata pertaining to the sector.

15. A flash storage device comprising:

a memory configured in a plurality of sectors, each sector comprising storage for user data and for first and second metadata associated with the particular sector;

a memory controller configured to:

read cipher text from a physical location in a sector of the flash storage device, wherein the cipher text comprises encrypted user data;

read metadata associated with the sector of the flash storage device, the metadata comprising first authentication data and at least one attribute associated with the physical location;

generate an initialization vector based on the at least one attribute; and

a decryption machine configured to:

receive the cipher text, a user key, and the initialization vector;

decrypt the cipher text based on the user key and the initialization vector to generate a plaintext and second authentication data; and

determine the occurrence of tampering based on the first authentication data and the second authentication data.

16. The flash storage device of claim 15 , wherein the memory controller is further configured to determine the physical location by:

receiving a logical address corresponding to encrypted user data to be read; and mapping the logical address to the physical location associated with the sector of the flash storage device.

17. The flash storage device of claim 16 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises at least one of an age attribute, utilization information, and erase count.

18. The flash storage device of claim 16 , wherein the at least one attribute comprises sector maintenance metadata pertaining to the sector.