Securing a media storage device using application authority assignment

1. A system, comprising:

a media storage device;

a processor; and

logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to cause the processor to:

associate a first subset of storage space on the media storage device with a plurality of applications comprising a first group of applications executing on a hardware processor in response to at least one application of the first group of applications writing new data to the first subset of storage space on the media storage device, the association of the first subset of storage space with the plurality of applications being made after the at least one application of the first group of applications writes the new data to the first subset of storage space;

receive a request from an application to access the first subset of storage space on the media storage device; and

prevent any application other than an application from the first group of applications from accessing the first subset of storage space on the media storage device.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first subset of storage space comprises an amount of storage space on the media storage device that is less than an entirety of storage space on the media storage device.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to cause the processor to:

determine an application identifier (ID) of the application from the request to access the first subset of storage space on the media storage device; and

determine whether the application has authority to access the first subset of storage space on the media storage device based on the application ID.

4. The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the application ID is determined based on a checksum of an executable file of the application.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to cause the processor to:

determine an application identifier (ID) of the application from the request to access the first subset of storage space on the media storage device;

create a device table configured to store associations between applications and subsets of storage space on the media storage device, wherein the logic configured to cause the processor to associate the first subset of storage space on the media storage device with the first group of applications is further configured to cause the processor to store, in the device table, the application ID in association with a reference to the first subset of storage space on the media storage device;

determine whether the device table indicates that the application ID for the application is associated with the reference to the first subset of storage space on the media storage device;

allow the application to access the first subset of storage space on the media storage device in response to determining that the device table indicates an association between the application ID for the application and the reference to the first subset of storage space on the media storage device; and

return an error code to the application in response to determining that the device table does not indicate the association between the application ID for the application and the reference to the first subset of storage space on the media storage device.

6. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic configured to cause the processor to access the first subset of storage space on the media storage device is further configured to cause the processor to write data to the first subset of storage space on the media storage device.

7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein any application of the first group of applications has authority to access the first subset of storage space on the media storage device.

8. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is further configured to cause the processor to associate one or more additional subsets of storage space on the media storage device with the first group of applications in response to at least one application of the first group of applications writing data to the one or more additional subsets of storage space on the media storage device.

9. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer readable program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

associating a first subset of storage space on a first media storage device with a first group of applications executing on a hardware processor, the first subset of storage space being a physical subset of storage space, the association of the first subset of storage space with the first group of applications being made after one of the applications of the first group of applications writes new data to the first subset of storage space;

receiving a request from an application to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device; and

preventing any application other than an application from the first group of applications from accessing the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device,

wherein the first subset of storage space comprises an amount of storage space on the first media storage device that is less than an entirety of storage space on the first media storage device.

10. The computer program product as recited in claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining an application identifier (ID) of the application from the request to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device; and

determining whether the application has authority to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device based on the application ID.

11. The computer program product as recited in claim 9 , wherein a size of the first subset of storage space is dictated according to physical portions of the first media storage device, the physical portions being selected from the group consisting of physical partitions, physical sectors, tracks, and bands.

12. The computer program product as recited in claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining an application identifier (ID) of the application from the request to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device, wherein the associating the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device with the first group of applications comprises storing, in a device table, the application ID in association with a reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device;

determining whether the device table indicates that the application ID for the application is associated with the reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device;

allowing the application to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device in response to determining that the device table indicates an association between the application ID for the application and the reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device; and

returning an error code originated from firmware of the first media storage device to the application in response to determining that the device table does not indicate the association between the application ID for the application and the reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device.

13. The computer program product as recited in claim 9 , wherein the accessing the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device comprises writing data to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device, and wherein the method further comprises associating one or more additional subsets of storage space on the first media storage device with the first group of applications in response to at least one application of the first group of applications writing data to the one or more additional subsets of storage space on the first media storage device.

14. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:

associating a first subset of storage space on a first media storage device with a first group of applications executing on a hardware processor in response to one of the applications in the first group of applications writing new data to the first subset of storage space;

receiving a request from an application to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device; and

preventing any application other than an application from the first group of applications from accessing the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device,

wherein the first subset of storage space comprises an amount of storage space on the first media storage device that is less than an entirety of storage space on the first media storage device.

15. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 14 , further comprising:

determining an application identifier (ID) of the application from the request to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device; and

determining whether the application has authority to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device based on the application ID.

16. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the application ID is determined based on a checksum of an executable file of the application.

17. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 14 , further comprising:

determining an application identifier (ID) of the application from the request to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device, wherein the associating the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device with the first group of applications comprises storing, in a device table, the application ID in association with a reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device;

determining whether the device table indicates that the application ID for the application is associated with the reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device;

allowing the application to access the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device in response to determining that the device table indicates an association between the application ID for the application and the reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device; and

returning an error code originated from firmware of the first media storage device to the application in response to determining that the device table does not indicate the association between the application ID for the application and the reference to the first subset of storage space on the first media storage device.

18. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 14 , wherein the first subset of storage space being a physical subset of storage space, and wherein a size of the first subset of storage space is dictated according to physical portions of the first media storage device, the physical portions being selected from the group consisting of physical partitions, physical sectors, tracks, and bands.

19. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 14 , further comprising associating one or more additional subsets of storage space on the first media storage device with the first group of applications in response to at least one application of the first group of applications writing data to the one or more additional subsets of storage space on the first media storage device.

20. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 14 , wherein the association of the first subset of storage space with the plurality of applications is made after one of the applications of the first group of applications writes the new data to the first subset of storage space.