Protected Disk Construction & Usage
StrongDisk Pro uses regular files to store protected data. A driver that comes with StrongDisk Pro allows the operating system to treat this file - the disk image file - as a separate logical disk. You can create files and folders on it, format it by Windows means, check it with ScanDisk etc. A logical disk that is created from a disk image file by StrongDisk Pro driver is called a protected disk. Data is encrypted and decrypted at the moment when it is written to or read from the disk.
Disk image file consists of two parts: disk header and the data themselves. In the header (usually these are the first 512 bytes of the file) the key to the data on the disk is stored along with other information about the disk. This key is generated by StrongDisk Pro using a special cryptographically strong algorithm and is also encrypted. A sequence of bytes that is the result of hashing the disk access password is used as the key for this encryption. Data encryption method, key encryption method and hash algorithm are defined when the disk image file is created and cannot be changed afterwards. Disk access password is also defined when the disk image file is created, but it can be changed afterwards as many times as are necessary. Protected disk capacity is defined when the disk image file is created and is approximately the same as the length of the latter, since data size does not change with encryption and disk header is very small. Floating size disk initial size is approximately equal to the sum of disk header and base FAT structure sizes. It increases when the disk is filled with data.
To get access to the data from the protected disk you have to mount it. You have to provide the following information when mounting a protected disk:
- disk image file name;
- access password;
- a letter that should be assigned to the disk;
- some additional parameters.
Folder Startup is automatically created on the protected disk when the disk is created. If shortcuts (not executable files themselves) to any applications or documents are placed into this folder, then on disk mounting those applications and documents will be loaded automatically (if Autorun function is not disabled).
You can dismount a protected disk so that it becomes unavailable to the operating system.
Authorization information is not stored anywhere, not even in the protected disk image file itself. |
