Strong security for network-attached storage

Abstract

We have developed a scheme to secure networkattached storage systems against many types of attacks. Our system uses strong cryptography to hide data from unauthorized users; someone gaining complete access to a disk cannot obtain any useful data from the system, and backups can be done without allowing the super-user access to cleartext. While insider denial-of-service attacks cannot be prevented (an insider can physically destroy the storage devices), our system detects attempts to forge data. The system was developed using a raw disk, and can be integrated into common file systems.