The present invention provides systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers equipped in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that information is accessed and used only in authorized ways, and maintain the integrity, availability, and/or confidentiality of the information. Such electronic appliances provide a distributed virtual distribution environment (VDE) that may enforce a secure chain of handl...

An example process for controlling access to a data storage device in a distributed information handling system includes the operation of receiving, at the storage device, a login request from a host. In response to the login request, the storage device may determine whether a host access table in the storage device includes an identifier for the host. If the host access table includes an identifier for the host, the storage device may allow the host to use the storage device. However, if the ho...

In a first aspect, a method for maintaining control structure coherency is provided. The method includes the steps of (1) writing a pointer to a control structure in a hardware update list while one or more portions of the control structure are accessed by hardware during a hardware update operation; and (2) delaying a software access to one or more portions of the control structure during a software update operation while the pointer to the control structure is on the hardware update list. Nume...

A protective cover is provided for substantially enclosing and protecting a bubbler head of a drinking fountain or the like against contamination when water flow to the bubbler head is turned off. In one preferred form, when the water flow is turned on, the protective cover is hydraulically elevated or pops up to a raised position permitting substantially unimpeded projection of a water stream from the bubbler head for drinking, etc. In an alternative preferred form, the bubbler head is hydrauli...

The present invention relates to provide a technology which can detect a disk drive with degradation in the performance even if the disk drive itself does not comprise a function to detect degradation in the performance and which can realize a disk array apparatus which meets a request of a customer by changing a detection level of the degradation in the performance. In the apparatus, a disk controller: generates logical storage areas used for writing or reading data and having redundancy to sto...

The present application is directed to a host-based IDS on an HP-UX intrusion detection system that enhances local host-level security within the network. It should be understood that the present invention is also usable on, for example, Eglinux, solaris, aix windows 2000 operating systems. It does this by automatically monitoring each configured host system within the network for possible signs of unwanted and potentially damaging intrusions. If successful, such intrusions could lead to the los...

A mechanism is provided for efficiently storing a key and optionally additional data in an environment. A memory apparatus embodiment includes a plurality of memory banks and a conversion module. The number of memory banks is determined by at least the number of coordinates within an n-dimension format, each bank is associated to one of the coordinates within the n-dimension format. Each memory bank has at least a number of memory locations equal to the largest valid value for its associated coo...

The present invention controls copying of an information signal, comprises the steps of prior to recording and/or transmission, applying to the information signal a substantially imperceptible modification representing copy control data including a password securely encoded according to a predetermined algorithm; upon reproduction for copying by a user, deriving (S1, S3) the copy control data from the modified information signal; comparing (S8, S9, S11, S13, S15) the derived securely encoded pas...

A method of controlling access to an address translation data structure of a computer system. The computer system includes a processor having a normal execution mode and a secure execution mode. The method includes executing code and generating a linear address. During translation of the linear address into a physical address, the method also includes generating a read-only page fault exception during the normal execution mode in response to detecting a software invoked write access to an addres...

In a storage device for maintaining information when power is OFF and being capable of executing a test process based on test signals, a test terminal inputs the test signals and an instruction part sends a read out instruction for instructing a memory storing secret data to read out data. Moreover, a decoding part decodes whether or not the data read out by the memory in response to the data reading instruction is the secret data stored in the memory and a maintaining part maintains information...