Research on security of hard disk firmware

The hard disk drive is a commonly used storage media in computer systems. Computer users usually put a vast range of data of personal or commercial significance in the hard disks. If these data were lost or disclosed, it may lead to huge losses to individuals, businesses, and even the whole country. Hard drive firmware is the lowest, most basic software that controls the internal correct operations of the disk drive. In real life, many hard disk failures are caused by firmware problems. Therefore, it is quite important to keep the firmware safe and correct. In this paper, we demonstrate four potential threats to the hard disk firmware, and propose three safety protection approaches accordingly.