FIGURE 07 is a diagram showing aspects of original
data files 0220.
The first aspect is eligibility 0710 of an original
data file 0220 for privatizing. In their normal (non-privatized form), original data
files 0220 are vulnerable to misappropriation, data mining, and other undesired and
unintended uses. But this does not apply to all files. For example, there is little
to be gained in privatizing files which are publicly or broadly available. Neither
does it seem appropriate to privatize executable programs, most operating system
files, etc. Typically a small subset of what is on the hard disk of a computer
consists of data, which has value to the user or to the organization that the
user represents. In general, only data files that contain valued personal or
organizational property should be made private.
Type 0720 is the second aspect. The system and
method of privatizing computer data treats all files as byte streams; hence any file
type whatsoever (word processing output, spreadsheet, database, graphic, etc.) may
be specified as an original data file 0220, within any operating system in which
the system has been implemented. In the light of the preceding paragraph, consider
all eligible data files as "regular files" 0721. This is in contrast to two other
types, which present themselves as interesting possibilities where security is
a major concern. Files already privatized 0722 can be used as input for
another round of privatizing; this forms the basis of cascaded fragmentation
0362. Files already encrypted 0722 can also be used as input to the system
and method 0110. In this sense, the underlying technique of random fragment
dispersion elevates the system and method of privatizing computer data 0110,
which is documented here, into an encryption enhancer.
Count 0730 is also relevant. The number of files
being made private in one archive may be any integral quantity without limit.
