Patent attributes
An image forming apparatus of the invention includes a key generating unit to change an encryption key and to generate an encryption key different from the previous encryption key at each time of change, an encryption unit to encrypt image data using the encryption key generated by the key generating unit, a first storage unit to store the encrypted image data, a second storage unit to store the encryption key and a table to correlate the image data encrypted by the encryption key with the encryption key, and a decryption unit to decrypt the data stored in the first storage unit by using the encryption key correlated in the table. According to the image forming apparatus of the invention, the read data can be stored with high security into a storage apparatus such as an HDD, while an operation burden is not imposed on a user.
