Abstract: The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for locking a storage device to prevent inadvertent modification when the device is mounted on a different system or different host. The method can include selecting, on a storage device, a location and contents of a byte region for locking, where the byte region comprises a boot sector of the device. The method can also include encoding the selected contents of the byte region, and locking the device by replacing the contents of the identified byte region with the encoded byte region at the identified location on the device. In some embodiments, encoding the selected contents of the byte region can include inverting the contents of the selected byte region using a binary not operation. In some embodiments, encoding the selected contents of the byte region can include modifying the selected contents of the byte region based on a generated unique identifier.