1. A method of protecting data in a data storage/retrieval system, comprising: decrypting, by a data storage device, encrypted command-related information, wherein the encrypted command-related information includes a read/write command to be executed by a controller of the data storage device, and wherein the read/write command is encrypted by a host device using an encryption key; interpreting the decrypted command-related information to generate interpreted commands; and executing the interpreted commands by the data storage device, wherein the encrypted read/write command is separate from any data that is for storage in a recording/restoring medium of the data storage device.