A recording medium is provided which is protected against unauthorized use and has heightened security. The recording medium stores storage authentication information that authenticates a user, and has an area that corresponds to the storage authentication information. The recording medium further includes a tamper-resistant authentication unit that judges whether or not received authentication information that authenticates a user matches the storage authentication information. The authentication unit is prevented from being decoded or tampered by third parties. In addition, it is possible to restrict access to the area according to the content of authentication.