JP2005277736A - Document registration device, document registration method, computer program, and computer readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure the security of a scanning image or a FAX-received document when transmitting the read scanning image or FAX-received document to a document registration destination. <P>SOLUTION: Public key information possessed by a plurality of the document registration destinations is stored and managed in a management part 300 for a bunch of public keys after acquiring it. The public key corresponding to the document registration destination desired by an operator from among a plurality of the document registration destinations is extracted from the management part 300 for a bunch of public keys. The scanning image or FAX-received document is encrypted on the basis of the extracted public key. The encrypted scanning image or FAX-received document is transmitted to the document registration destination in order to register it in the selected document registration destination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a document registration apparatus, a document registration method, a computer program, and a computer-readable storage medium for registering at least a scanned image or a FAX received document in a document management system.

  Conventionally, in a document registration apparatus for registering a document, a read document image is simply sent or registered in a document management system after data compression. Further, the present applicant has already considered a document registration system that registers and stores a scanned image in a predetermined registration destination set in advance from an MFP device.

  However, in a conventional document registration apparatus, when a document or image read from a device is transmitted and registered as it is to an external apparatus, particularly when transmission is performed via the Internet, the contents of the document are read in the middle. There was a security problem. In particular, when the document is a security document that needs to secure security such as a secret document, the above-described problem is serious.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can ensure the security of a scanned image or FAX reception document to be transmitted when the scanned image or FAX reception document is transmitted to a document registration destination. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is a document registration apparatus for registering at least a scanned image or a FAX received document in a document management system, and acquiring means for acquiring public key information possessed by a plurality of document registration destinations; Corresponding to the document registration destination selected by the selection means, public key management means for storing and managing public key information, selection means for selecting a desired document registration destination from among the plurality of document registration destinations Extraction means for extracting a public key from the public key management means, encryption means for encrypting the scanned image or the FAX received document based on the public key extracted by the extraction means, and encryption by the encryption means Transmitting means for transmitting the converted scanned image or FAX received document to the document registration destination for registration in the document management system of the document registration destination selected by the selection means To provide a document registration apparatus that is characterized by having a.

  According to the present invention, when the scanned image or FAX reception document that has been read is transmitted to the document registration destination, the scanned image or FAX reception document is transmitted after being encrypted. Document security can be ensured. In particular, there is an effect of preventing damage to eavesdropping and spoofing transmission on a transmission transmission path such as the Internet.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a document registration system including a document registration apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an example in which the document registration apparatus is applied to an MFP will be described below.

  The document registration system shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of user terminals PC (101, 102), a plurality of MFPs (110, 111, 150) having a fax / scanner / printer / copy function, and a LAN 100 (local・ Area network). Further, the MFP 110 is connected to the facsimile machine 121 via the public line 120. Document types handled by the MFP (110, 111, 150) include a document created by a general document creation application, a document read by a scanner, or a document received by fax. In some cases, this MFP has a plurality of public lines. In this case, since the MFP has a plurality of telephone numbers, it is possible to automatically assign the storage destination of the FAX document according to the incoming telephone number.

  In addition, in the MFP 110, an index of the document is generated based on information obtained when the document (fax received document image, scanner-read document image, etc.) is acquired or information obtained by analyzing the document. (Attribute information / search information) is automatically added, and the document and index are stored together in the document management destination. Here, the document management destination is the document management system 200 (application software) executed in the user terminal PC (101, 102).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a user interface screen of the document management system 200.
The user interface screen of the document management system 200 includes a document viewer 201 and a file system 202 for storing documents, and the directory structure of the file system 202 is shown as a cabinet 210 and a folder 211. A user stores a scanned document or a FAX document to be managed in a predetermined folder, searches for a document as necessary, or retrieves a document by viewing a thumbnail image displayed on the document viewer 201. Then you can.

  In FIG. 2, the folder A is selected from the folders 211, and two types of documents Doc 1 and Doc 2 which are documents 212 stored in the folder A are displayed. Here, the images registered in the folder 211 are those transmitted from the MFP (110, 111) shown in FIG. Normally, when an image is transmitted from the MFP, unauthorized intrusion is prevented by password verification or the like when accessing / logging in the folder 211. However, there are many cases in which passwords are broken by hackers. Such unauthorized intrusion is called “spoofing”, and there is a risk that a malicious image is registered without knowing and acts as if it were a legitimate image. FIG. 1 shows a case where an image having no relation to a malicious user is stored and registered in the user terminal PC 101 via the communication path 151 using the MFP 150.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining document encryption processing in the document registration apparatus of the present embodiment.
The document management system 200 executed on each user terminal PC (101, 102) owns a pair of public key 301 and private key 302 for encryption for each individual cabinet / folder. . It is necessary to notify the document transmission source (in this embodiment, the MFP (110, 111) as the transmission source) that the public key 301 is its own key. On the other hand, the MFP (110, 111) has a public key bundle management unit 300 for centrally managing and storing a plurality of public keys held by a plurality of cabinets and folders of the document management system. In this embodiment, an example of the MFP 101 is shown. The MFP (110, 111) encrypts the document to be transmitted based on the information from the public key ring management unit 300 when transmitting the scanned document or the FAX document.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the encryption operation in the MFP (110, 111).
First, in step S401, the process waits for the start of image transmission, and if a trigger is triggered by an event such as reception of a FAX document or preparation for a scan operation, the process proceeds to step S402. FIG. 4 shows a case where a scanned document is transmitted.

Subsequently, in step S402, a scanning operation is performed. Details will be described later.
When the document scanning operation is completed, the scanned image is temporarily stored in a memory (storage device 525 in FIG. 5), and is created as a temporary file (not shown).

  Subsequently, in step S403, the transmission destination user terminal PC is selected, and then the storage destination folder in the user terminal PC is selected. In this case, a folder to be stored is selected from the document management system 200 in the user terminal PC (101, 102) shown in FIG. That is, any one of folder A, folder B, folder C, and folder D shown in FIG. 3 is selected. Hereinafter, a case where the folder selected in step S403 is the folder A of the user terminal PC (101) will be described.

  Subsequently, in step S404, the user inputs a password, and then the password input by the user is compared with the password (not shown) of the folder to determine whether the verification is OK. As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the collation is OK, the process proceeds to step S405. On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S404, if it is determined that the verification is not OK, the process proceeds to step S407 to perform error processing, and then the transmission operation process is terminated.

  Subsequently, in step S405, “301-A” that is information (public key) corresponding to the folder A of the user terminal PC (101) is extracted from the management table of the public key bundle management unit 300. Subsequently, encryption processing is performed using the extracted public key 301-A on the scanned image stored in the temporary file described above.

  Subsequently, in step S406, the scanned image that has been encrypted in step S405 is transmitted to the user terminal PC (101) via the LAN 100. Thus, when a scanned image is registered in the document management system 200 of the user terminal PC, it is transmitted after being encrypted with the public key of the desired folder.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of the MFP (110, 111) in the present embodiment.
The MFP 110 according to the present embodiment includes a scanner unit 500, a printer 550, an ADF 600, and an operation panel 700.
The scanner unit 500 includes a CPU 520 that performs an actual processing operation, a RAM 521 that reads a program and uses it as a work area, a ROM 522, a network controller 524 for connecting to the LAN 100, a schematic diagram shown in FIG. A storage medium 525 for storing a program for executing the operation processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 and a temporary file of the scan image described above, a FAX controller 526 connected to the public line 120, and an operation panel for controlling the operation panel 700 A controller 504, an exposure system controller 503, an ADF controller 502 that controls the ADF 600, a scanner unit sequence controller 501 that controls the ADF controller 502 and the exposure system controller 503, and a flexible device Disk, and a removable disk (not shown) such as a CD-ROM.

  The management table of the public key ring management unit 300 used in this embodiment is stored in the storage device 525. The program to be executed by the CPU 520 may be supplied from the storage medium or read from an external device via a network. In the present embodiment, the CPU 520 implements a desired process by executing a program. However, a part or all of the processing may be configured by hardware.

Next, document input processing in the MFP 110 will be described.
In the scanner 500, the scanner controller 501 is the center of sequence control. Network control, image display, image processing, and the like are controlled by the CPU 520. The scanner 500 is connected to the user terminal PC (101, 102) from the network controller 524 via the LAN 100.

  An ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 600 is controlled by an ADF controller 502 for feeding and discharging a double-sided document, and handling of documents such as front and back surfaces. In addition, the operation panel 700 includes a touch sensor input function for displaying a message to the operator and simultaneously instructing an operation and inputting a password. The operation panel 700 includes a prescan image. It also plays a role of displaying the outline of the scanned image to the operator and is controlled by the operation panel controller 504.

  The exposure system controller 503 drives the contact type CCD line sensor to read the original on the original table for each color of RGB, and color-separates the read image to sequentially convert it into an analog image signal. The analog image signal is A / D converted and converted into an 8-bit digital image signal and sequentially output.

Next, document feeding by the ADF 600 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an ADF (Auto Document Feeder). This operation is a part of the scanning operation in step S402 in FIG.
In FIG. 6, arrows [1] to [9] indicate paths through which the document is conveyed.
First, a document to be read is placed facing upward on the document stacking tray 601. Subsequently, the document stacking tray 601 is tilted in the upper right direction as indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. By doing so, the document advances in the direction of the arrow [1] and reaches the half moon roller 602. Subsequently, the manuscript roller 602 and the separation roller 603 are rotated to separate the document one page at a time from the upper side, and the first page at the top of the document is conveyed in the direction of arrow [2]. This document is sandwiched between the transport rollers 604 and travels in the direction of arrow [3], and is eventually guided in the direction of arrow [4] by the entire transport belt 607.

  The full-surface conveyance belt 607 has a frictional force to attract and convey the original over the entire surface, and can accurately stop the original at a predetermined position on the platen. The sequence control of these ADF operations is all performed by the ADF controller 502. The original stopped at the predetermined position is exposed from the exposure controller 503 in the scanner 500, and the original is scanned, so that the surface of the first page can be read.

  After the scanning of the surface of the first page of the document is completed, the entire conveyance belt 607 rotates in the reverse direction so that the document moves in the direction of the arrow [5] which is opposite to the arrow [4]. do. Subsequently, the document advances in the direction of arrow [6], and eventually advances in the direction of arrow [7] so as to be wound around the roller by the rotational conveyance force of conveyance large roller 606. Here, the operation of the switching flapper 608 will be described. The flapper 608 has a function of separating the transport direction in order to select whether to discharge the original or to reverse the original and read it again. Yes. The direction shown in FIG. 6 indicates the position of the switching flapper 608 when the document is reversed and read again. By this control, the document advances in the direction of the arrow [8], and is eventually sandwiched between the conveyance rollers 604 and stopped at a predetermined position by the entire conveyance belt 607 according to the same sequence as described above, and then the first page of the document. Is read with a 500 scanner.

  Next, after the scanning of the back side of the first page of the original is completed, the paper discharge sequence operates in the same manner as described above, and is conveyed in the direction of arrows [5] → [6] → [7]. By switching the switching flapper 608 from the position shown in FIG. 6 in the counterclockwise direction around the black mark (●), the document transport direction is guided in the direction of arrow [9]. Return to the loading tray 601. From the second page onward, the document is scanned sequentially from the front side to the back side in the same sequence as the first page, and when the back side of the last page is finished, a series of document reading is finished.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of the operation panel 700.
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 701 denotes a scan button, and reference numeral 702 denotes a viewer screen. Reference numeral 703 denotes a window for designating a resolution. In this window, a desired resolution in the main scan can be selected from the “▼ ▲” menu, or a numerical value can be input from a key (not shown). Reference numeral 704 denotes a document size designation window. FIG. 7 shows a state in which 600 dpi and A4 size are selected as default values that can be selected from the “▼ ▲” menu.

  Next, the image quality selection 706 is selected from the “▼ ▲” menu. In the example of FIG. 7, the original to be read is handled as a document original, but in the case of a photograph or the like, the gray scale mode is selected as the image quality selection.

  The scan button 701 is determined to be “start transmission” in step 401 in FIG. 4 and is for starting a document scanning operation. Specifically, this is the state immediately after placing the original bundle to be read on the stacking tray 601 shown in FIG. The cabinet folder selection 708 is used to select the user terminal PC (101) or the cabinet of the user terminal PC (102) by going up and down from the “▼ ▲” menu. In the viewer screen 702 of FIG. 7, the folder structure in the cabinet 101 is displayed as a tree structure. In this case, the cursor is placed on the folder C. The cabinet folder selection 708 can be moved by the “▼ ▲” menu.

Next, general encryption and decryption will be described.
Usually, a key for encryption is numeric data such as 56 bits, 64 bits, and 80 bits. Here, encryption means that the numerical data is changed to information completely different from the original information using the parameter as a parameter. One example is DES (Data Encryption Standard). In the case of the present invention, this DES encryption method may be adopted for scanned image data. In general, a method in which the sender side and the receiver side of a document have the same key and perform the same encryption and decryption is called “common key encryption”. A method of constructing an encryption system with two different keys is called “public key cryptography”, and these two different keys are called a public key and a secret key. This public key is publicly disclosed by the recipient. The sender side creates and sends an encrypted document based on this public key. On the other hand, the recipient side can decrypt the encrypted document using a secret key that is hidden by the recipient. Thus, the security is robust because the public key and the private key are used to construct one encryption system.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a document registration system including a document registration apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed the user interface screen of a document management system. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the encryption process of the document in the document registration apparatus of this embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing an encryption operation in an MFP (document registration apparatus). 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an MFP (document registration apparatus) in the present embodiment. It is a block diagram of ADF (automatic document feeder). It is a schematic block diagram of an operation panel.

Explanation of symbols

101, 102 User terminal PC
110, 111, 150 MFP (document registration device)
100 LAN (Local Area Network)
115 Storage by Normal Path 151 Storage by Invalid Path 120 Public Line 121 Facsimile Device 200 Document Management System 201 Document Viewer 202 File System 210 Cabinet 211 Folder 212 Document 300 Public Key Bundle Management Unit 301 Public Key 302 Private Key

Claims (4)

A document registration apparatus for registering at least a scanned image or a FAX received document in a document management system,
Obtaining means for obtaining public key information possessed by a plurality of document registration destinations;
Public key management means for storing and managing the public key information;
Selecting means for selecting a document registration destination desired by the operator from the plurality of document registration destinations;
Extraction means for extracting from the public key management means a public key corresponding to the document registration destination selected by the selection means;
Encryption means for encrypting the scanned image or the FAX received document based on the public key extracted by the extraction means;
Transmission means for transmitting the scanned image or FAX received document encrypted by the encryption means to the document registration destination for registration in the document management system of the document registration destination selected by the selection means. Document registration device characterized by this. A document registration method for registering at least a scanned image or a FAX received document in a document management system,
An acquisition step of acquiring public key information possessed by a plurality of document registration destinations;
A selection step of selecting a desired document registration destination from among the plurality of document registration destinations;
An extraction step of extracting a public key corresponding to the document registration destination selected in the selection step from public key management means for storing and managing the public key information acquired in the acquisition step;
An encryption step of encrypting the scanned image or the FAX received document based on the public key extracted in the extraction step;
A transmission step of transmitting the scanned image or FAX received document encrypted in the encryption step to the document registration destination for registration in the document management system of the document registration destination selected in the selection step. Document registration method characterized by this. A computer program for causing a computer to execute processing in a document registration apparatus that registers at least a scanned image or a FAX received document in a document management system,
An acquisition process for acquiring public key information possessed by a plurality of document registration destinations;
A selection process in which an operator selects a desired document registration destination from the plurality of document registration destinations;
An extraction process for extracting a public key corresponding to the document registration destination selected in the selection process from public key management means for storing and managing the public key information acquired in the acquisition process;
An encryption process for encrypting the scanned image or the FAX received document based on the public key extracted by the extraction process;
A transmission process for transmitting the scanned image or FAX received document encrypted by the encryption process to the document registration destination in order to register the document in the document management system selected by the selection process; A computer program that is executed.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program according to claim 3.

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