JP2008269285A - System for managing portable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a user from suffering from the leakage of significant information by surely maintaining or erasing information when any problem such as the theft or loss of a portable storage medium is generated. <P>SOLUTION: A portable storage medium such as a USB memory is made have a communication function, thereby the operation of information stored inside from the remote place is made possible, and even in a state in which communication is not established (for example, a place where communication ratio wave does not reach outside a sphere), internal information is erased with a time limit. Also, as for information control from the remote place, information is transmitted from a storage medium side concerning a control method using a transmitting operation from the remote place as a main stream. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a management system for a portable storage medium, and more particularly to a management system for erasing data in a portable storage medium.

  In recent years, portable storage media such as a USB memory for the purpose of carrying large-capacity data inside a personal computer or the like have become widespread.

  At present, such a portable storage medium is used by taking the device outdoors in a wide unspecified area due to its characteristics.

  In addition, portable storage media are easy to use and are in demand by many people. Furthermore, a large amount of information is held in recent portable storage media due to an increase in capacity, and the owner can hold personal information and important information.

  However, as described above, since the owner of the conventional portable storage medium can take it out outdoors and easily carry it for use, there are many opportunities for theft or loss.

  Even if a stolen or lost portable storage medium is picked up by a third party, it may be easily used by a third party, and valuable personal information, various information, important data, etc. are stolen. The problem is that the owner suffers damage.

  For this reason, the security level of the portable storage medium is increasing on the owner side, and an information maintenance system for the portable storage medium is indispensable. In order to solve such problems at the time of theft or loss, various information storage methods for portable storage media have been proposed.

  In general, the use of data in the portable storage medium is restricted by using a soft password, and the storage element itself is accessed by decomposition or the like in combination with software encryption. There are widely known methods for restricting the use of data even in such a case.

  However, in such a method, if the password is decrypted, the data can be easily used. Therefore, the fact that the password has been lost is not changed, and it is taken up as an information leakage problem.

  In addition, although different from the technical field of portable storage media, a technique for operating information on a remote terminal is conventionally known. For example, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, maintenance of a remote terminal is performed. And proposals for changing terminal information have been made. In Patent Document 3 and the like, a proposal for deleting user information recorded in a remote terminal has been made.

  As a technique for managing the security of a portable storage medium such as a USB memory, Patent Document 4 has been proposed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-023031 JP-A-11-220563 JP 2004-032073 A JP 2006-330949 A

  However, in the method using the conventional remote control technology such as Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3, when only the information recorded in the terminal can be remotely erased and recorded in the external storage area of the terminal, There was a problem that it was not possible to deal with it when it was removed.

  In recent years, terminals (cell phones, etc.) are equipped with interfaces such as various memory cards as external peripheral devices and can record data (for example, received data of e-mails) on these terminals. Security for other storage media cannot be ensured.

  The invention described in Patent Document 4 is a system that combines a portable storage medium and an external control device that wirelessly communicates with the medium and manages the security of the portable storage medium. When the timer time is set in the medium, and polling communication with the external control device is not at a fixed interval, the portable storage medium operates the timer in response to the start command from the external control device, and the data is transferred. It can be erased.

  However, since the polling communication monitoring method in the invention described in Patent Document 4 needs to actually communicate with an external control device, it is represented by, for example, simple wireless communication (for example, wireless LAN, Zigbee, Bluetooth, etc.). Although effective for short-distance communication, wireless communication when considering central control, etc. must be connected to a wide-area wireless network represented by, for example, a mobile phone. There was a problem to do. As a countermeasure, if a polling communication interval is provided, security cannot be ensured if theft or loss occurs within this interval.

  Furthermore, assuming that short-range communication is assumed and the control device is portable, it is necessary to carry the portable storage medium and the external control device together. For example, if the external control device is also lost, security is ensured. The problem remains that it cannot be secured.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points. By providing a portable storage medium such as a USB memory with a communication function, it is possible to remotely operate information stored therein. Objective.

  Another object of the present invention is to erase internal information in a timely manner even in a state where communication is not established (for example, a place where communication radio waves do not reach due to out of service area or the like).

  Another object of the present invention is to make a transmission from the storage medium side with respect to a control method in which a remote transmission operation is mainstream with respect to remote information control.

  That is, it is an object of the present invention to reliably maintain or erase information when a problem such as theft or loss of a portable storage medium occurs, so that the user does not suffer the disadvantage of leaking important information. To do.

  It is another object of the present invention to confirm that data has been erased by notifying the remote control side of the erase contents held in the storage element.

  The first feature of the present invention is that a portable storage medium such as a USB memory is provided with a communication function so that information stored in the inside can be remotely operated, and communication is established. The second feature is that the internal information is erased in a timely manner even in a state where communication is not performed (for example, a place where communication radio waves do not reach due to, for example, out of service area).

  Further, regarding remote information control, the third feature is that transmission is performed from the storage medium side with respect to a control method in which remote transmission operation has been mainstream.

  By having these three features, we ensure that information is securely preserved or erased when problems such as theft or loss of portable storage media occur, and that users do not suffer the disadvantage of leaking important information. The object is that the erase can be confirmed by notifying the remote control side of the erase contents held in the storage element.

  The present invention has the following effects.

  The first effect is that since the present invention has a communication function inside the portable storage medium, information can be erased from a remote location, and erasure can be centrally controlled from a single location. .

  The second effect is that since the present invention has a timer function, information can be erased in a timely manner regardless of the state of the communication function.

  The third effect is that since the transmission control of the communication function is possible according to the present invention, it can be confirmed that the communication function is erased according to the state of the communication function.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by locating the external control device in one place and enabling centralized management, thereby simultaneously solving the problem at the time of loss and further reducing the cost burden due to the use of the wide area wireless network. By adopting the method, security management was made possible at the lowest cost.

  Further, the present invention is deleted by notifying the management server that it has been deleted, in contrast to the fact that it was taken as an information leakage case because the fact that it was lost is unchanged as described in the background section above. Means for confirming that the data is maintained, leaving the confirmed confirmation.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire portable storage medium management system according to the present invention.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of the portable storage medium according to the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of the external control device according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a portable storage medium management system according to the present embodiment includes a portable storage medium 100, a portable base station 300 that communicates with the portable storage medium 100 through a radio line 200, and external control. The apparatus 400, the external control apparatus 400, and the mobile base station 300 are configured to have a general public line 500 used for communication.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the portable storage medium 100 includes an external antenna 101, a memory 121 that is a storage element, a memory storage control unit 120 that controls the memory 121, and a memory storage that controls memory storage and communication. Communication control unit 110, battery unit 108 that is a rechargeable battery, charging control unit 107 that controls the battery unit 108, communication unit (MODEM) 122, and connection-side interface that is a general-purpose interface (for example, USB) for connecting to a personal computer or the like The unit 104 is configured. The memory 121 is used as a memory for storing data in the portable storage medium 100.

  This portable storage medium 100 is, for example, a USB memory, can be used by connecting to a USB connector of various personal computers, operates with power supplied from the connected personal computer, and Even the portable storage medium 100 alone can be operated by a built-in power source.

  More specifically, the memory storage / communication control unit 110 shown in FIG. 2 is responsible for overall control of the portable storage medium 100, and includes a communication control unit 111, a communication side timer unit 112, and a communication timer time. A monitoring unit 113, a memory side control unit 114, a memory encryption unit 115, an encryption key management unit 116, an encryption key timer time monitoring unit 117, a memory timer time monitoring unit 118, and an individual ID management unit 119; Configured.

  The connection-side interface unit 104 is a physical interface for reading and writing data corresponding to an interface for connection with an external peripheral device mounted on, for example, a personal computer. The connection-side interface unit 104 includes a data interface unit 105 and a power supply unit 106. It is configured.

  The power supply of the portable storage medium 100 is received by the power supply unit 106 of the interface unit 104, and the battery unit 108 is charged via the charging control unit 107.

  The communication unit (MODEM) 122 may be a generally provided communication module (for example, assuming a NTT DOCOMO FOAM ubiquitous module or a WILLCOM W-SIM card).

  The LED 102 displays various states, and the switch 103 is a switch for stopping radio transmission in, for example, a train or an aircraft where transmission of radio waves is not permitted.

  The memory storage / communication control unit 110 performs control after transmission / reception of the communication unit 122, interpretation of commands from the external control device 400 after transmission / reception, and commands to the memory storage control unit 120.

  Further, the memory encryption unit 115 performs encryption / decryption of data to be written and read, so that even when the portable storage medium 100 is disassembled and only the memory 121 is taken out, the data of the data is read. It is possible to prevent the contents from being referenced.

  The remaining battery level checking unit 109 monitors the charging status of the battery unit 108 and notifies the memory storage / communication control unit 110 when the charging status falls below a preset value. Upon receiving the notification, the memory storage / communication control unit 110 controls the memory storage control unit 120 to issue an erasure signal to the memory 121 to erase the memory contents.

  The individual ID management unit 119 can register unique data for each portable storage medium 100 and is used for identification with other portable storage media 100.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the external control device 400 includes a communication unit 401 that incorporates communication control memory management software 405 and a memory management database 406 and includes a communication device (MODEM) for external communication. It consists of a personal computer. The external control device 400 includes a display 402 and a keyboard 403 that are operated by a user.

  In FIG. 3, the communication control memory monitoring software 405 manages outgoing / incoming calls from the external control device 400 to the portable storage medium 100.

  Further, the memory management database 406 stores the initial setting values of the portable storage medium 100, for example, telephone numbers and timer setting times, and registers an erasure flag in the database in the case of theft or loss, thereby managing the communication control memory. In cooperation with the software 405, it transmits to the portable storage medium 100 and issues a data erasure command. Further, the erasure content transmitted from the portable storage medium 100 is registered.

  The external control device 400 includes an external storage medium interface 404 that is an interface for connecting to the portable storage medium 100, and the portable storage medium 100 is connected to the external storage medium interface 404, thereby enabling communication control memory. It is possible to perform the initial setting of the portable storage medium 100 on the management software 405.

  The communication unit 401 is built in or externally attached to the external control device 400, is controlled by the communication control memory management software 405, and is responsible for communication with the portable external storage medium 100.

  This portable storage medium management system detects the reception state of wireless communication by the communication unit 122 mounted on the portable storage medium 100 by polling in the communication control unit 111. For example, the reception state is not good. When a transition is made to the determined state, the communication side timer unit 112 of the memory storage / communication control unit 110 starts a timer, and when the preset timer expires, the memory storage control unit 120 stores the memory 121. The data stored in the storage element is erased (here, this is called “communication state monitoring type data erasure”).

  In this configuration, even when wide-area wireless communication is actually used, only the reception state is checked, so that the communication cost is not increased and the conventional problem is solved.

  Furthermore, the charging control unit 107 monitors the charging state of the battery unit 108, and notifies the memory storage control unit 120 when the charging falls below a preset charging state, and erases the data stored in the memory 121. At this time, the memory storage control unit 120 holds the erased contents (erasure date and time, erased contents) in another area of the memory 121.

  Thereafter, when it is determined by polling that communication with the portable storage medium 100 is possible, the portable storage medium 100 sends the contents held in another area of the memory 121 to the external control device 400. It transmits to the terminal and notifies the erased content (erasure date and time, erased content) and records it in the external control device 100.

  Furthermore, the external control device 100 sends the data to the corresponding portable storage medium 100 by registering the theft / loss, etc., and notifies the deletion command, whereby the portable storage medium 100 stores the data stored in the memory 121. Erase. Also at this time, the memory storage control unit 120 transmits the erased contents (erasure date and time, erased contents) to the external control device 400 and records it in the external control device 400 as described above.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
(1) Normal operation The normal operation is a state in which the reception state of communication with the external control device 400 detected by the communication unit 122 of the portable storage medium 100 is determined to be communicable.

At this time, the portable storage medium 100 can be handled in the same manner as a general USB memory. However, since the memory 121 is encrypted, for example, by installing password management software or the like that cooperates with a connected personal computer or the like, the encryption in the memory storage / communication control unit It is also possible to limit the decoding.
(2) Method of Deleting from External Control Device FIG. 4 shows a process of deleting the stored contents of the portable storage medium of the present embodiment, that is, a process of deleting from the external control device in the deletion flowchart. FIG.

  In this process, the user operates the external control device 400 to transmit a command from the external control device 400 to the corresponding portable storage medium 100 so as to delete the stored contents of the memory 121, and the mobile device that has received the command. The type storage medium 100 itself erases the stored contents.

  Here, the ID of the portable storage medium 100 is registered in the external control device 400 in advance. The ID registration is confirmed on the external control device 400 side, and it is confirmed that the portable storage medium 100 is managed by the external control device 400 (A-1).

  At this time, if the portable storage medium is not managed by the external control device 400 (ID is not registered), the process is terminated. For example, on the display 402 of the external control device 400, a message notifying that it is out of management is issued.

  Next, the confirmation of the deletion content is performed on the external control device 400 side to confirm that there is no mistake in the registration ID or the like that is erased by the portable storage medium 100 (A-2).

  Next, the confirmation of the deletion contents instructed to the external control device 400 is performed. This confirmation deletes all the contents of the memory 121 or is stored in the memory storage / communication control unit 110 of the portable storage medium 100. It is confirmed whether or not only the encryption key is deleted, and a command to be actually issued is determined (A-3, A-4).

  In this process, the encryption key is deleted in consideration of the fact that, unlike software passwords, it is generally impossible to decrypt the encryption key by deleting the encryption key itself. is there.

  Next, the external control device 400 initializes the communication unit (MODEM) 401 and starts communication with the corresponding portable storage medium 100. After the transmission, the operation branches according to the response from the corresponding portable storage medium 100 (A-5).

  When there is a response (A-6), the external control device 400 transmits a corresponding delete command to the portable storage medium 100 according to the deletion content (A-7). The erase command transmitted here is an encryption key erase command or a memory erase command.

  When there is a response from the portable storage medium 100 to the transmission in step (A-7) (A-8), information such as the erasure date is acquired from the portable storage medium 100 and registered. (A-9) and the processing is completed.

  If there is no response to the transmission in step (A-7), the response confirmation is repeated again.

  If there is no response after the transmission, that is, the response of step (A-6), the external control device 400 starts a retransmission timer by the communication control memory management software 405 (A-10).

  When the retransmission timer counts up (A-11), the number of retransmissions is confirmed. If the limit has not been reached (A-12), the process returns to step (A-5) again, and the communication unit 401 Repeat the initialization and communication start flow.

When the number of retransmissions reaches a predetermined limit (A-12), the process ends.
(3) Reception Status Monitoring Type Deletion Method This process measures the reception sensitivity of the portable storage medium alone, and deletes data when it is determined that the reception sensitivity is not in a communicable state.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing processing for erasing the stored contents of the portable storage medium according to the present embodiment, that is, erasing processing from the reception state monitoring state in the erasing flowchart.

  Since this process does not depend on the external control device 400, all of the described contents are operations performed by the portable storage medium 100 alone.

  First, the memory storage / communication control unit 110 polls the result measured by a reception sensitivity measurement circuit (not shown) built in the communication unit 122 to confirm the reception state (B-1, B-2). ).

  Next, when it is determined that the reception state is incommunicable (B-3), the memory storage / communication control unit 110 initializes the encryption key timer in the encryption key timer time monitoring unit 117 (B-4), and starts. (B-5). The relationship between the encryption key and memory erasure is the same as that described in the above section (2).

  Next, when the encryption key timer expires (B-6), the encryption key is deleted (B-9).

  While the encryption key timer is counted, polling of the reception state continues, and when the reception state is determined to be communicable (B-7), the timer is stopped (B-8) and external control is performed from the portable storage medium 100. Transmission is started to the device 400. If there is a response from the external control device 400 after the transmission, a command for acquiring the encryption key stored in the external control device 400 is transmitted, and the encryption key is written back. If there is no response, return to the confirmation of the reception state.

  If it is determined that communication is impossible after the encryption key is erased (B-10), the data erase timer is then initialized (B-15) and started (B-16).

  The subsequent processing (B-17, B-18, B-19, B-20) follows the same flow as the encryption key deletion, but even if the reception state is improved (B-18), the data is deleted. In this state, only the encryption key is written back.

  After erasing the data, the date and time of erasure is saved in the memory storage / communication control unit 110 (B-21).

Next, returning to the reception sensitivity polling state, when the reception sensitivity becomes a communicable state, deletion information is transmitted to the external control device 400 and stored in the external control device 400.
(4) Erasing Method from Charge Monitoring State FIG. 6 is a diagram showing processing for erasing the stored contents of the portable storage medium of the present embodiment, that is, erasing processing from the charging monitoring state in the erasing flowchart.

  In this process, the detection result by the battery remaining amount confirmation unit 109, which is a detection circuit for detecting the remaining amount of the battery capacity of the battery unit 108 mounted on the portable storage medium 100, falls below a preset remaining charge amount. The contents of the memory 121 are erased. The remaining battery level detection flow is the same as that described in the above item (2).

  First, the remaining battery level detection unit 109 detects the remaining battery level (C-1), and when the remaining battery level is equal to or lower than a predetermined level (C-2), the data in the memory 121 is deleted, that is, deleted. C-3).

  Next, the portable storage medium 100 initializes the communication unit (MODEM) 122 and starts communication with the corresponding external control device 400 (C-4).

  When there is a response (C-5), the portable storage medium 100 transmits information such as the date and time when the data in the memory 121 is deleted to the external control device 400 (C-9).

  When there is a response from the external control device 400 to the transmission of step (C-9) (C-10), the external control device 400 registers information such as the received deletion date (C-11), Complete the process.

  If there is no response to the communication start in step (C-4), the portable storage medium 100 starts a retransmission timer (C-6).

  When the retransmission timer counts up (C-7), the number of retransmissions is confirmed. If the limit has not been reached (C-8), the process returns to step (C-4) again, and the communication unit 122 Repeat the initialization and communication start flow.

  When the number of retransmissions reaches a predetermined limit (C-8), the process ends.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent information leakage at the time of loss by combining a personal computer that controls (prohibits) writing with the portable storage medium 100. Further, since the completion of erasure can be confirmed by incorporating the communication circuit, the present invention is useful for various companies, ministries and agencies, etc. who want to thoroughly manage information.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an entire portable storage medium management system according to the present invention. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of the portable storage medium by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of the external control apparatus by this invention. It is a figure which shows the process which transmits from the external control apparatus and erases in the process which erase | eliminates the memory content of the portable storage medium of this Embodiment, ie, an erase flowchart. It is a figure which shows the erasure | elimination process from a reception state monitoring state among the processes which erase | eliminate the memory content of the portable storage medium of this Embodiment, ie, an erasure | elimination flowchart. It is a figure which shows the erasure | elimination process from the charge monitoring state among the processes which erase | eliminate the memory content of the portable storage medium of this Embodiment, ie, an erasure | elimination flowchart.

Explanation of symbols

100 portable storage medium 101 external antenna 102 LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 103 Switch 104 Connection side interface part 107 Charging control part 108 Battery part 109 Battery remaining amount confirmation part 110 Memory storage / communication control part 120 Memory storage control part 121 Memory 122 Communication part 200 Radio | wireless line 300 Mobile base station 400 External control apparatus 401 Communication Numeral 402 Display 403 Keyboard 404 External storage medium interface 405 Communication control memory management software 406 Memory management database 500 General public line

Claims (10)

  A portable storage medium comprising: a memory; and a control unit that controls to erase the stored contents in the memory. A battery unit used to drive the battery unit; and a detection unit that detects a remaining capacity of the battery unit.
The portable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the control unit erases the stored contents in the memory when a detection result by the detection unit is equal to or less than a predetermined value.   The portable storage medium according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage content in the memory to be erased by the control unit is an encryption key when data in the memory is encrypted.   The portable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the storage content in the memory to be erased by the control unit is data in the memory. An external control device, a portable storage medium, and communication means for communicating between the external control device and the portable storage medium,
The portable storage medium includes a memory and a control unit that controls to erase the stored contents in the memory,
When the control unit receives a command for erasing the stored content in the memory from the external control device via the communication means, the stored content in the memory is deleted. Storage media management system. An external control device, a portable storage medium, and communication means for communicating between the external control device and the portable storage medium,
The portable storage medium includes a memory and a control unit that controls to erase the stored contents in the memory,
The portable storage medium management system, wherein the control unit erases the stored contents in the memory when communication from the external control device is interrupted via the communication means. An external control device, a portable storage medium, and communication means for communicating between the external control device and the portable storage medium,
The portable storage medium includes a memory, a control unit that controls to erase the contents stored in the memory, a battery unit that is used to drive the memory, and a detection unit that detects a remaining capacity of the battery unit. Prepared,
The control unit erases the stored content in the memory when the detection result by the detection unit is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and at least information related to execution of the erase is transmitted to the external control device via the communication unit. A portable storage medium management system for transmitting data.   The portable storage medium management system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the control unit transmits at least information related to execution of the erasure to the external control device via the communication unit.   The portable storage medium according to claim 5, 6, 7 or 8, wherein the storage content in the memory to be erased by the control unit is an encryption key when data in the memory is encrypted. Management system.   10. The portable storage medium management system according to claim 5, wherein the storage contents in the memory to be erased by the control unit are data in the memory.

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