JP4203390B2 - Network scanner system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a network scanner system, in particular, ensure the security of the document information when transmitting a document by electronic mail, network scanner to ensure security and prevent leakage of document information according to particular inaccurate transfer about the system.

  Recently, with the spread of the Internet, as shown in FIG. 4, the network scanner 100 has been spread, and the network scanner 100 sends an optically scanned image as an image mail to another computer 102 via the network 101. Forward. In this network scanner 100, when the sender sets the destination and scanning conditions, the image data obtained by scanning the document with the set scanning conditions is sent to the server 103 connected to the network 101 by e-mail or the like as image mail Gm1. When the server 103 receives the image mail Gm1, the server 103 distributes it as an image mail Gm2 to all the computers 102 of the designated destination.

  Such an image data transmission system has a problem in security. That is, since the e-mail address is generally long and complicated, the network scanner 100 often manages the address using the “address” of the address registered in advance. If you rewrite, the data may be sent to the other party that is not related to the sender's intention, and the data may be sent to an unexpected party by simply pressing the button to specify the address. It may be.

  Conventionally, techniques for transmitting and receiving an electronic mail divided into a plurality of parts have been proposed (see Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, etc.). In other words, this prior art divides mail according to network traffic and sends it to one destination.

  Conventionally, a technique for encrypting and transmitting information has been proposed (see Patent Document 3).

JP 2001-7975 A JP-A-11-143973 JP 2000-124881 A

  However, in the prior art described in the above publication, there has been a need for improvement in order to ensure the security of electronic mail.

  In other words, in the conventional technology for dividing and sending, the division is performed simply for the convenience of email transmission traffic, and it is not conscious of security, and if it is sent to the wrong address, all emails are sent. Information is leaked because it is sent only to the same destination.

  In addition, in the conventional technology for transmitting encrypted data, it is not possible to secure the security of information by simply encrypting it today. For example, encryption is performed in combination with the above-described divided transmission technology. Even if the file is divided and sent, in this case, all the divided encrypted files will be sent to the same destination via the same communication path. The data may reach the other party that you do not want to pass, and the encryption may be decrypted, causing information to leak.

Accordingly, the invention described in claim 1 is a network scanner system in which a network scanner device and a plurality of terminals including the first and second terminals can be connected via a network, and the network scanner device reads a document. A reading unit and image data of a document read by the reading unit are divided into first divided data and second divided data, and the first divided data is divided into the first terminal and the second divided data. Transmission means for transmitting data to the second terminal, wherein the first terminal authenticates the first divided data based on the first divided data received from the network scanner device. Determination means for determining whether or not, and transfer means for transferring the first divided data to the second terminal when it is determined to authenticate, wherein the second terminal includes: By combining the second divided data received from the network scanner device and the first divided data transferred from the first terminal, and having a reproducing means for reproducing the image data A network scanner system that can improve security by preventing a person who has received only a part of the divided data from understanding the entire picture so that only the final recipient can receive complete image information. The purpose is to provide.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the image data is divided into divided data of a specific size or smaller so that a person who has received only a part of the divided data of the specific size cannot understand the entire image more completely. It is an object of the present invention to provide a network scanner system capable of further improving security by allowing only recipients of a proper destination to receive complete image information.

In the invention according to claim 3 , when the specific size can be set to an arbitrary size, it is possible to divide the image data according to the usage form of the sender such as the importance of the image data and the network traffic An object of the present invention is to provide a network scanner system that can arbitrarily set a data size of a specific size and improve security while improving usability.

The network scanner system according to claim 1 is a network scanner system in which a network scanner device and a plurality of terminals including a first terminal and a second terminal can be connected via a network. Reading means, and the image data of the original read by the reading means is divided into first divided data and second divided data, and the first divided data is sent to the first terminal and the second divided data. And transmitting means for transmitting the divided data to the second terminal, wherein the first terminal authenticates the first divided data based on the first divided data received from the network scanner device. Determination means for determining whether or not to perform authentication, and transfer means for transferring the first divided data to the second terminal when it is determined to authenticate. The second terminal combines the second divided data received from the network scanner device with the first divided data transferred from the first terminal, and reproduces the image data. By providing the means, the above object is achieved.

Furthermore, for example, as described in claim 2 , the network scanner device may divide the image data into the divided data having a specific size or less.

For example, as described in claim 3 , the network scanner device may be capable of setting the specific size to an arbitrary size.

According to the invention of claim 1 Symbol placement, as full picture of the image to the person who received only a portion of the divided data can not be understood, only the recipient of the final destination to be able to receive a complete image information Security can be improved.

According to the network scanner system of the second aspect of the invention, since the image data is divided into divided data of a specific size or less, it is difficult for a person who has received only a part of the divided data of a specific size to further understand the entire image. Thus, only the final recipient can receive complete image information, and security can be further improved.

According to the network scanner system of the invention described in claim 3 , since the specific size can be set to an arbitrary size, the image data can be set according to the usage form of the sender such as the importance of the image data and network traffic. The data size of a specific size at the time of dividing can be arbitrarily set, and the security can be improved while improving the usability.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The scope of the present invention limits this invention especially in the following description. As long as there is no description of the effect, it is not restricted to these aspects.

  1 to 3 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a network scanner device of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a network system 1 to which an embodiment of the network scanner device of the present invention is applied.

  In FIG. 1, a network system 1 includes a network scanner NS, a server SV, and client terminals CT1 and CT2 connected to a network NW. FIG. 1 shows a state where one network scanner NS and two client terminals CT1 and CT2 are connected. However, a plurality of network scanners NS and client terminals CT are connected. In particular, in particular, a plurality of client terminals CT are usually connected to the network NW.

  FIG. 1 shows a case where the sender sets the authenticator as the user name “AAA” and transmits an image from the network scanner NS to the receiver (user name “BBB”) via the network NW. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the network scanner (network scanner device) NS includes an operation unit 11, a data control unit 12, a reading unit 13, an image memory 14, a communication processing unit 15, and the like.

  The operation unit 11 includes various operation keys, a liquid crystal display, and the like, and various operations such as a setting operation necessary for reading and transmitting an image of an original using the network scanner NS are performed from the various operation keys. The liquid crystal display displays the operation contents input from the operation keys and various information notified to the user from the network scanner NS.

  The reading unit 13 uses an optical scanner device or the like, scans a document, and converts an image of the document into electronic data with a predetermined resolution.

  The image memory 14 uses a large-capacity RAM, hard disk, or the like, and accumulates electronic images created by the reading unit 13.

  In response to an instruction from the data control unit 12, the communication processing unit 15 extracts all or a part of the image stored in the image memory 14, processes it into an e-mail format, and transmits it. The communication processing unit 15 also stores information related to the address book, and a mail address of a destination to which the read image data is transmitted is registered and managed in the address book. In this address book, for example, mail of AAA@dom.co.jp, BBB@dom.co.jp, CCC@dom.co.jp for addresses "AAA", "BBB", and "CCC" The address is registered.

  The data control unit 12 controls the overall data of the network scanner NS. In particular, the network scanner NS divides and transmits an image stored in the image memory 14 during actual transmission. The data control unit 12 performs data processing such as division, encryption, and compression processing and data management.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the network system 1 of this embodiment, the network scanner NS is read by the operator of the network scanner NS specifying the authenticator and the recipient of the transmission destination with the operation unit 11 and causing the network scanner NS to read the document. The image data of the original is divided into a plurality of parts, a part of the image is transmitted to the certifier via the server SV, is transmitted to the receiver through the authentication of the certifier, and a part of the image is directly transmitted via the server SV. Send to recipient.

  That is, for example, the sender operates the operation unit 11 of the network scanner NS, sets the authenticator to “AAA” and the receiver to “BBB”, and instructs to scan the set document.

  In the network scanner NS, the data control unit 12 controls the reading unit 13 to scan a set original, read an image of the original, and read the image data of the original read by the reading unit 13 into the temporary image memory 14. To accumulate. The data control unit 12 determines the addresses of the authenticator and the recipient from the address book of the communication processing unit 15 in accordance with the setting input of the authenticator and the recipient from the operation unit 11, and the image stored in the image memory 14 Data is divided into a plurality of divided images, for example, two images IM1 and IM2, and an e-mail in which addresses of the authenticator and the recipient are set as destinations of the images IM1 and IM2 is sent to the communication processing unit 15 for each image IM1. Create for IM2. The communication processing unit 15 transfers the email created for the image IM1 and the image IM2 to the server SV via the network NW.

  When the server SV receives the emails of the image IM1 and the image IM2 received from the network scanner NS via the network NW according to the normal mail processing, the server SV sends the email of the image IM1 to the client terminal CT1 of the authenticator according to the destination. Then, the electronic mail of the image IM2 is transferred to the client terminal CT2 of the recipient.

  When the operator of the client terminal CT1 is “AAA” of the certifier, the certifier receives an instruction from the sender and determines that the received image IM1 has been sent in the current division process and authenticates. The received image is issued again to the address “BBB” BBB@dom.co.jp.

  If the authenticator determines that the received e-mail image is inappropriate for transfer, the process ends without transferring the data to the receiver.

  When authentication of the authenticator is performed and the transfer to the recipient “BBB” is instructed, the client terminal CT1 transfers the email of the image IM1 to the server SV, and the server SV sends the email of the image IM1. To the recipient's address BBB@dom.co.jp.

  Accordingly, the e-mail of the image IM2 transmitted directly from the network scanner NS via the server SV and the e-mail of the image IM1 transmitted via the authenticator are transmitted to the client terminal CT2 of the recipient. come.

  The client terminal CT2 combines the received two email images IM1 and IM2 to reproduce the entire original image.

  That is, in the network system 1 of the present embodiment, the original image shown in FIG. 3A is divided into two as shown in FIG. 3B by the network scanner NS, and one image IM1 is divided into the client of the authenticator. 3 is transmitted to the terminal CT1 and transmitted to the receiver (recipient's client terminal CT2) via authentication of the authenticator, and the other image IM2 is directly transmitted to the client terminal CT2 of the recipient of the destination. As shown in (c), the receiver client terminal CT2 combines the two divided images IM1 and IM2 to reproduce the original image.

  In the above process, for example, a guidance sentence “Please forward this image to the recipient“ BBB ”” may be attached to the e-mail of the image IM1 that requires authentication. The e-mail of the image IM2 to be sent to the person may be attached with a guidance sentence “Please combine with the image IM1 sent separately from AAA”, for example.

  If the authenticator determines that the email image IM1 transferred to the authenticator's client terminal CT1 is invalid data that is not suitable for transfer, the data is not transferred.

  Therefore, only a part of the divided image is transmitted to the client terminal CT2, so that confidentiality is maintained and security is ensured.

  Aside from willfulness and other intentions, security enhancement will be realized so that even if the sender tries to send data to the `` partner who should not be the original recipient '', the certifier can check it and check it become.

  Further, in the processing of the present embodiment, in the network scanner NS, when the data control unit 12 divides the original image, it is divided into two images in the above description, but the number of division is limited to two. Instead, the image may be divided into two or more images.

  The data control unit 12 may divide the original document image so that the data size of the divided image is equal to or smaller than a predetermined specific size. In this case, the specific size may be arbitrarily set by the operator from the operation unit 11.

  Further, in the above process, the data controller 12 simply divides the original image. However, the original image may be divided after various data processing such as image data compression or encryption is performed. Alternatively, it may be divided at the same time as data processing, or after division, each divided image may be subjected to processing such as compression or encryption.

  When data processing is performed by the network scanner NS in this way, the client terminal CT2 on the receiving side needs to know the contents of data processing by the network scanner NS in order to reproduce the image data that has been processed.

  Therefore, as a coping method, for example, a processing method is fixed so that it can be restored only by the fixed restoration method, and the fixed restoration method is notified to the receiving side in advance, or mail or data itself The coping method that attaches the restoration method etc. is used.

  As described above, the network scanner NS of the network system 1 according to the present embodiment reads an image of a document, and the image data of the read document is addressed to a terminal on the network work NW via the network NW. When distributing to the client terminal CT2, the image data for the client terminal CT2 that is one destination is divided into a plurality of divided data, and the divided data is transmitted to the client terminal CT2 that is the destination using a plurality of transmission paths.

  Therefore, it is possible to prevent the person who has received only a part of the divided data from understanding the entire picture, so that only the final recipient can receive the complete image information, thereby improving security. Can do.

  Further, the network scanner NS of the network system 1 according to the present embodiment transmits a part of the plurality of divided data to the client terminal CT1 which is another terminal connected to the network NW, and the client terminal CT1 performs predetermined approval. Through the processing, the divided data is transmitted from the client terminal CT1 to the destination client terminal CT2.

  Therefore, addressing mistakes can be processed in the approval process to prevent misdistribution due to addressing mistakes, etc., and all image data can be transmitted to the intended destination of the sender without fail. Security can be further improved.

  Further, the network scanner NS of the present embodiment divides the image data into a plurality of divided data after the image data is encrypted by a predetermined encryption method or simultaneously with the encryption, or the image data Is divided into divided data, and then encrypted using a predetermined encryption method, and the encrypted divided data is transmitted using a plurality of transmission paths.

  Therefore, it is possible to make it impossible for a person who has received only a part of the encrypted divided data to fully understand the entire picture so that only the final recipient can receive complete image information. , Security can be further improved.

  Further, the network scanner NS of this embodiment divides the image data into divided data having a specific size or less.

  Therefore, it is possible to make it impossible for a person who has received only a part of the divided data of a specific size to further understand the entire picture, and only the recipient at the final destination can receive complete image information. Security can be further improved.

  Furthermore, the network scanner NS of the present embodiment can set a specific size to an arbitrary size.

  Therefore, it is possible to arbitrarily set the data size of a specific size when dividing the image data according to the importance of the image data, the usage form of the sender such as the traffic of the network NW, etc., and improve the usability. Security can be improved.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  When data such as image data is transmitted / received via a network, the data can be divided and transmitted through a different route, and can be applied to security management that ensures security.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a network system to which an embodiment of a network scanner device of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a main part circuit block configuration diagram of the network scanner of FIG. 1. Explanatory drawing of the data security management process by the network system of FIG. Explanatory drawing of the data transfer in the conventional network system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network system NW network NS Network scanner SV server CT1, CT2 Client terminal 11 Operation part 12 Data control part 13 Reading part 14 Image memory 15 Communication processing part

Claims (3)

In a network scanner system in which a network scanner device and a plurality of terminals including the first and second terminals can be connected via a network,
The network scanner device includes:
Reading means for reading a document;
The image data of the document read by the reading unit is divided into first divided data and second divided data, the first divided data is sent to the first terminal, and the second divided data is sent to the first divided data. A transmission means for transmitting to the second terminal,
The first terminal is
Determining means for determining whether to authenticate the first divided data based on the first divided data received from the network scanner device;
And a transfer means for transferring the first divided data to the second terminal when it is determined to authenticate,
The second terminal is
The image processing apparatus includes a reproducing unit that combines the second divided data received from the network scanner device and the first divided data transferred from the first terminal to reproduce the image data. Network scanner system. The network scanner system according to claim 1, wherein the network scanner device divides the image data into the divided data having a specific size or less . The network scanner system according to claim 2, wherein the network scanner device can set the specific size to an arbitrary size .

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