JP4695699B2 - Communication system and communication method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system and a communication method for executing a security check on a message addressed to a receiving terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for performing a security check on a message addressed to a receiving terminal (for example, a short message service (SMS) message) is known. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a centralized anti-spam server that determines whether a message request is acceptable in a telecommunications network. This server accepts a request for examination related to the message request from the node that received the message request, analyzes the message request, and instructs the node to process (accept or block) the message request based on the analysis result.

JP 2006-178996 A

  However, in order for a communication carrier to perform a security check on a message transmitted from a network (other network) managed by another communication carrier to a receiving terminal in the own network, the check function Must be implemented in each switch in the local network. This is because when the communication control device of another network inquires the subscriber database of the local network (for example, HLR (Home Location Register)) about the transfer destination of the message, the subscriber database stores the address of the exchange in which the receiving terminal is located. Because it returns. Therefore, under such a network environment, it is not possible to unify security checks as described in Patent Document 1.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and provides a communication system and a communication method capable of unifying security checks for messages transmitted from another network to a managed receiving terminal. Objective.

  A communication system according to the present invention is a communication system that manages a first network and transmits a message from a second network managed by another communication carrier to an incoming terminal located in the first network. A security check is performed on the message addressed to the receiving terminal to determine whether to transmit the message to the receiving terminal, and to inquire about the transfer destination of the message addressed to the receiving terminal. Receiving means for receiving an inquiry signal; determination means for determining whether or not the inquiry signal received by the receiving means is transmitted from the second network; and the inquiry signal is received from the second network by the determination means. If it is determined that it has been transmitted, the address of the inspection means is transmitted to the second network as the transfer destination address. Comprising a answer unit, the inspection unit, to perform security checks for messages sent from the second network in response to the transmission of the address by the response means.

  Further, the communication method of the present invention manages a first network, and transmits a message from a second network managed by another communication carrier to an incoming terminal located in the first network. A communication method executed by the system, wherein an inspection unit determines whether or not to transmit the message to the receiving terminal by executing a security check on the message addressed to the receiving terminal; A reception step of receiving an inquiry signal for inquiring a transfer destination of a message addressed to the receiving terminal, and a determination step of determining whether or not the inquiry signal received in the reception step is transmitted from the second network And when it is determined in the determination step that the inquiry signal is transmitted from the second network, A response step of transmitting the stage address to the second network as a forwarding address, and in the checking step, a security check is performed on a message transmitted from the second network in response to the transmission of the address in the response step. Execute.

  According to such a communication system and communication method, when there is an inquiry about the message transfer destination of an incoming terminal located in the first network (own network), the inquiry is sent from the second network (other network). It is determined whether it is a thing. If the inquiry is from the second network, the address of the inspection means is transmitted to the second network as the transfer destination address. As a result, since all messages from the second network to the receiving terminal located in the first network are transferred to the inspection means and inspected, the security check for the message can be unified.

  In the communication system of the present invention, the determining means further determines whether or not the receiving terminal is managed by another communication carrier by applying number portability to the receiving terminal, and the responding means determines When the inquiry signal is transmitted from the second network by the means and it is determined that the number portability is not applied to the receiving terminal, the address of the inspection means is transferred to the second network as the transfer destination address. It is preferable to transmit.

  In this case, it is further determined whether or not number portability is applied to the receiving terminal, and the address of the inspection means is returned to the second network in consideration of the result. If number portability is applied to the receiving terminal and is managed by another communication carrier, there is no need to transfer to the own network. Therefore, by adding such a determination, it is possible to perform a security check in a centralized manner only for messages addressed to the receiving terminal that is actually under the management of the company network.

  In the communication system of the present invention, the message is preferably a short message service message.

  In this case, the security check of the SMS message can be unified.

  According to such a communication system and communication method, when an inquiry about the transfer destination of a message is received from another network, the address of the inspection means for executing the security check is transmitted to the other network as the transfer destination address. It is possible to unify security checks for messages transmitted from other networks to the managed receiving terminal.

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the subscriber database shown in FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the communication system shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, the configuration of the communication system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the communication system 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the subscriber database 10 shown in FIG.

  The communication system 1 is a computer system that controls a first network N1 managed by a first communication carrier. The first network N1 is connected to a second network N2 managed by a second communication carrier (another communication carrier), and can transmit and receive various data and signals to each other. In the following, a configuration for transmitting an SMS message from the second network N2 to the receiving terminal 40 located in the first network N1 will be described. In that case, the first network N1 may be referred to as a company network, and the second network N2 may be referred to as another network. In addition, as a 1st and 2nd network, although a mobile communication network is mentioned, for example, it is not limited to this. Further, the communication methods of the first and second networks are not limited.

  The communication system 1 includes a subscriber database 10, an SMS gateway 20, an exchange 30 and a receiving terminal 40. Here, it is assumed that the receiving terminal 40 is located in the area of the exchange 30. In FIG. 1, only one exchange 30 and one incoming terminal 40 are shown, but the communication system 1 generally includes a plurality of exchanges and communication terminals. There may be a plurality of second networks N2 connected to the first network N1. The incoming terminal 40 refers to an arbitrary communication terminal such as a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a fixed terminal installed at a specific location.

  The subscriber database 10 is a computer that stores information about communication terminals and their users. An example of the subscriber database 10 is an HLR (Home Location Register), but is not limited thereto. The subscriber database 10 includes a storage unit 11, a reception unit (reception unit) 12, a determination unit (determination unit) 13, and a response unit (response unit) 14 as functional components.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the subscriber database 10 includes a CPU 101 that executes an operating system, application programs, and the like, a main storage unit 102 that includes a ROM and a RAM, an auxiliary storage unit 103 that includes a hard disk, The communication control unit 104 includes a network card, an input unit 105 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and an output unit 106 such as a monitor and a printer. Each function of the subscriber database 10 reads predetermined software on the CPU 101 or the main storage unit 102, operates the communication control unit 104 under the control of the CPU 101, and stores data in the main storage unit 102 or the auxiliary storage unit 103. This is realized by reading and writing.

  The memory | storage part 11 is a part which memorize | stores the information regarding a communication terminal and its user. For example, the storage unit 11 stores terminal identifiers, telephone numbers, terminal location information, subscribed service information, and the like as subscriber information.

  The receiving unit 12 is a part that receives an inquiry signal for inquiring about a transfer destination of a message addressed to the receiving terminal 40. For example, the receiving unit 12 may receive an inquiry signal from the exchange 30 in its own network N1, or may receive an inquiry signal from an SMS-GMSC (SMS Gateway Mobile Switching Center) 50 which is a communication control device in another network N2. There is also a case. This inquiry signal includes at least the telephone number of the receiving terminal 40 and the signal transmission source address. The receiving unit 12 outputs the received inquiry signal to the determining unit 13.

  The determination unit 13 is a unit that determines whether or not the inquiry signal received by the reception unit 12 is transmitted from the second network N2. The determination unit 13 determines the transmission source of the inquiry signal based on the transmission source address included in the inquiry signal input from the reception unit 12. Further, the determination unit 13 reads out subscriber information corresponding to the receiving terminal 40 from the storage unit 11, whether the location information of the receiving terminal 40 is registered (whether the receiving terminal 40 is in the area), and It is determined whether or not the receiving terminal 40 is under the control of another company by applying mobile number portability (MNP) (whether the user of the receiving terminal 40 is a user of another company). The “other company” is not necessarily the second communication carrier that manages the second network N2.

  In the determination unit 13, the inquiry signal is transmitted from the other network N2, the location information of the receiving terminal 40 is registered in the storage unit 11, and no MNP is applied to the receiving terminal 40 (the receiving terminal 40). If it is determined that the user is a company user, the address of the SMS gateway 20 stored in advance is output to the response unit 14. On the other hand, if not, the determination unit 13 outputs the address of the exchange in the area where the receiving terminal 40 is located to the response unit 14 based on the subscriber information stored in the storage unit 11.

  The response unit 14 is a part that transmits the address input from the determination unit 13 to the second network N2 (SMS-GMSC 50) as a transfer destination address.

  Next, the SMS gateway (inspection means) 20 will be described. The SMS gateway 20 is a communication control device that determines whether to transmit the message to the receiving terminal 40 by executing a security check on the SMS message addressed to the receiving terminal 40. The hardware configuration of the SMS gateway 20 is the same as that of the subscriber database 10 shown in FIG. 2, and the security check function is executed by using the hardware as in the subscriber database 10. is there.

  The SMS gateway 20 receives the SMS message transmitted from the SMS-GMSC 50 in response to the transmission of the address of the SMS gateway 20 by the response unit 14, and performs a security check on this message.

  The type of security check is not limited. For example, the SMS gateway 20 uses a white list method or a black list method. When the white list method is used, the SMS gateway 20 stores in advance a white list including a format that permits transfer, a content type (content-type), or an application ID, and the format of the received SMS message is a white list. If it is registered in, transfer is permitted. When the black list method is used, the SMS gateway 20 stores in advance a black list including a format that does not permit transfer, and rejects transfer if the format of the received SMS message is registered in the black list. Further, the SMS gateway 20 may use a method for uniformly rejecting the control SMS. In this case, the SMS gateway 20 checks the TP-UHDI (flag indicating whether or not the control header is included in the text) in the SMS message, and rejects the transfer if the control header is included.

  If it is determined that the transfer is permitted, the SMS gateway 20 inquires of the subscriber database 10 about the destination exchange 30 and forwards the SMS message to the exchange 30 based on the response of the subscriber database 10 in response thereto. In addition, the SMS gateway 20 transmits a predetermined response signal to the SMS-GMSC 50. Finally, the SMS message reaches the receiving terminal 40 via the exchange 30. On the other hand, when it is determined to reject the transfer, the SMS gateway 20 discards the SMS message without transferring it, and transmits a predetermined response signal to the SMS-GMSC 50.

  Next, the operation of the communication system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described using FIG. 3 and the communication method according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the communication system 1.

  When the SMS-GMSC 50 receives an SMS message from a communication device in the second network N2 (for example, a mobile phone held by a user who is roaming out or a predetermined message transmission server), the SMS-GMSC 50 inquires about the transfer destination of the message. Is sent to the subscriber database 10 (step S11).

  When the subscriber database 10 receives the inquiry signal (step S11, reception step), the subscriber database 10 determines whether or not the signal is transmitted from the other network N2, the presence / absence of the location information of the incoming terminal 40, and the incoming terminal 40 It is determined whether or not MNP is applied (step S12, determination step). Then, the inquiry signal is transmitted from the other network N2, the receiving terminal 40 is in the area, and the MNP is not applied to the receiving terminal 40 (the user of the receiving terminal 40 is a company user). When the determination is made, the determination unit 13 outputs the address of the SMS gateway 20 to the response unit 14. Then, the response unit 14 transmits the address of the SMS gateway 20 to the SMS-GMSC 50 (step S13, response step).

  Thereafter, the SMS-GMSC 50 transmits an SMS message to the SMS gateway 20 based on the received address (step S14). The SMS gateway 20 performs a predetermined security check on the received SMS message (step S15, inspection step). At this time, if the SMS message does not satisfy the transmission condition (step S16; NO), the SMS gateway 20 discards the message (step S17).

  On the other hand, if the SMS message satisfies the transmission conditions (step S16; YES), the SMS gateway 20 queries the subscriber database 10 for the transfer destination (step S18), and acquires the address of the exchange 30 (step S18). S19). Subsequently, the SMS gateway 20 transmits an SMS message to the exchange 30 (step S20), whereby the SMS message reaches the receiving terminal 40 (step S20). Further, the SMS gateway 20 transmits a predetermined response signal to the SMS-GMSC 50 (step S21).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when there is an inquiry about the forwarding destination of the SMS message of the receiving terminal 40 located in the company network N1, it is determined whether or not the inquiry is from another network N2. Determined. If the inquiry is from the other network N2, the address of the SMS gateway 20 is transmitted to the other network N2 (SMS-GMSC 50) as the transfer destination address. Thereby, all SMS messages from the other network N2 to the receiving terminal in the company network N1 are transferred to the SMS gateway 20 and inspected, so that the security check for the SMS message can be unified.

  The SMS message is used not only as a contact tool but also for causing a communication terminal to execute a predetermined operation (control SMS). However, if the control SMS is abused, there is a risk of erroneous billing or terminal malfunction (unintentional terminal lock, etc.), so it is important to perform a security check on the SMS message. If the communication system as in the present embodiment is adopted, even in the SMS incoming process from the network N2 in roaming out, the SMS message can be efficiently inspected without installing the security check function in each communication terminal or each exchange. Can do.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, it is further determined whether the receiving terminal 40 is in the service area and whether or not the MNP is applied to the receiving terminal 40, and the address of the SMS gateway 20 is returned to the other network N2 in consideration of the result. . This is because if the incoming terminal 40 is not in the service area, or if the MNP is applied to the incoming terminal 40 and is managed by another communication carrier, there is no need to transfer to the own network. Regarding the MNP, the communication terminal to which the MNP is applied is once inquired of the subscriber database of the original communication carrier. Accordingly, by adding such a determination, the SMS message addressed to the receiving terminal 40 that is actually managed without pulling the SMS message addressed to the communication terminal currently managed by another communication carrier into the own network N1. Security checks can be performed centrally only for messages.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be modified in various ways as described below without departing from the scope of the invention.

  In the above embodiment, the determination unit 13 determines the source of the inquiry signal, the presence status of the receiving terminal 40, and whether or not MNP is applied. However, in the network or communication system in which MNP is not introduced, the determination is performed. The means may determine only the source of the inquiry signal and the in-zone status.

  In the above embodiment, the communication system 1 controls the security check and transmission of the SMS message, but the type of message processed by the communication system is not limited.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication system, 10 ... Subscriber database, 11 ... Memory | storage part, 12 ... Reception part (reception means), 13 ... Determination part (determination means), 14 ... Response part (response means), 20 ... Gateway (inspection means) 30 ... switch, 40 ... receiving terminal, N1 ... first network, N2 ... second network.

Claims (5)

A communication system for managing a first network and transmitting a message from a second network managed by another communication carrier to an incoming terminal located in the first network,
An inspection means for determining whether to transmit the message to the receiving terminal by performing a security check on the message addressed to the receiving terminal;
Receiving means for receiving an inquiry signal for inquiring a transfer destination of a message addressed to the receiving terminal;
Determining means for determining whether the inquiry signal received by the receiving means is transmitted from the second network;
A response means for transmitting the address of the inspection means to the second network as a transfer destination address when the inquiry means determines that the inquiry signal is transmitted from the second network;
With
The inspection unit performs a security check on a message transmitted from the second network in response to transmission of an address by the response unit;
Communications system. The determination means further determines whether or not the user of the receiving terminal is a user of another communication carrier by applying number portability to the receiving terminal;
When the response means determines that the inquiry signal is transmitted from the second network by the determination means and the user of the receiving terminal is not the user of the other communication carrier , Transmitting the address of the inspection means to the second network as a transfer destination address;
The communication system according to claim 1.   The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the message is a short message service message. A communication method executed by a communication system that manages a first network and transmits a message from a second network managed by another communication carrier to an incoming terminal located in the first network. There,
An inspection step for determining whether or not to transmit the message to the receiving terminal by performing a security check on the message addressed to the receiving terminal;
A reception step of receiving an inquiry signal for inquiring a transfer destination of a message addressed to the receiving terminal;
A determination step of determining whether or not the inquiry signal received in the reception step is transmitted from the second network;
A response step of transmitting, when it is determined in the determination step that the inquiry signal is transmitted from the second network, to the second network as an address of the inspection unit as a transfer destination address;
Including
In the inspection step, a security check is performed on the message transmitted from the second network in response to the transmission of the address in the response step.
Communication method. In the determination step, it is further determined whether or not the user of the receiving terminal is a user of another communication carrier because number portability is applied to the receiving terminal.
In the response step, when it is determined in the determination step that the inquiry signal is transmitted from the second network and the user of the receiving terminal is not the user of the other communication carrier, Transmitting the address of the inspection means to the second network as a transfer destination address;
The communication method according to claim 4.

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