JP2001306788A - Updating situation notifying device, updating situation acquiring device and updating situation communicating system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify/acquire an updated situation about information without exchanging updated information, etc. SOLUTION: An information provider terminal 1 applies to an authentication station 4 for the issuing or lapse of a public key certificate in accordance with the validity/invalidity of information (S3/S27). The station 4 issues a certificate registration request or a certificate lapse list (S7/S31). A certificate effectiveness managing station 3 registers whether or not a certificate is valid in a certificate lapse state database DB1 (S9/33). An information user terminal 2 requests the station 3 for a certificate state (S17/35) in the case of utilizing information with an electronic signature attached thereto from the terminal 1, and the station 3 answers the request (S21/39). The terminal 2 decides the information as valid and uses the information when the certification is valid in the answer and meanwhile, decides the information as invalid and inhibits information use when the certification is lapse (S23/41).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an update status notifying device for notifying an update status related to information, an update status obtaining device for obtaining the update status, and an update status notification system capable of communicating this status.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in order to always keep the obtained software at the latest version, it is necessary to acquire version upgrade information of the software and determine whether or not the version has been upgraded. The user is notified from the software maker by e-mail or the like.

[0003] Further, for example, information such as a list of e-mail addresses may become invalid due to withdrawal of an employee and the latest version may be created. , You need to know if the list of addresses is valid or expired, and information about the validity or revocation status of such lists can
The user is notified by the network administrator.

[0004] In other words, in order to keep the information to be updated up-to-date at the information providing destination, the information providing source relates to the information by means of version-up information or information on the valid / invalid status (hereinafter referred to as update information). It is necessary to notify the information provider of the status of the update. To put it the other way around, the information providing destination needs to acquire the status related to the information update from the information providing source based on the update information or the like, and to know whether or not the information at hand is out of date.

[0005]

As described above, conventionally,
It is necessary for the information provider to notify the update status related to the information, or when the information provider obtains the information, to notify or obtain the update information and the like separately from the information to be updated. For this reason, for example, when the number of information to be updated increases or the frequency of information update increases, and the notification / acquisition processing of update information or the like increases, both the information providing source and the information providing destination An adverse effect such as an increase in processing load is caused.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide an update status notifying apparatus and an acquisition device capable of notifying an update status related to information without exchanging update information and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide an update status acquisition device capable of performing the update, and an update status notification system capable of communicating an update status.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an update status notifying apparatus in which information to be updated is held at an information provider and is provided with an electronic signature. Then, when the information is provided to the providing destination, the verification key for verifying the electronic signature is controlled to be valid or invalid according to the status of the update related to the information of the information providing source.

In the present invention according to claim 1, information provided with an electronic signature is associated with a verification key for verifying the electronic signature. When new information is generated by updating the information held by the information provider, the held information may be past or invalid. Thus, for example, by controlling the key certificate as valid or invalid, that is, controlling the verification key as valid or invalid, the status of the update related to the information of the information provider is notified to the information provider.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an update status acquisition apparatus, wherein information to be updated is held at an information provider, provided with an electronic signature, provided to a destination, and provided with an information signature. When the verification key for verifying the electronic signature is controlled to be valid or invalid according to the status of the update related to the information, the status of the verification key may be used to obtain the status of the update related to the information of the information provider. Features.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the status of the update related to the information of the information providing source can be obtained from the status of the verification key notified from the update status notification device according to the first aspect. Like that.

Further, in the update status notification system according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the information to be updated is held at the information providing source and provided with the digital signature to the providing destination, the information providing An update status notification device that controls the validation key for validating or invalidating the electronic signature according to the status of the update related to the original information, and obtains the status of the update related to the information based on the state of the controlled verification key And an update status acquisition device.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to construct a system capable of notifying and acquiring an update status relating to information of an information provider, that is, a system capable of communicating. An update status notification system according to claim 4 of the present invention is the update status notification system according to claim 3,
The status of the certificate for authenticating the verification key is made to correspond to the status of the update related to the information of the information provider.

[0013] In the present invention according to claim 4, whether or not the certificate for authenticating the verification key is valid is made to correspond one-to-one with the update situation related to the information of the information provider. , So that they can be notified if the information is valid.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram of processing in a network system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. Specifically, the network system in which this sequence is executed is the Internet or LAN (Local
Area Network), and the processes at the information provider terminal 1, the information user terminal 2, the certificate validity management station (also referred to as a validation center) 3, and the certificate authority 4 connected thereto will be described below. The information provider terminal 1 and the information user terminal 2 correspond to an update status notification device and an update status acquisition device, respectively, and these devices constitute an update status notification system.

Before describing FIG. 1, the configurations of the information provider terminal 1, the information user terminal 2, and the certificate validity management station 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the certificate authority 4
In particular, since there is no new configuration, illustration and description are omitted.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information provider terminal 1. The information provider terminal 1 has a plurality of pieces of information J to be updated, such as software, and an information state database 11, and stores information indicating whether each piece of information J is valid or invalid. Is to be stored. The information provider terminal 1
It has a certificate application processing unit 13 for making a certificate issuance application or a revocation application to the certificate authority 4 according to the state of information stored in the information state database 11.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information user terminal 2. The information user terminal 2 is an AP unit 2 that executes an application program such as a web browser.
1 and a status acquisition processing unit 22 that acquires the status of a certificate of a public key (verification key) that is controlled to be valid or invalid according to the update status of the information J (hereinafter abbreviated as a certificate as appropriate). Have.

The AP unit 21 includes an information state determination requesting unit 211 for requesting the state acquisition processing unit 22 to obtain information update status according to the execution status of the application program, and an information processing unit 212 for executing the application program. ing.

The status acquisition processing unit 22 includes a request receiving unit 221 for receiving a request from the information status determination requesting unit 211,
A certificate status inquiry unit 222 that inquires the certificate validity management station 3 about the status of the certificate, and receives a response from the certificate validity management station 3 and notifies the information status determination request unit 211 of the response. And an answer receiving unit 223 that performs the response.

The information user terminal 2 includes an information provider terminal 1
Provides a plurality of information J, and a certificate C corresponding to each information is issued and stored. In general, a terminal having both the components of the information provider terminal 1 shown in FIG. 2 and the components of the information user terminal 2 shown in FIG. 3 provides and uses information.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the certificate validity management station 3. The certificate validity management station 3 has a certificate revocation status database DB1 for managing the validity of a certificate, and a certificate issued from the certificate authority 4 or a certificate revocation list CRL (Certificate Revocation Literature).
certificate revocation status database DB according to the contents of st)
1 is set or changed.

Further, the certificate validity management station 3 refers to the certificate status inquiry receiving unit 31 for receiving an inquiry about the status of the certificate from the information user terminal 2, and refers to the certificate revocation status database DB1 to check the certificate. A certificate validity determining unit 32 for determining whether the certificate is valid or invalid is provided, and a reply returning unit 33 for returning the determination result to the information user terminal 2.

Next, the operation of the network system to which the present embodiment is applied will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. In the information provider terminal 1, first, in step S1,
The secret key (signing key) and the public key (verification key) are associated with the information (information J1) provided to the information user terminal 2.
Create a key pair consisting of That is, the information provider terminal 1
Then, a different key pair is created for each piece of information provided to the information user terminal 2. Then, in step S3, the certificate application processing unit 13 of the information provider terminal 1 requests the certificate authority 4 to issue a certificate of the public key.

On the other hand, in step S5, the certificate authority 4 creates a certificate of the public key (referred to as certificate C1). Then, in step S7, the certificate authority 4 sends the certificate validity management
Against the certificate revocation status database DB of the certificate C1.
Request registration to 1. On the other hand, in step S9, the certificate validity management station 3 registers the certificate C1 as valid in the certificate revocation status database DB1. The certificate authority 4 also transmits the certificate C1 to the information user terminal 2 in step S11.
Issue to

In step S13, the information provider terminal 1 transmits the electronic signature using the secret key created in step S1 to the information J1.
To create the information SK (J1) with the electronic signature. Note that SK (J1) indicates that the information J1 is electronically signed with the secret key SK. Then, step S1
In step 5, the information provider terminal 1 sets the information SK (J1) with the electronic signature.
Is transmitted to the information user terminal 2.

Information state determination request unit 2 of information user terminal 2
11, the information processing unit 212 makes the information SK (J
When using 1), the request receiving unit 221 is requested to inquire about the status of the certificate C1 corresponding to the information J1, and the request from the request receiving unit 221 causes the certificate status inquiring unit 222 to change the status of the certificate C1. Is sent to the certificate validity management station 3 (step S17). This inquiry is made by the certificate status inquiry receiving unit 31 of the certificate validity management station 3.
In step S19, the certificate validity determination unit 32 determines whether the certificate C1 is valid with reference to the certificate revocation status database DB1. In step S9 described above, since the certificate C1 is registered as valid, the certificate C1 is determined to be valid here.

Then, in step S21, the response reply unit 33 of the certificate validity management station 3 sets "Certificate C1 is valid".
A response to the effect is sent to the information user terminal 2. The response receiving unit 223 of the information user terminal 2 receives this response and “certificate C1
Is valid "to the information state determination requesting unit 211, and the information state determination requesting unit 211
2, the information processing section 212 verifies the information SK (J1) with the electronic signature using the public key included in the certificate C1, and uses the information J1 (step S23). That is, the information user terminal 2 determines that the information J1 is valid and uses it.

On the other hand, the information J1 may be invalidated due to a software version upgrade or the like. In this case, the information provider terminal 1 changes the information indicating the state of the information J1 in the information state database 11 from "valid" to "invalid" (step S25). Following, step S27
The certificate application processing unit 13 of the information provider terminal 1 refers to the information status database 11 and applies to the certificate authority 4 for revocation of the certificate C1.

On the other hand, in step S29, the certificate authority 4
Updates the certificate revocation list CRL. That is, the certificate C1 is added to the certificate revocation list CRL. In step S31, the certificate authority 4 sends the certificate revocation list CRL to the certificate validity management authority 3. In contrast, step S3
In step 3, the certificate validity management station 3 executes the certificate revocation status database DB based on the updated certificate revocation list CRL.
Update 1 That is, the status of the certificate C1 is changed to “revoked”.
And

When the information processing unit 212 of the information user terminal 2 uses the information SK (J1) even after the certificate C1 is revoked, the certificate status inquiry unit 222 performs the certification as in step S17. The status of the certificate C1 is inquired to the certificate validity management station 3 (step S35). Then, the certificate validity management station 3 determines whether or not the certificate C1 is valid with reference to the certificate revocation status database DB1 (step S37). Here, it is determined that the certificate C1 has been revoked. Then, in step S39, the certificate validity management station 3 replies to the information user terminal 2 that "the certificate C1 has been revoked."

In step S41, the response receiving unit 223 of the information user terminal 2 receives this response and informs the information state determination requesting unit 21 that "the certificate C1 has been revoked".
1 and the information state determination requesting unit 211 notifies the information processing unit 212 of the information. The information processing unit 212 transmits the information SK with the electronic signature using the public key included in the certificate C1.
The verification and use of (J1) are stopped, and use is prohibited thereafter. That is, it is determined that the information J1 is invalid and its use is prohibited. As a result, the inconvenience of using the invalidated information J can be prevented.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the information to be updated is held at the information provider (information provider terminal 1) and is provided with an electronic signature to provide the updated information. (Information user terminal 2)
Since the information provider terminal 1 controls the certificate of the verification key for verifying the electronic signature to be valid or invalid according to the status of the update related to the information, the information provider terminal 1 does not exchange the update information or the like without exchanging the update information. The information user terminal 2 can be notified of the update status.

Further, since the information user terminal 2 obtains the status of the update related to the information based on the status of the certificate of the verification key, the status of the update related to the information can be easily controlled without exchanging the update information and the like. Can be obtained. As a result, processing and response according to the acquired situation can be performed.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the status of the certificate for authenticating the verification key, that is, whether the certificate is valid or not, is made to correspond to the update status related to the information of the information provider. Therefore, the information provider terminal 1 can notify whether the information is valid or not, and the information user terminal 2
This can be acquired and measures can be taken.

In the present embodiment, the information status notification and acquisition are performed via the certificate validity management station 3, but each component of the certificate validity management station 3 is connected to the information user terminal 2. , The certificate validity management station 3 can be dispensed with.

[0036]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
According to the update status notification device according to the above, the state of the verification key is controlled according to the status of the update related to the information held by the provider, so that the update related to the information can be updated without transmitting the update information and the like. Can be notified very easily.

Further, according to the update status acquisition apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the status regarding the update of the information held by the provider is acquired based on the status of the verification key.
Without transmitting update information and the like, it is possible to extremely easily acquire an update status related to information.

Further, according to the update status notification system according to the third aspect of the present invention, without transmitting update information or the like,
It is possible to construct a system capable of notifying the update status related to information of the information provider.

According to the update status notification system of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the status of the certificate for authenticating the verification key is made to correspond to the status of the update related to the information source information. Can be informed whether or not is valid.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram showing processing of a network system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the information provider terminal 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the information user terminal 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a certificate validity management station 3.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 information provider terminal 2 information user terminal 3 certificate validity management station 4 certificate authority 11 information status database 13 certificate application processing unit 21 AP unit 22 status acquisition processing unit 211 information status determination request unit 212 information processing unit 221 request Receiving unit 222 Certificate status inquiring unit 223 Answer receiving unit 31 Certificate status inquiry receiving unit 32 Certificate validity determining unit 33 Reply replying unit C1 Certificate DB1 Certificate revocation status database J1 Information (updated information) SK (J1) Information with electronic signature

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Muto 1-6-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo NTT Communications Corporation (72) Inventor Toshihiko Ogiwara Tochihiko Uchisaiichi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (No. 1-6) NTT Communications Corporation (72) Inventor Michiyo Koyama 1-6-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo NTT Communications Corporation F-term ( Reference) 5B049 BB11 CC02 DD05 EE09 EE58 FF03 FF04 FF09 GG04 GG07 GG10

Claims (4)

[Claims] When information to be updated is held at an information provider and provided with a digital signature to a provider, the electronic signature is provided in accordance with the status of the update related to the information of the information provider. An update status notifying apparatus characterized in that a verification key for verifying is validated or invalidated. 2. The information to be updated is held at an information provider, provided with a digital signature and provided to a provider, and verifies the electronic signature according to the status of the update related to the information of the information provider. An update status acquisition apparatus characterized in that when a verification key to be controlled is controlled to be valid or invalid, an update status relating to information of the information provider is acquired based on a state of the verification key. 3. When the information to be updated is held at an information provider and provided to a destination with an electronic signature attached thereto, the electronic signature is updated according to the status of the update related to the information of the information provider. An update status notifying device that controls a verification key for validating or invalidating the update status, and an update status acquisition device that obtains an update status related to the information based on a status of the controlled verification key. Status communication system. 4. The update status notification system according to claim 3, wherein a status of the certificate for authenticating the verification key is made to correspond to an update status related to the information of the information provider.