JP2003122615A - File processing method and file processor usable by the method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem that it is difficult to prevent a person who has logged in a file server, from extracting a file from a server, and from freely reusing the contents. SOLUTION: At the time of preparing a file, user terminals 20-34 define the address, the program number, and user ID of a PC which should be permitted to operate the file, and embed the definition in the file. When the embedded definition is set as an address in an area 27, the file operation of user terminals 25, 26, and 34 are limited.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a file processing method and device. The present invention particularly relates to a technique for maintaining the safety of files.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the widespread use of computers, all documents are being digitized. Files are created electronically using document creation software such as a word processor, and these are stored in the hard disk. In an environment such as a company, computers are often connected to each other via a network, and a plurality of document files are often stored in a file server and shared by a plurality of users. The file server normally manages users with user IDs and passwords, and permits only correct users to log in to the server.

On the other hand, if the file server can log in via the Internet, it is exposed to danger from an illegal accesser who attempts to intrude by stealing another user's user ID or password. In order to prevent such illegal access, the server administrator must strengthen network design and password management.

[0004]

Here, for a user who is once permitted to log in from the file server, it is easy to copy the file to a place other than the server and reuse it. This is also true for illegal accessers, and a file server that relies only on login restrictions by ID and password has a weak side in file management. Once copied elsewhere, enhanced data management is crucial in today's information society, as there is no longer an effective means to prevent recopying or distribution of the file to the general public.

The present inventor has made the present invention based on the above recognition, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for maintaining the safety of files.

[0006]

One aspect of the present invention relates to a file processing method. This method limits the environment in which a file can be operated by a predetermined program on a computer to a specific program operating environment, and embeds the setting related to the restriction in the file so that the location of the file can be determined. The security of the contents is guaranteed.

The "program" is software executed on, for example, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC"), and application software (for example, document creation, spreadsheet, electronic mail, music reproduction, etc.) Hereinafter, referred to as "application").
As a method to limit to "specific program operating environment",
For example, the operating environment may be limited to a PC at a specific address or an application having specific identification information.

The term "regardless of where the file is" means that even if a file is copied from an area inside the file server to an area outside the file server, the access to the file is restricted and the file content is safe. The purpose is to maintain.

Another aspect of the present invention is a file processing device. This device relates to a file operated by a predetermined program on a computer, and a restriction setting unit that defines a program operating environment to be permitted as an environment in which the file can be operated, and an embedded embedded definition of the program operating environment in the file. And a processing unit.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is a file processing device. This device is for processing a file, and includes a restricted reading unit for reading a definition of a program operating environment in which the operation of the file is permitted, from a file operated by a predetermined program on the device, and a device of the device. A restriction processing unit that permits a file operation when the environment matches the definition of the program operating environment.

Yet another aspect of the invention is a data structure. This data structure is a structure of a file operated by a predetermined program on a computer, and this file has a header part that defines the specifications of the file and a main data part in which main contents are recorded. Then
In this header portion, a definition regarding a program operating environment in which the operation is permitted is embedded, which is described on the premise that the file is read by a program that limits the environment in which the file can be operated to a specific program operating environment.

Any combination of the above components,
It is also effective as an aspect of the present invention that the components and expressions of the present invention are mutually replaced among methods, devices, systems, computer programs, recording media storing computer programs, and the like.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present embodiment, a definition relating to the restriction of the operation is embedded in a file operated by a predetermined application on the PC. This definition stipulates that only a PC on a specific network address, a specific application, or a specific user is allowed to operate. Therefore, even if the file is copied, processing such as file reading is restricted depending on the environment other than the above address or application, or the operation other than the user.

As described above, since the operation of the file can be limited to a specific environment and the user, the safety of the content can be maintained even if the file is copied to a place where monitoring cannot reach. For example, even if a file is stolen together with a PC from an organization such as a company, the network address does not match, so the file is kept safe.

FIG. 1 shows a plurality of file operation environments connected by a network. As shown, the user terminal 2
0 to 25 are connected via the LAN 16 and the user terminal 2
8 to 34 are connected via the Internet 18. The user terminal 26 is in a stand-alone state not connected to any network. The LAN 16 and the Internet 18 are connected by the gateway 12,
Each terminal on the LAN 16 can access the Internet via the gateway 12, and each terminal on the Internet 18 can access the LAN 16 via the gateway 12.

Each terminal can access the file server 10 via the gateway 12. File server 10
Limits login based on a user ID and password issued in advance. The file server 10 stores files to be shared among the terminals. In the file stored in the file server 10, the definition about the environment and the user who can operate the file is embedded. Hereinafter, as an example, the limitation imposed on each terminal by the “file A” in which a predetermined definition is embedded will be described.

In the file A, addresses, program numbers and users who are permitted to operate are defined. The addresses permitted to operate are limited to the addresses in the area 27. In the user terminals 20 and 28, the address, the program number, and the user all match the definition of the file A, and the operation of the file A is permitted. User terminal 22,
Although the address of the file 30 exists in the area 27 but the program numbers do not match, the file server 10 can log in to the file server 10, but the operation of the file A is restricted.
Although the addresses of the user terminals 24 and 32 exist in the area 27 but the users do not match, the operation of the file A is restricted although the user can log in to the file server 10.

Since the address of the user terminal 25 exists outside the area 27, the user can log in to the file server 10, but the operation of the file A is restricted. For example, even if the user of the user terminal 25 and the user of the user terminal 20 are the same, it will be restricted. Since the address of the user terminal 34 exists outside the area 27, the operation of the file A is restricted. For example, when the user terminal 34 is an illegal accessor's terminal, even if the user can log in to the file server 10, the contents of the file can be freely read and reused if individual files are restricted. Can not.

Since the user terminal 26 is standalone and exists outside the area 27, the operation of the file A is restricted. For example, even if the file A is copied from the file server 10 to a recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk and taken out and read by the user terminal 26, the operation is restricted.

Whether the address, program number, or user of each terminal matches the definition embedded in the file is determined based on the information authenticated by the certificate authority 14. For example, since the user terminal 26 is a stand-alone device and cannot be authenticated by the certificate authority 14 in the first place, the operation of the file A is necessarily restricted. In addition to user authentication, the certificate authority 14 manages addresses and program numbers for authentication. As a result, it is possible to exclude a person who conceals his / her own address by accessing through the proxy server and a person who illegally copies and uses the application.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the file processing apparatus in this embodiment. The file processing device 36 corresponds to the user terminals 20 to 34 in FIG.
The file processing device 36 includes a restriction setting unit 40, a data storage unit 42, a restriction reading unit 44, an embedding processing unit 46, a main processing unit 48, a restriction processing unit 50, an authentication processing unit 52, and an input / output unit 5.
4 and a communication unit 56. Each unit is connected to the LAN 16 or the Internet 18 via the communication unit 56.
A recording medium such as a floppy disk is loaded in the input / output unit 54, and input / output of data with the recording medium is processed.

The file processing device 36 can be realized by hardware, such as a CPU of a computer, and by software, by a program having a data processing function. It depicts the functional blocks realized by cooperation. Therefore, these functional blocks can be realized in various ways depending on the combination of hardware and software.

The main processing section 48 includes a read processing section 82, a write processing section 84, a transmission / reception processing section 86, and an operation processing section 8.
Including 8. The read processing unit 82 reads a file from the recording medium loaded in the input / output unit 54. Write processing unit 84
Saves the file in the recording medium loaded in the input / output unit 54. The transmission / reception processing unit 86 transmits / receives a file to / from the file server 10 via the communication unit 56. The operation processing unit 88 provides a main function as an application running on the file processing device 36. For example, the document creation software provides the function of creating and editing the document, and the spreadsheet software provides the function of character string editing and calculation processing.

The data storage unit 42 is the address storage unit 6
8, a program number storage unit 70, and a user information storage unit 72. The address storage unit 68 holds the address of the file processing device 36. This address may be a hardware address unique to this device, or I
It may be a network-specific address such as a P address. The program number storage unit 70 holds identification information of applications running on the file processing device 36. The identification information may be a unique program number given to the application for each product package. The user information storage unit 72 includes the file processing device 36.
It holds unique information such as the user ID for identifying the individual.

The restriction setting unit 40 defines a program operating environment to be permitted as an environment in which the file created by the main processing unit 48 can be operated. For example, after a document file is created by a document creation application, a program operating environment in which the document file can be viewed or edited is defined. The restriction setting unit 40 includes an address setting unit 60, a program setting unit 62, a user setting unit 66, and a permission range setting unit 64.

The address setting unit 60 defines the address of the PC as the program operating environment in which the file operation should be permitted. The address of the file processing device 36 held by the address storage unit 68 may be added to one of the permitted addresses. The program setting unit 62 defines a program number as a program operating environment in which file operation is permitted. The number held in the program number storage unit 70 may be added to one of the permitted program numbers. The user setting unit 66 defines the users who should be permitted to operate the file. The user ID held in the user information storage unit 72 may be automatically added to the permitted user, or the user may manually add the user ID and password.

The permission range setting unit 64 defines different permission ranges according to the program operating environment. For example, it is a definition that both reading and writing are permitted to a certain user and only reading is permitted to another user. For example, a definition may be made to restrict copying and pasting of file contents outside the file. The embedding processing unit 46
Embed the program operating environment or user definition in the file.

As described above, the limit setting unit 40 and the embedding processing unit 4
6 relates to the operation of setting the content of the operation restriction when creating the file. The restriction reading unit 44, the restriction processing unit 50, and the authentication processing unit 52, which will be described below, are involved in the operation of executing the restriction during file operation according to the setting.

The restriction reading section 44 reads out from the file the program operating environment in which the operation of the file is permitted and the definition of the user. The restriction processing unit 50 restricts operations on files according to the definition. The restriction processing unit 50 includes an address determination unit 74, a program determination unit 76, a user determination unit 8
0, a permitted range determination unit 78, and a restriction execution unit 81.

The authentication processing unit 52 receives the address of the file processing device 36 stored in the address storage unit 68, the program number stored in the program number storage unit 70, and the user ID stored in the user information storage unit 72. The certification authority 14 certifies that the information is correct and has not been tampered with.

The address determination unit 74 determines whether the authenticated address matches the definition of the program operating environment read by the restricted read unit 44. Program determination unit 7
6 determines whether or not the authenticated program number matches the definition of the program operating environment read by the restriction reading unit 44. User determination unit 80 is the authenticated user ID
Determines whether or not it matches the definition of the user read by the restriction reading unit 44. The user determination unit 80 gives the user an ID.
You may be asked to enter the password.

Based on the definition read by the restriction reading unit 44 and the result of the above judgment, the permission range determining unit 78
Determine the extent to which file operations are allowed. The restriction execution unit 81 controls the operation of the file by the main processing unit 48.
The range is limited to the range permitted by the determination of the permitted range determination unit 78.

FIG. 3 is a table relating to combinations of user names, addresses and program numbers. In this table, a combination of a user name, a network address of a PC used by the user, and a program number of an application used on the PC is recorded. For example, the user A001 has the address "19.
2.168.5.101 ”and program number“ ABC0
12345 ”is recorded. By storing this table in the data storage unit 42, it is possible to simplify the environment in which the operation is permitted and the designation of the user when the operation restriction is set.

FIG. 4 shows a table relating to combinations of group names and user names. In this table, a combination of a group name and users who belong to the group is recorded. For example, "Sales Department" has user A00.
Users such as 1, A002, and C001 belong. By storing this table in the data storage unit 42,
By enabling specification by group name when setting operation restrictions, it is possible to specify multiple environments and users to which operations are permitted at once.

FIG. 5 shows the data structure of a file whose operations are restricted in this embodiment. This file has a header section 112 that defines the specifications of the file, and a main data section 114 in which main contents are recorded. For example, in the case of a document file created by a word processor, the content of the document is recorded in the main data section 114,
The header section 112 records accompanying information such as the size and title of the file.

In the header section 112, definitions regarding the program operating environment and the user who are permitted to operate the file are embedded. For example, as a permitted user, "A001, 192.168.5.101, ABC
“012345” is defined, and the permission range is “User A
001 is read / write, and other users are read-only ”. These definitions are written on the assumption that they are read by an application that can restrict file operations, and an encryption process is applied so that the main data unit 114 cannot be read by an application that cannot restrict file operations. The definition of the permission content may be configured to be changed later by a predetermined authorized user.

The header section 112 further stores information indicating the file creation status. For example, information such as the creator of the file, the address of the PC used to create the file, the program number of the application used to create the file, and the creation date and time. These contents are configured so that even a user with any authority cannot change them later.

The header section 112 further stores the operation history of the file. For example, the read date and time and the user name may be recorded as the read record of the file.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for setting restrictions on file operations. First, when a user creates a file (S10), information regarding the creation status is automatically embedded in the file (S12). When the user defines the program operating environment and the user who should permit the operation (S14), the definition is embedded in the file (S16). The file is saved (S18), and the file creation work ends.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for restricting file operations according to settings. First, the file is read from the file server 10 or the recording medium (S50), and the definition of the permission content is read from the file (S52). Information such as address, program number, and user ID is authenticated by the certificate authority (S54), and when the authenticated information matches the above definition (S56Y), the file is operated within the permitted range (S58). When the authenticated information does not match the above definition (S56N), the file operation is restricted according to the definition (S60).

The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that this embodiment is an exemplification, that various modifications can be made to the combinations of the respective constituent elements and the respective processing processes, and that such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. . Hereinafter, modified examples will be described.

In the above-described embodiment, the header portion of the file is configured to embed information such as the address, program number, user ID, etc., to which the operation is permitted. In a modification, a combination of these pieces of information may be held in the certification authority as one piece of personal information, and only the certification number corresponding to the personal information may be embedded in the file. In this case, the authorization number embedded in the file is transmitted to the certification authority, and the permission of the operation is determined by whether or not the corresponding personal information matches the actual address.

A public key and a secret key may be generated by encrypting a combination of a user ID, an address and a program number for each user. By embedding this public key in a file, you may define the environment and users who are permitted to operate. The person who operates the file is permitted to operate by specifying the private key.

A special key authenticated by the certificate authority may be prepared in order to allow special operations in a stand-alone environment where the certificate authority cannot be accessed, and the restriction may be released by this key. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the certification by the certification authority is indispensable, but it may be configured to judge the conformity with the definition without passing through this certification. Even in this case, 3 depending on the address, program number, and user ID.
The safety is high because it is checked carefully.

In the above embodiment, the permission is defined for all of the address, program number, and user ID, but the permission may be selectively defined for only one or two of them.

The application may be, for example, a printer driver, in which case printing of file contents can be restricted. Also, the application may be a control driver for the data storage device, in which case copying of files may be restricted.

[0047]

According to the present invention, the security of files can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a plurality of file operation environments connected by a network.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a file processing device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a table relating to combinations of user names, addresses, and program numbers.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a table relating to combinations of group names and user names.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of a file whose operations are restricted in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for setting restrictions on file operations.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for restricting file operations according to settings.

[Explanation of symbols]

14 certificate authority, 36 file processing device, 40 restriction setting unit, 44 restriction reading unit, 46 embedding processing unit,
50 limit processing unit, 112 header unit, 114 main data unit.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. Regarding a file operated by a predetermined program on a computer, the environment in which the file can be operated is restricted to a specific program operating environment, and the setting related to the restriction is embedded in the file, whereby the location of the file is set. A file processing method characterized by ensuring the safety of its contents regardless of 2. A restriction setting unit that defines a program operating environment to be permitted as an environment in which a file can be operated by a predetermined program on a computer, and a definition of the program operating environment is embedded in the file. A file processing device comprising: an embedded processing unit. 3. The file processing device according to claim 2, wherein the restriction setting unit defines, as the program operating environment, an address of a computer that is permitted to operate the file. 4. The file processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the restriction setting unit defines, as the program operating environment, identification information of a program that is permitted to operate the file. 5. The restriction setting unit further defines a user who should be permitted to operate the file, and the embedding processing unit embeds the definition of the user in the file. The file processing device according to any one of 2 to 4. 6. The file processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the restriction setting unit defines different permission ranges according to a program operating environment. 7. A device for processing a file, a restricted reading unit for reading a definition of a program operating environment in which the operation of the file is permitted from a file operated by a predetermined program on the device, and the device. And a restriction processing unit for permitting the operation of the file when the environment of (1) conforms to the definition of the program operating environment. 8. The definition of the program operating environment read by the restriction reading unit defines an address of a device permitted to operate the file, and the restriction processing unit determines that the address of the device corresponds to the program operating environment. 8. The file processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the file operation is permitted when the definition matches. 9. The definition of a program operating environment read by the restriction reading unit defines identification information of a program that is permitted to operate the file, and the restriction processing unit sets a program execution environment on the device. 9. The file processing device according to claim 7, wherein when the identification information matches the definition of the program operating environment, the operation of the file is permitted. 10. The file processing according to claim 7, wherein the restriction processing unit determines whether or not there is a match based on information authenticated by a predetermined certificate authority. apparatus. 11. Regarding a file operated by a predetermined program on a computer, a process of defining a program operating environment to be permitted as an environment in which the file can be operated, and a process of embedding the definition of the program operating environment in the file. A computer program that causes a computer to execute. 12. A process of reading a definition of a program operating environment in which the operation of the file is permitted from a file operated by a predetermined program on a computer, and the environment of the computer matches the definition of the program operating environment. A computer program that causes a computer to execute a process of permitting operation of the file in some cases. 13. A structure of a file operated by a predetermined program on a computer, wherein the file has a header section that defines the specifications of the file, and a main data section in which main contents are recorded. However, in the header section, a definition relating to the program operating environment in which the operation is permitted, which is described on the premise that the file is read by a program that limits the environment in which the file can be operated to a specific program operating environment, is embedded. A data structure characterized by: