JP2003296742A - Electronic document system and method for generating electronic document - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic document system capable of properly ensuring the authenticity of an electronic document. <P>SOLUTION: A user terminal 12 authenticates a scanner 13, etc., using an authentication device 11, etc. When a scanner 13 acquires image data of a paper document, the scanner 13 generates electronic watermark data and embeds the electronic watermark data in image data. The scanner 13 applies hash calculation to the image data to generate an electronic document including an obtained hash value. The scanner 13 generates an electronic certificate and attaches the generated electronic certificate to the electronic document. The user terminal 12 transmits the electronic document generated by the scanner 13 to an originality of a document guarantee storage device 2 through a LAN 9. The electronic document attached with the electronic certificate is stored in an original document management DB 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic document system and an electronic document generating method capable of properly ensuring the authenticity of an electronic document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, settlement operations represented by payment of bills, advance payment of receipts, etc. have been routinely occurring in companies and the like. Generally, such a settlement act requires approval by an administrator (officer such as a section manager) using a physical bill or receipt. Nevertheless, due to recent paperless requests and the like, there is a demand for an approval system that does not use physical bills. That is,
An approval system using digitalized data such as invoices and receipts (hereinafter referred to as "electronic document") is being developed.

[0003]

However, such an electronic document has a problem that the authenticity cannot be secured in the first place. In other words, it has been difficult to prove that an invoice for a physical item has been legitimately digitized or has not been tampered with in a normal electronic document. Therefore, in the conventional approval system, in many cases, a physical bill or the like is still used to secure the authenticity of the electronic document. For example, it is possible to print an electronic document such as a bill and paste the actual bill or the like on the back of the electronic document for management and storage. That is,
In the operation of the approval system, double management of electronic documents and paper documents is performed, making the workflow complicated and
Not only was the burden on the person in charge increased, but there were many cases in which errors were made.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic document system and an electronic document generation method capable of appropriately ensuring the authenticity of an electronic document.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic document generation system according to a first aspect of the present invention is an image reading means for reading out image data of a paper document to be digitized, and the image. An image processing unit that adds specific information to the image data read by the reading unit and processes the image data; a unique information acquisition unit that acquires unique information that is uniquely determined according to the image data processed by the image processing unit; The electronic document generating means for generating an electronic document including the image data processed by the processing means and the unique information acquired by the unique information acquiring means, and the electronic certificate for certifying the generation process of the electronic document are stored in the electronic document. And an electronic certificate attaching unit attached to the electronic document generated by the document generating unit.

According to the present invention, the image reading means is
The image data of the paper document to be digitized is read. The image processing unit processes the image data read by the image reading unit by adding specific information (for example, a digital watermark). The unique information acquisition unit acquires unique information (for example, a hash value obtained by hash calculation) that is uniquely determined according to the image data processed by the image processing unit. The electronic document generation means generates an electronic document including the image data processed by the image processing means and the unique information acquired by the unique information acquisition means. The electronic certificate attaching means attaches an electronic certificate certifying the production process of the electronic document to the electronic document produced by the electronic document producing means. As a result, the authenticity of the electronic document can be properly secured.

The image processing means may perform processing of embedding a digital watermark in the image data.

The unique information acquisition means acquires a hash value that is uniquely determined by a predetermined hash calculation for the image data processed by the image processing means, and the electronic document generation means is the image processing means. An electronic document including the image data processed by and the hash value acquired by the unique information acquisition unit may be generated.

The electronic document system may further include a time stamp adding means for generating a time stamp indicating the date and time of generation of the electronic document and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated by the electronic document generating means.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic document system according to a second aspect of the present invention is an electronic document generating device for generating an electronic document from a paper document, a storage device for storing various electronic documents, and an electronic document generating device. An electronic document system in which an approval device that approves a document is connected via a predetermined network, wherein the electronic document generation device includes image reading means for reading out image data of a paper document to be digitized, and Image processing means for adding a digital watermark to the image data read out by the image reading means to process the image data; hash value acquiring means for acquiring a hash value uniquely determined according to the image data processed by the image processing means; An electronic document for generating an electronic document including the image data processed by the image processing means and the hash value acquired by the hash value acquisition means And a digital certificate attaching unit that attaches an electronic certificate that certifies the generation process of the electronic document to the electronic document generated by the electronic document generating unit. Transmitting means for transmitting the attached electronic document to the storage device via a network, wherein the storage device is attached with the electronic certificate transmitted from the electronic document generating device by the transmitting means. Receiving means for receiving the electronic document, and storage means for storing the electronic document received by the receiving means,
According to a request from the approval device, a transmission unit that reads the target electronic document from the storage unit and transmits the electronic document to the approval device via a network, wherein the approval device defines the content of the case. An information storage unit that stores content information, and an electronic document stored in the storage unit in the storage device, which corresponds to the case content information stored in the information storage unit, is authenticated by the attached electronic certificate. Authentication means and determination means for obtaining a hash value uniquely determined by hash calculation for an image included in an electronic document authenticated by the authentication means and determining whether the hash value included in the same electronic document matches. Then, when the hash value is judged to be coincident by the judging means, the electronic document stored in the storage means is accepted by the storage device according to predetermined instruction information. And a authorization means for performing, characterized in that.

According to the present invention, in the electronic document generating apparatus, the image reading means reads the image data of the paper document to be digitized. The image processing unit processes the image data read by the image reading unit by adding a digital watermark. The hash value acquisition means acquires a hash value that is uniquely determined according to the image data processed by the image processing means. The electronic document generation means generates an electronic document including the image data processed by the image processing means and the hash value acquired by the hash value acquisition means. The electronic certificate attaching means attaches an electronic certificate certifying the production process of the electronic document to the electronic document produced by the electronic document producing means. The sending means sends the electronic document to which the electronic certificate is attached by the electronic certificate attaching means to the storage device via the network. In the storage device, the receiving means receives the electronic document attached with the electronic certificate transmitted from the electronic document generating device by the transmitting means. The storage unit stores the electronic document received by the receiving unit. The transmission unit reads the target electronic document from the storage unit according to a request from the approval device, and transmits the electronic document to the approval device via the network. In the approval device, the information storage unit stores case content information (for example, a case record) that defines the content of the case. The authentication means authenticates the electronic document stored in the storage means in the storage device, which corresponds to the case content information stored in the information storage means, with the attached electronic certificate. The determining means acquires a hash value uniquely determined by hash calculation for the image included in the electronic document authenticated by the authenticating means, and determines whether the hash value included in the same electronic document matches. The approval means, if the determination means determines that the hash values match,
The electronic document stored in the storage unit of the storage device is approved according to the predetermined instruction information. As a result, the authenticity of the electronic document can be properly secured.

In the electronic document generating apparatus, the electronic certificate attaching means at least certifies the device authentication of the electronic document generating apparatus and the user authentication of the user who uses the electronic document generating apparatus. May be attached to the electronic document generated by the electronic document generating means.

The electronic document generating apparatus may further include a time stamp adding means for generating a time stamp indicating the generation date and time of the electronic document and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated by the electronic document generating means.

The approval device adds, to the electronic document approved by the approval means, an electronic approval stamp indicating approval, and an electronic document to which the electronic approval stamp is added by the addition means via a network. And a transmitting means for transmitting to the approval device.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic document generating method according to a third aspect of the present invention is an image reading step of reading image data of a paper document to be digitized, and a reading in the image reading step. An image processing step of processing by adding specific information to the processed image data, and according to the image data processed in the image processing step,
An electronic document generating an electronic document including a unique information acquisition step of acquiring unique information that is uniquely determined, image data processed in the image processing step, and unique information acquired in the unique information acquisition step. It is characterized by comprising a document generation step and an electronic certificate attachment step of attaching an electronic certificate certifying the generation process of the electronic document to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generation step.

According to the present invention, the image reading step reads the image data of the paper document to be digitized.
In the image processing step, specific information (for example, a digital watermark) is added to the image data read in the image reading step.
Add and process. The unique information acquisition step acquires unique information (for example, a hash value obtained by hash calculation) that is uniquely determined according to the image data processed in the image processing step. The electronic document generation step generates an electronic document including the image data processed in the image processing step and the unique information acquired in the unique information acquisition step. The electronic certificate attaching step attaches an electronic certificate certifying the generation process of the electronic document to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step. As a result, the authenticity of the electronic document can be properly secured.

In the image processing step, processing for embedding a digital watermark in the image data may be performed.

The unique information acquisition step acquires a hash value that is uniquely determined by a predetermined hash calculation for the image data processed in the image processing step, and the electronic document generation step performs the image processing. An electronic document including the image data processed in the step and the hash value acquired in the unique information acquisition step may be generated.

The above-mentioned electronic document generating method may further include a time stamp adding step of generating a time stamp indicating the generation date and time of the electronic document and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic document generating method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is an electronic document generating device for generating an electronic document from a paper document, and a storage device for storing various electronic documents. An electronic document generation method in a system in which an approval device that approves an electronic document is connected via a predetermined network, wherein the electronic document generation device reads image data of a paper document to be digitized. And an image processing step of adding a digital watermark to the image data read in the image reading step to process the image data, and a hash value uniquely determined according to the image data processed in the image processing step The hash value acquisition step, the image data processed in the image processing step, and the hash value acquired in the hash value acquisition step. An electronic document generating step of generating an electronic document including a check value; a time stamp adding step of generating a time stamp indicating the generation date and time of the electronic document and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step; An electronic certificate attaching step for attaching an electronic certificate certifying the generation process of the electronic document to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step and added with the time stamp in the time stamp adding step; And a transmitting step of transmitting the electronic document to which the electronic certificate is attached to the storage device via the network in the certificate attaching step, wherein the storage device transmits the electronic document from the electronic document generating device in the transmitting step. The receiving step of receiving the electronic document attached with the transmitted electronic certificate and the electronic document received in the receiving step A storage step of storing in a fixed storage section, and a transmission step of reading out the target electronic document stored in the storage section in the storage step in accordance with a request from the approval apparatus and transmitting it to the approval apparatus via a network. The approval device is a storage device that corresponds to the matter content information stored in the information storage step and the information storage step that stores the matter content information that defines the content of the matter in its own information storage device. Authentication step of authenticating the electronic document stored in the storing step with the attached electronic certificate, and uniquely determined by hash calculation for the image included in the electronic document authenticated in the authentication step. A determination step of obtaining a hash value and determining whether the hash values included in the same electronic document match, and one of the hash values in the determination step When it is determined that there is a match, an approval step of approving the electronic document stored in the storage step in the storage device according to predetermined instruction information is provided.

According to the present invention, in the electronic document generating apparatus, the image reading step reads the image data of the paper document to be digitized. In the image processing step, a digital watermark is added to the image data read in the image reading step to process the image data. The hash value acquisition step is
According to the image data processed in the image processing step,
Get a hash value that is uniquely determined. The electronic document generation step generates an electronic document including the image data processed in the image processing step and the hash value acquired in the hash value acquisition step. The time stamp adding step generates a time stamp indicating the generation date and time of the electronic document, and adds the time stamp to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step. In the electronic certificate attaching step, an electronic certificate certifying the generation process of the electronic document is attached to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step and having the time stamp added in the time stamp adding step. In the transmitting step, the electronic document attached with the electronic certificate in the electronic certificate attaching step is transmitted to the storage device via the network. In the storage device, the receiving step receives the electronic document to which the electronic certificate transmitted from the electronic document generating device in the transmitting step is attached. The storing step stores the electronic document received in the receiving step in a predetermined storage unit. In the transmitting step, the target electronic document stored in the storage unit in the storing step is read according to the request from the approval device, and is transmitted to the approval device via the network. In the approval device, the information storing step stores the case content information defining the content of the case in its own information storage device. The authentication step authenticates the electronic document stored in the storage step in the storage device, which corresponds to the case content information stored in the information storage step, with the attached electronic certificate. The determining step acquires a hash value that is uniquely determined by hash calculation for the image included in the electronic document authenticated in the authenticating step, and determines whether the hash value included in the same electronic document matches. In the approval step, if the hash values are determined to match in the determination step, the electronic document stored in the storage step in the storage device is approved according to predetermined instruction information. As a result, the authenticity of the electronic document can be properly secured.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An electronic document system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electronic document system applied to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in the figure, this system includes an electronic document generation device 1
An originality assurance storage device 2, an electronic document approval device 3,
The administrator terminal 4 is configured to be connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) 9.

The electronic document generation device 1 includes an authentication device 11 and
It is composed of a user terminal 12 and a scanner 13. The authentication device 11 is a device for authenticating a user (user) who uses the user terminal 12.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, the authentication device 11 includes a fingerprint sensor 51 and an IC card reader 52.
And a processing control section 53 and an interface 54. The fingerprint sensor 51 is, for example, an optical or electrostatic capacitance type fingerprint sensor, and reads fingerprint data from a user's finger. The fingerprint data to be read is, for example, fingerprint data obtained by extracting characteristic points such as end points and branch points.
The fingerprint sensor 51 supplies the read fingerprint data to the processing control unit 53.

The IC card reader 52 reads out predetermined information from the IC card K inserted in the insertion slot and supplies it to the processing control section 53. The IC card K is a card in which an IC memory is embedded and is distributed in advance to legitimate users. In the IC card K, the registered fingerprint data of the user (registered fingerprint data) and the CA (Ce
A digital certificate of a device (scanner 13) that the user is permitted to operate, and the like are stored in advance.

The processing control unit 53 is a CPU (Central Proc
essing unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM
It consists of a one-chip microcomputer including (Random Access Memory) and controls the entire authentication device 11. That is, the processing control unit 53 controls the fingerprint sensor 51 to read the fingerprint data from the user's finger. Then, the read fingerprint data is transferred to the user terminal 12 via the interface 54.
Send to. Further, the processing control unit 53 controls the IC card reader 52 to read the registered fingerprint data, the electronic certificate of the card itself, the scanner electronic certificate, and the like stored in the IC card K. Then, the read registered fingerprint data and the like are transferred to the user terminal 12 via the interface 54.
Send to.

The interface 54 is, for example, a USB
A general-purpose interface such as (Universal Serial Bus) is used, and necessary information is transmitted and received between the authentication device 11 and the user terminal 12.

Returning to FIG. 1, the user terminal 12 is a general-purpose personal computer (personal computer) equipped with a display device, a keyboard, a mouse, and a plurality of interfaces.
It is operated by a user who digitizes paper documents. Specifically, the user terminal 12 executes a device etc. authentication process described later according to a program stored in its own hard disk or the like. That is, the user terminal 12
The scanner 13 is device-authenticated, the user who uses the user terminal 12 is authenticated, and the device operation authority of the user is authenticated. In addition, the user terminal 12 transmits the electronic document (electronic document attached with the electronic certificate) supplied from the scanner 13 to the originality assurance storage device 2 via the LAN 9.

The scanner 13 reads a paper document with a light receiving element or the like, and generates an electronic document including image data of the paper document. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2B, the scanner 13 includes a scan unit 61, an image buffer 62, a propriety information storage unit 63, a control unit 64, a key data storage unit 65, and an electronic certificate. It comprises a storage unit 66, a time stamp management unit 67, and an interface 68. The scan unit 61 includes a light source and a CCD (Charge Coupled).
An image reading unit including a device), which reads a paper document and generates image data.

The image buffer 62 includes the scan unit 6
The image data of the paper document read in 1 is temporarily stored. In addition, this image data is controlled by the control unit 64.
A digital watermark is embedded, a hash value is added, and a digital certificate is attached, so that a digital document is processed.

The yes / no information storage unit 63 has possible information indicating that the scanner 13 is permitted to generate an electronic document (permitted state), or is not permitted to generate an electronic document. Any of the impossibility information indicating the (impossible state) is stored. The enable / disable information is referred to by the control unit 64, and it is determined whether or not to generate an electronic document in an electronic document generating process described later.

The control unit 64 is composed of a one-chip microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM and a RAM, and controls the scanner 13 as a whole. That is, the control unit 64 executes an electronic document generation process described later according to a program stored in the ROM, embeds a digital watermark in the image data (image of paper document) stored in the image buffer 62, and adds a hash value. And generate an electronic document. Then, an electronic certificate is attached to the generated electronic document and supplied to the user terminal 12 via the interface 68. The control unit 64 is
The history (log) of the generated electronic certificate may be stored.

The key data storage section 65 is composed of a non-volatile memory or the like, and stores in advance key data defining its own private key, public key, and the like. The key data (private key) is used by the control unit 64 to generate an electronic certificate and the like.

The electronic certificate storage unit 66 stores, in advance, a CA electronic certificate issued by a predetermined certificate authority, for example.
The CA electronic certificate is supplied to the user terminal 12 and used for device authentication (authentication of the scanner 13).

The time stamp management section 67 includes a time counting unit for measuring the current date and time, and is controlled by the control section 64 to generate a time stamp indicating the date and time when the electronic document was generated. The time stamp management unit 67 adjusts the time (date and time) of its own timekeeping unit according to the time data sent from the user terminal 12. For example, the time stamp management unit 67 may adjust the time according to the time data that is periodically sent from the user terminal 12, or the time according to the time data sent from the user terminal 12 immediately before reading the image. You may make a match. Furthermore, the time stamp management unit 67 may be provided with a radio clock unit or the like, and automatically adjust the time according to the standard time information that is sequentially received.

The interface 68 is, for example, SCSI.
-2 (Small Computer System Interface-2) and other general-purpose interfaces, and the scanner 13 and the user terminal 1
Necessary information is transmitted to and received from the device 2.

Returning to FIG. 1, the originality assurance storage device 2 is
It is composed of an original management server 21 and an original management DB 22. The original management server 21 includes a CPU, a memory, and
It is composed of a predetermined server device including a LAN unit and the like.
The original document management server 21 receives an electronic document or the like sent from the electronic document generation device 1 via the LAN 9 and outputs the original document management DB.
22 to memorize. Further, the original document management server 21 supplies the electronic document of interest, which is stored in the original document management DB 22, to the electronic document approval device 3 according to a request from the electronic document approval device 3. Then, the electronic document attached with the electronic approval stamp sent from the electronic document approval device 3 is received and stored in the original document management DB 22. The original management server 21 stores its own memory (non-volatile memory or the like) in the physical address (MAC address or the like) of the electronic document generation device 1 (user terminal 12) and the electronic document approval device 3 (approval management server 31). ) Is stored, and the device permitted to supply (write) and read the electronic document via the LAN 9 is appropriately determined.

The original document management DB 22 comprises a hard disk, etc., and an electronic document attached with an electronic certificate sent from the electronic document generation apparatus 1 (user terminal 12) and an electronic document approval apparatus 3 (approval management server 31). An electronic document or the like with an electronic approval stamp attached from is stored.

The electronic document approval device 3 is an approval management server 3
1 and an approval management DB 32. The approval management server 31 includes a predetermined server device including a display device, a CPU, a memory, a hard disk, and a LAN unit. The approval management server 31 manages the workflow for approving the electronic document while appropriately updating the case record and the like stored in the approval management DB 32. Specifically, the approval management server 31 executes an approval process described later according to a program stored in the hard disk or the like. That is,
The approval management server 31 authenticates the target electronic document (generation process of the electronic document) in the original management DB 22 with an electronic certificate, and confirms that the electronic document has not been tampered with, while managing the administrator terminal 4 Approve the electronic document according to the instructions. In the approval, the approval management server 31
The electronic document read from the original document management DB 22 is attached with an electronic approval stamp indicating the approval sent from the administrator terminal 4, and the electronic document attached with the electronic approval stamp is transmitted to the originality assurance management device 2 for original document management. It is stored in the DB 22.

The approval management DB 32 stores a matter record as shown in FIG. 3 (a), which is necessary when an electronic document is approved, and
An approval record or the like as shown in FIG. 3B is stored. The case record illustrated in FIG. 3A includes information such as a case ID, an application date, an application department, a person in charge, and a file address. The file address is the original document management DB 22.
The address of the corresponding electronic document stored therein is shown. In addition, the approval record shown in FIG.
D, approval date, authorized officer name, and approver name.

Returning to FIG. 1, the administrator terminal 4 is composed of a general-purpose personal computer equipped with a display device, a keyboard, a mouse, a LAN card, etc., and is operated by an official who approves an electronic document. For example, the administrator terminal 4 accesses the electronic document approval device 3 to acquire the subject matter record according to the operation of the manager, and displays the information indicating the matter content on the display device. At that time, the target electronic document in the original management DB 22 is read from the approval management server 31 and the content thereof is also displayed on the administrator terminal 4, but this electronic document is authenticated by the attached electronic certificate. It is information that has been confirmed and that it has not been tampered with. Then, the administrator terminal 4 sends the electronic approval stamp together with the information for instructing approval and the like according to the operation of the manager.
Send to 1.

The operation of the electronic document system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the operation of the electronic document generation device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a device etc. authentication process executed by the user terminal 12. Further, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an electronic document generation process executed by the control unit 64 of the scanner 13. Note that the device authentication processing of FIG. 4 is started when the keyboard or mouse of the user terminal 12 is operated by the user and an instruction to digitize the paper document is given, and the electronic document generation processing of FIG. Is started after the device etc. authentication process is completed, and after the paper document to be digitized is set at the reading position of the scanner 13.

First, in the device authentication processing shown in FIG. 4, the user terminal 12 accesses the scanner 13 to execute C
The electronic certificate A is read (step S11). That is, the user terminal 12 attempts to read the CA electronic certificate stored in the electronic certificate storage unit 66 of the scanner 13.

The user terminal 12 determines whether or not the device authentication has been performed according to the read CA electronic certificate (step S12). The user terminal 12 determines that the device is not authenticated when the CA electronic certificate cannot be read from the scanner 13 or when the CA electronic certificate is not valid even if it can be read.

When the user terminal 12 determines that the device has not been authenticated, it displays a predetermined error message on its own display device and terminates the device authentication process. On the other hand, when it is determined that the device has been authenticated, the user terminal 12
Until the IC card K is inserted in the authentication device 11, execution of subsequent processing is awaited (step S13).

When the IC card K is inserted into the authentication device 11, the user terminal 12 reads the CA electronic certificate of the IC card K via the authentication device 11 (step S14).
That is, the user terminal 12 reads out its own CA electronic certificate stored in the IC card K via the IC card reader 52 of the authentication device 11.

The user terminal 12 determines whether or not the card authentication is performed according to the read CA electronic certificate (step S15). It should be noted that the user terminal 12 determines that the card is not authenticated when the CA electronic certificate cannot be read from the authentication device 11 or when the CA electronic certificate is not valid even if it can be read.

When the user terminal 12 determines that the card authentication has not been performed, the user terminal 12 displays a predetermined error message on the display device, and ends the device authentication process. on the other hand,
When it is determined that the card has been authenticated, the user terminal 12 waits for execution of subsequent processing until the fingerprint data is acquired from the authentication device 11 (step S16). That is, the user terminal 12 reads the fingerprint data of the user via the fingerprint sensor 51 of the authentication device 11.

When the fingerprint data sent from the authentication device 11 is acquired, the user terminal 12 compares it with the registered fingerprint data stored in the IC card K (step S17).
That is, the user terminal 12 determines that the user has the IC card K according to whether the fingerprint data matches the registered fingerprint data.
It is determined whether or not the person owns.

The user terminal 12 determines whether or not the user has been authenticated according to the fingerprint data and the registered fingerprint data (step S18). If the fingerprint data and the registered fingerprint data do not match, the user terminal 12 determines that the user has not been authenticated.

When the user terminal 12 determines that the user has not been authenticated, the user terminal 12 displays a predetermined error message on the display device and terminates the device authentication process. on the other hand,
If it is determined that the user has been authenticated, the user terminal 12
The scanner electronic certificate of the C card K is compared with the CA electronic certificate read from the scanner 13 (step S1).
9). That is, the user terminal 12 compares the scanner digital certificate of the device to which the user is given the authority to digitize with the CA digital certificate read from the scanner 13 in step S11.

The user terminal 12 determines, according to the comparison result, whether or not the user's authority is authenticated (step S20). If the scanner electronic certificate and the CA electronic certificate do not match, the user terminal 12 uses the scanner 13
It is determined that authority has not been authenticated against.

When the user terminal 12 determines that the authority has not been authenticated, the user terminal 12 displays a predetermined error message on the display device, and ends the device authentication process. On the other hand, when it is determined that the authority is authenticated, the user terminal 12 sets the scanner 13 in the electronic document generation enabled state (step S21). That is, the user terminal 12 stores the feasibility information indicating the generation permission state of the electronic document in the propriety information storage unit 63 of the scanner 13.

The user terminal 12 accesses the scanner 13 and adjusts the time (step S22). That is, the user terminal 12 generates time data according to its own internal clock and transmits it to the scanner 13. The scanner 13 that receives this time data adjusts the clock in the time stamp management unit 67.

Subsequently, in the electronic document generating process shown in FIG. 5 performed by the scanner 13, the control section 64 determines whether or not the electronic document generating apparatus is in a state capable of generating an electronic document (step S).
31). That is, the control unit 64 controls the yes / no information storage unit 6
It is determined whether or not the possible information indicating the generation permission state of the electronic document is set in 3.

When the control section 64 determines that the electronic document is not in a state capable of being generated, it generates a predetermined error message or the like and supplies it to the user terminal 12 (step S32). Then, a message or the like indicating that the electronic document cannot be generated is displayed on the display device of the user terminal 12. The control unit 64 ends the electronic document generation process without generating the electronic document.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the electronic document can be generated, the control unit 64 controls the scan unit 61 to acquire the image data of the paper document (step S33). That is, the control unit 64 causes the scan unit 61 to generate image data of a paper document, and temporarily stores the generated image data in the image buffer 62.

The control unit 64 generates a digital watermark and embeds it in the image data (step S34). Control unit 64
Generates digital watermark data according to a predetermined generation method and embeds it in the image data of the image buffer 62. In addition,
The control unit 64 may embed a specific ground pattern in the image data instead of the digital watermark.

The control section 64 performs a hash calculation on the image data to generate an electronic document including the obtained hash value (step S35). That is, the control unit 64
Performs a hash calculation on the image data in which the digital watermark is embedded to obtain a uniquely determined hash value.
Then, an electronic document including the image data and the hash value is generated.

The control unit 64 generates a time stamp and adds it to the electronic document (step S36). That is, the control unit 64 controls the time stamp management unit 67 to generate a time stamp indicating the current date and time, and adds the time stamp to the electronic document so that the generation date and time of the electronic document can be verified.

The control unit 64 generates an electronic certificate and attaches the generated electronic certificate to the electronic document (step S3).
7). For example, the control unit 64 generates an electronic certificate according to the secret key or the like stored in the key data storage unit 65. This electronic certificate is an electronic certificate that a legitimate user uses a legitimate device (scanner 13) to prove that a paper document has been converted into an electronic document (digitized) based on a legitimate process. It becomes a certificate. The control unit 64 may store the history (log) of the generated electronic certificate.

The control unit 64 transfers the electronic document to the user terminal 12
(Step S38). That is, the control unit 64
Supplies the electronic document to which the electronic certificate is attached to the user terminal 12 through the interface 68. User terminal 1
2 displays the electronic document sent from the scanner 13 on the LAN 9
To the originality assurance storage device 2 via. Then, the original document management DB 22 stores an electronic document to which the electronic certificate is attached. At that time, the original management server 21 compares the physical address stored in its own memory with the physical address of the electronic document generation apparatus 1 (user terminal 12), and the user terminal 12 supplies (writes) the electronic document. ) Is a licensed device. Furthermore, approval management DB
Item record stored in 32 and original management DB2
2 is associated with the electronic document stored in 2. That is, the electronic document storage address in the original document management DB 22 is automatically set to the file address of the case record shown in FIG.

The control unit 64 sets the impossible information in the possible / impossible information storage unit 63 to bring it into the electronic document generation impossible state (step S39). That is, the control unit 64 sets the impossibility information indicating the impossibility state of electronic document generation in the propriety information storage unit 63.

As described above, by the device authentication processing shown in FIG. 4, the scanner 13 is device-authenticated, the user who uses the user terminal 12 is user-authenticated, and the device operation authority of the user is authenticated. It In addition, an electronic document is generated from a paper document by the electronic document generation processing shown in FIG. 5, and a legal user (scanner 13) is authorized by a valid user.
And a digital certificate that proves that it has been digitized based on a legitimate process is attached. As a result, the authenticity of the electronic document can be properly secured.

Next, the operation of the electronic document approval device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows the approval management server 31.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an approval process executed by the.
In this approval process, the electronic document sent from the electronic document creation device 1 is stored in the original document management DB 22 by the electronic document creation process shown in FIG. It is started in response to the access from the administrator terminal 4 after being associated with the electronic document stored in the DB 22.

First, the approval management server 31 determines the approval management D
Read the subject matter record from B32 (step S
41). That is, the approval management server 31 reads the case record to be approved from the approval management DB 32 according to the instruction information sent from the administrator terminal 4.

The approval management server 31 reads the target electronic document from the originality assurance management device 2 according to the file address of the case record (step S42). That is, the electronic document associated with the matter record is
It is read from the original document management DB 22 via 9. At this time, the original management server 21 uses the physical address stored in its own memory and the electronic document approval device 3 (approval management server 3).
The approval management server 31 compares the physical address of 1) with the physical address to check that the device is permitted to read the electronic document.

The approval management server 31 acquires an electronic certificate from the read electronic document (step S43). That is, the approval management server 31 attempts to acquire the electronic certificate attached to the electronic document.

The approval management server 31 determines whether or not the electronic document is authenticated according to the electronic certificate (step S44). The approval management server 31 determines that the electronic document has not been authenticated when the electronic certificate is not attached to the electronic document or when the electronic certificate is not valid.

If the authorization management server 31 determines that the authentication is not successful, it generates a predetermined error message or the like,
It is supplied to the administrator terminal 4 (step S45). For example,
The approval management server 31 generates an error message indicating that the electronic document has not been authenticated and sends it to the administrator terminal 4. The administrator terminal 4 receiving this displays the content of the error message on its own display device. Then, the approval management server 31 ends the approval process without approving the electronic document.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the electronic document has been authenticated, the approval management server 31 obtains the hash value from the electronic document and also performs the hash calculation on the image data to obtain the hash value (step S46). ). That is, the approval management server 31 acquires the hash value included in the electronic document, and newly performs the hash calculation on the image data of the electronic document to obtain the uniquely determined hash value.

The approval management server 31 determines whether the hash values match (step S47). That is,
The authorization management server 31 determines whether the hash value acquired from the electronic document and the hash value newly acquired from the image data of the electronic document match.

When the approval management server 31 determines that the hash values do not match, it detects that the electronic document has been tampered with, and advances the processing to step S45 described above.
That is, the approval management server 31 generates a predetermined error message or the like and supplies it to the administrator terminal 4, and then ends the approval process without approving the electronic document.

On the other hand, when the approval management server 31 determines that the hash values match, the approval management server 31 determines
It is confirmed that the electronic document has not been tampered with, the case record is processed for display, and it is supplied to the administrator terminal 4 together with the image of the electronic document (step S48). As a result, the content of the case, the image of the electronic document, and the like are displayed on the display device of the administrator terminal 4.

The approval management server 31 waits for execution of subsequent processing until the approval instruction or the like is received (step S4).
9). That is, the officials who operate the administrator terminal 4
Examining the content of the case and the image of the electronic document displayed on the display device, and inputting the approval instruction for approval. In addition,
When the approval instruction is input, the administrator terminal 4 reads out the electronic approval stamp indicating the approval stored in its own hard disk or the like, and sends it to the approval management server 31 together with the approval instruction.

When the approval management server 31 receives the approval instruction or the like from the administrator terminal 4, the approval management server 31 creates an approval record including the contents of the approval result, and stores it in the approval management DB 32 (step S50). That is, the approval management server 31
Generates an approval record as shown in FIG. 3B according to the received approval instruction and stores it in the approval management DB 32.

The approval management server 31 adds the electronic approval stamp sent together with the approval instruction from the administrator terminal 4 to the electronic document read in step S42, and the originality assurance storage device 2 is added.
(Step S51). And the original management DB
22 stores an electronic document to which an electronic approval stamp is added.

Thus, the approval process shown in FIG.
Approval is performed while authenticating the electronic document (generation process of the electronic document) stored in the original document management DB 22 and detecting whether the electronic document has been tampered with. As a result, the authenticity of the electronic document can be properly secured.

In the above embodiment, the authentication device 1
User authentication was performed using the physical characteristics of the user with the fingerprint sensor or the like included in 1. However, the method of user authentication is
It is optional. For example, other than that, user authentication may be performed using a retina sensor, a voice recognition device, or the like. Further, user authentication may be performed by a personal identification number or the like stored in the authentication device 11 in advance.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the case where the electronic document generating apparatus 1 is composed of the authentication apparatus 11, the user terminal 12, and the scanner 13 has been described. However, the configuration of the electronic document generation device 1 is arbitrary. For example, the scanner 13 may have the function of the authentication device 11. More specifically, the scanner 14 configured as shown in FIG. 7 may be replaced with the authentication device 11 shown in FIG. 2A and the scanner 13 shown in FIG. 2B.

As shown in FIG. 7, the scanner 14 includes a scan unit 61, an image buffer 62, a propriety information storage section 63, a control section 64, a key data storage section 65, and a key data storage section 65.
The electronic certificate storage unit 66 and the time stamp management unit 67
, An interface 68, a fingerprint sensor 71, and an IC card reader 72. The scan unit 61 to the interface 68 have the same configuration as the scanner 13 shown in FIG. 2B, and the fingerprint sensor 71 and the IC card reader 72 are the fingerprint sensor of the authentication device 11 shown in FIG. 2A. The configuration is the same as that of the IC card reader 51 and the IC card reader 52.

The electronic document generation apparatus 1 including the scanner 14 and the user terminal 12 having the above-described configuration similarly executes the above-described device authentication processing shown in FIG. 4 and the electronic document generation processing shown in FIG. The scanner 14
Is authenticated as a device, the user who uses the user terminal 12 is authenticated as a user, and the device operation authority of the user is authenticated. Also, electronic documents are generated from paper documents, and
A legitimate user attaches an electronic certificate that certifies that the legitimate user has used the legitimate device (scanner 14) and digitized based on the legitimate process. As a result, the authenticity of the electronic document can be properly secured.

Further, in the above embodiment, the electronic document is generated without being encrypted in the electronic document generating process shown in FIG. 5. However, in order to enhance security, the electronic document is encrypted with a secret key or the like. You can turn it into something. For example, the control unit 6
After generating the electronic document including the hash value in step S35, the process 4 may encrypt the electronic document using the secret key stored in the key data storage unit 65.

[0085]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to properly secure the authenticity of the electronic document.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a configuration of an electronic document system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an authentication device, and FIG. 2B is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a scanner.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a record stored in an approval management DB, in which (a) is a case record,
(B) is an approval record.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a device etc. authentication process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an electronic document generation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining approval processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a scanner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Electronic document generator 2 Originality assurance storage device 3 Electronic document approval device 4 administrator terminal 11 Authentication device 12 User terminal 13,14 Scanner 21 Original Management Server 22 Original database 31 Approval management server 32 Approval management DB 51,71 Fingerprint sensor 52,72 IC card reader 53 Processing control unit 54 Interface 61 Scan Unit 62 image buffer 63 Yes No Information storage unit 64 control unit 65 key data storage 66 Digital Certificate Storage 67 Timestamp Management Department 68 Interface

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06K 17/00 G06K 17/00 V 5J104 G06T 1/00 500 G06T 1/00 500B G09C 5/00 G09C 5 / 00 H04N 1/387 H04N 1/387 (72) Inventor Morizumi Kurose 3-12-1, Kachidoki, Chuo-ku, Tokyo F-Term (Reference) at Ricoh System Development Co., Ltd. (reference) 5B017 AA03 AA08 BA05 BA09 CA07 CA16 5B050 AA10 BA06 BA16 EA18 GA07 5B057 AA11 CB19 CH01 DA16 5B058 CA27 KA31 KA38 YA15 YA20 5C076 AA14 BA06 5J104 AA08 AA14 NA12

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An image reading unit for reading out image data of a paper document to be digitized, an image processing unit for processing by adding specific information to the image data read out by the image reading unit, and the image processing unit. An electronic document including a unique information acquisition unit that acquires unique information that is uniquely determined according to the processed image data, image data processed by the image processing unit, and unique information acquired by the unique information acquisition unit. And an electronic certificate attaching means for attaching an electronic certificate certifying the electronic document producing process to the electronic document produced by the electronic document producing means. Electronic document system. 2. The electronic document system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing means performs processing for embedding a digital watermark in the image data. 3. The unique information acquisition means acquires a hash value that is uniquely determined by a predetermined hash calculation for the image data processed by the image processing means, and the electronic document generation means acquires the image data. The electronic document system according to claim 1, wherein an electronic document including the image data processed by the processing unit and the hash value acquired by the unique information acquisition unit is generated. 4. A time stamp adding means for generating a time stamp indicating the date and time of generation of the electronic document and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated by the electronic document generating means, further comprising: The electronic document system according to item 3. 5. An electronic device in which an electronic document generation device for generating an electronic document from a paper document, a storage device for storing various electronic documents, and an approval device for approval of the electronic document are connected via a predetermined network. A document system, wherein the electronic document generation device includes an image reading unit for reading image data of a paper document to be digitized, and an image processing for processing by adding a digital watermark to the image data read by the image reading unit. Means, a hash value acquisition means for acquiring a hash value that is uniquely determined according to the image data processed by the image processing means, image data processed by the image processing means, and the hash value acquisition means An electronic document generating means for generating an electronic document including a hash value, and an electronic certificate for certifying the generation process of the electronic document are the electronic document. Electronic certificate attachment means attached to the electronic document generated by the generation means, and transmission for transmitting the electronic document attached with the electronic certificate by the electronic certificate attachment means to the storage device via a network The storage device stores the electronic document received by the receiving device, the receiving device receiving the electronic document attached with the electronic certificate transmitted from the electronic document generating device by the transmitting device. And a transmission unit that reads the target electronic document from the storage unit according to a request from the approval device and transmits the electronic document to the approval device via a network. Information storage means for storing case content information defining the content, and the storage in the storage device corresponding to the case content information stored in the information storage means Authentication means for authenticating the electronic document stored in the means by the attached electronic certificate, and a hash value uniquely determined by hash calculation for the image included in the electronic document authenticated by the authentication means are acquired. A discriminating means for discriminating a match with a hash value included in the same electronic document, and a discriminating means for discriminating a match between the hash values,
An electronic document system, comprising: an approval unit that approves an electronic document stored in the storage unit in the storage device according to predetermined instruction information. 6. The electronic document generating apparatus, wherein the electronic certificate attaching means certifies at least a device authentication of the electronic document generating apparatus and a user authentication of a user who uses the electronic document generating apparatus. The electronic document system according to claim 5, wherein the certificate is attached to the electronic document generated by the electronic document generating means. 7. The electronic document generating apparatus further comprises time stamp adding means for generating a time stamp indicating the generation date and time of the electronic document and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated by the electronic document generating means. The electronic document system according to claim 5 or 6. 8. The approval device adds a digital approval mark indicating approval to the electronic document approved by the approval device, and adds the electronic approval stamp by the addition device to the electronic document network. 8. The electronic document system according to claim 5, further comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits to the approval device via the. 9. An image reading step of reading image data of a paper document to be digitized, an image processing step of processing by adding specific information to the image data read in the image reading step, and the image. A unique information acquisition step of acquiring unique information that is uniquely determined according to the image data processed in the processing step, image data processed in the image processing step, and a unique information acquired in the unique information acquisition step An electronic document generation step of generating an electronic document containing information, and an electronic certificate attachment step of attaching an electronic certificate certifying the generation process of the electronic document to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generation step. An electronic document generation method comprising: 10. The electronic document generation method according to claim 9, wherein the image processing step performs processing for embedding a digital watermark in the image data. 11. The unique information acquisition step acquires a hash value uniquely determined by a predetermined hash calculation for the image data processed in the image processing step, and the electronic document generation step is performed in the electronic document generation step. The electronic document generation according to claim 9 or 10, wherein an electronic document including the image data processed in the image processing step and the hash value acquired in the unique information acquisition step is generated. Method. 12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising a time stamp adding step of generating a time stamp indicating a generation date and time of the electronic document and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step. 10. The electronic document generation method according to 10 or 11. 13. A system in which an electronic document generation device for generating an electronic document from a paper document, a storage device for storing various electronic documents, and an approval device for approval of the electronic document are connected via a predetermined network. In the electronic document generating method according to claim 1, the electronic document generating apparatus adds an electronic watermark to the image reading step of reading image data of a paper document to be digitized, and the image data read in the image reading step. An image processing step for processing the image data, a hash value acquisition step for acquiring a hash value uniquely determined according to the image data processed in the image processing step, and image data processed in the image processing step, An electronic document generation step for generating an electronic document including the hash value acquired in the hash value acquisition step; A time stamp adding step of generating a time stamp indicating a date and time of document generation and adding the time stamp to the electronic document generated in the electronic document generating step; and an electronic certificate certifying the generation process of the electronic document, And a step of attaching the electronic certificate to the electronic document to which the time stamp is added in the time stamp adding step, and an electronic document to which the electronic certificate is attached in the electronic certificate attaching step, A transmitting step of transmitting the electronic document to the storage device via a network, the storage device receiving the electronic document attached with the electronic certificate transmitted from the electronic document generating device in the transmitting step; A storage step of storing the electronic document received in the reception step in a predetermined storage unit, and a request from the approval device. Then, a transmission step of reading the target electronic document stored in the storage unit in the storage step and transmitting the electronic document to the approval apparatus via the network, wherein the approval apparatus defines the content of the case. The information storage step of storing the content information in its own information storage device, and the electronic document stored in the storage step in the storage device corresponding to the matter content information stored in the information storage step are attached. An authentication step of authenticating with a digital certificate, a hash value uniquely determined by hash calculation for an image included in the electronic document authenticated in the authentication step, and a hash value included in the same electronic document Discriminating step for discriminating the coincidence of the hash value and the discriminating step for discriminating the coincidence of the hash values, the storage device is stored in accordance with predetermined instruction information. An approval step for approving the electronic document stored in the storage step is provided.