JP2004258997A - Authentication system on network and server therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve security on a network by use of simple procedures. <P>SOLUTION: The system comprises terminals: 100 and 105 having a first communications means to transmit multimedia information such as voice information, image information and electronic file as authentication information; and a server 106 that stores the multimedia information transmitted from the terminals beforehand as the first information, compares second information which is multimedia information transmitted from the terminals and the first information for authentication, and, when authentication is made, approves access and transmits information to be provided to the terminals. The terminals and the server are connected to each other through a communications network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an authentication system on a network and a server used in the authentication system, and more particularly to an authentication system and a server on a network using multimedia information including at least one of audio information, image information, and electronic file as authentication information. About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the use of the Internet has become popular. On the Internet, there are many highly secure information such as electronic transactions and personal information.
[0003]
When accessing highly secure information, an authentication system using a password is mostly used. On the other hand, other authentication methods include fingerprint authentication and corneal authentication.
[0004]
As an example that discloses an authentication method, Patent Document 1 discloses an image authentication unit that authenticates using a face image, a voice authentication unit that authenticates using a personal voice, and an ID authentication that authenticates using a keyword or an ID number. There has been disclosed a personal authentication device for performing authentication using two or more of a means and a fingerprint authentication means for performing authentication using a fingerprint (FIG. 1 and the like).
[0005]
Patent Document 2 discloses a portable communication terminal provided with an authentication image display unit for displaying an authentication image, an image reading unit for reading the authentication image displayed on the mobile communication terminal, and a read authentication image. There is disclosed an authentication system including an authentication shop terminal provided with an image matching means for matching an image with an authentication image recorded in advance (FIGS. 1 to 3 and the like).
[0006]
Patent Document 3 discloses that, instead of a password, file contents such as images and documents stored in a user computer and information accompanying the file are transmitted from the user computer to a server computer via a public line network. The server computer generates and encrypts a password based on the transmitted file content and information attached to the file, determines whether the stored code matches, and transmits the transmitted file content and the file. There is disclosed a password authentication method and the like in which information accompanying the password is deleted (FIG. 4).
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2000-259828
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2002-236664
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-2002-351841
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In an authentication system using a password, a user is required to use a long password that cannot be remembered or to change the password frequently to ensure security.
[0009]
When fingerprint authentication or corneal authentication is used, many authentication devices are expensive and require high accuracy. Therefore, when such an authentication device is mounted on a portable terminal device, there is a problem that the price of the terminal increases.
[0010]
The input means in the mobile terminal device is often simple due to the characteristics of the terminal, and therefore, it is often necessary to use important information having relatively low security. Therefore, there is a demand for an authentication system with a simpler device and higher security on a communication line such as the Internet.
[0011]
On the other hand, in recent years, a large amount of information can be handled in the Internet technology, and large-capacity images and audio information that could not be used conventionally can be easily handled.
[0012]
An object of the present invention is to provide an authentication system capable of improving security on a network and a server used for the authentication system.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An authentication system on a network according to the present invention includes a first communication unit for transmitting multimedia information including at least one of audio information, image information, and an electronic file, which is input or obtained through a communication network, as authentication information. Equipped terminal,
A first storage unit that stores the multimedia information transmitted from the terminal in advance as first information, a second storage unit that stores information to be provided to the terminal, and a second storage unit that stores the multimedia information transmitted from the terminal. Authentication means for comparing and authenticating the second information with the first information, receiving the multimedia information from the terminal, and transmitting the information stored in the second storage means to the terminal when the authentication is performed; A second communication unit, and a server connected to the terminal via the communication network.
[0014]
Further, the server of the present invention comprises: first storage means for storing, as first information, multimedia information including at least one of audio information, image information, and an electronic file, which is transmitted in advance from a terminal, and information to be provided to the terminal. A second storage unit for storing, an authentication unit for comparing and authenticating the second information, which is the multimedia information transmitted from the terminal, with the first information, and an authentication unit for receiving the multimedia information from the terminal, Communication means for transmitting the information stored in the second storage means to the terminal when the communication is performed, and connected to the terminal via a communication network.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0016]
The configuration of the present invention is shown below. FIG. 1 shows the system configuration of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a mobile terminal device that can access the Internet using wireless communication, 101 denotes a base station that can transmit and receive data to and from the mobile terminal device 100 by wireless, 102 denotes an Internet network, and 103 and 106 denote information transmission servers. A certain WWW server, 104 is a provider for connecting to the Internet 102, and 105 is a personal computer for connecting to the Internet 102 via the provider 104. The WWW server 106 is a WWW server that requests personal authentication when providing information, and the WWW server 103 is a WWW server that does not require personal authentication.
[0017]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of the mobile terminal device 100. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 200 denotes a CPU, which controls a terminal. Reference numeral 201 denotes a ROM in which a control program is stored. Reference numeral 202 denotes a RAM, which is used as a temporary storage memory used for control by the CPU 200 and a memory for storing user data. Reference numeral 203 denotes a display unit, which displays information when connected to the Internet 102. Reference numeral 204 denotes an operation unit for inputting characters and the like. Reference numeral 205 denotes a voice input unit, which is used to capture a voice uttered by the user and has a function of converting the input voice from an analog signal to a digital signal. Reference numeral 206 denotes an audio output unit, which has a function of converting a digital signal to an analog signal. Reference numeral 207 denotes a wireless unit, which has a modulation / demodulation function for transmitting and receiving data to and from the base station 101. Reference numeral 208 denotes a camera unit.
[0018]
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the WWW server 106. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 300 denotes a CPU, which controls a server. Reference numeral 301 denotes a communication unit, which is connected to the portable terminal device 100 or the like via the Internet and performs transmission and reception. Reference numeral 302 denotes a memory such as a RAM, which is used as a temporary storage memory used for control by the CPU 300 and a memory for storing information such as audio and images transmitted from a portable terminal device or the like. Reference numeral 303 denotes a disk device such as a hard disk, which stores information such as audio and images transmitted from the mobile terminal device in advance and information to be provided to the mobile terminal device or the like (first and second storage units). ), And stores a program for performing an authentication operation and the like. A device (first storage unit) for storing information such as voice and image transmitted from the mobile terminal device and a device (second storage unit) for storing information to be provided to the mobile terminal device or the like may be provided separately. .
[0019]
FIG. 4 shows an outline of a password using characters. Here, the password using characters is composed of 8 bits per character. Commonly used passwords are four to eight characters long. That is, a general password has a maximum data length of 64 bits. In FIG. 4, the character “abcd1234” is converted into a digital signal of “01100001 01100010 01000011 01100100 00110001 00110010 00110011 00110100”.
[0020]
In the present embodiment, audio information is used as authentication information. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure for converting audio information into a digital signal. The audio is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the audio input unit 205.
[0021]
FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an authentication method using voice information.
(1) First, voice information serving as authentication information is registered in the portable terminal device 100 (step 500).
[0022]
The mobile terminal device 100 creates audio information to be registered. The user speaks an arbitrary word to the portable terminal device 100, and the analog voice is converted into digital voice information by the voice input unit 205. The converted digital audio information is stored in the RAM 202 by the CPU 200.
[0023]
In the mobile terminal device 100, the voice information is protected together with the password in the terminal.
[0024]
The voice information can be transmitted to the WWW server 106 requesting personal authentication by inputting the password in the terminal by the user.
(2) The portable terminal device 100 registers voice information as authentication data in the WWW server 106 (step 501).
[0025]
The authentication information is registered in the WWW server 106. The mobile terminal device 100 connects to the WWW server 106.
[0026]
The WWW server 106 requests the user ID and the authentication information from the portable terminal device 100 as the authentication information.
[0027]
In the mobile terminal device 100, the user ID and the voice information are transmitted to the WWW server 106 by inputting the user ID and the terminal password by the character input unit 204.
[0028]
Here, when the password stored in the terminal is different from the password input by the user, the authentication information is not transmitted from the portable terminal device 100 to the WWW server 106. The reason for using the password in the terminal is to prevent unauthorized authentication by a third party.
[0029]
Thus, the authentication information of the portable terminal device 100 is stored in the WWW server 106.
(3) When providing information, the portable terminal device 100 requests the WWW server 106 requesting personal authentication to provide information (step 502). Also, the WWW server 106 requested to provide information requests authentication information from the portable terminal device 100 (step 503).
[0030]
When the mobile terminal device 100 tries to access information of the WWW server 106 with security, an authentication request is made from the WWW server 106 to the mobile terminal device 100.
(4) The portable terminal device 100 transmits the authentication data registered in the terminal to the WWW server 106 (Step 504).
[0031]
The 100 mobile terminal devices that have received the authentication request use the display unit 203 and the operation unit 204 to input the user ID and the password in the terminal, and transmit the authentication information of the voice information to the WWW server 106.
(5) The WWW server 106 performs authentication by comparing the voice information transmitted from the mobile terminal device 100 with the registered voice information (step 505).
[0032]
The WWW server 106 compares the authentication information based on the user ID and the voice information of the portable terminal device 100 with the authentication information registered in the WWW server.
(6) If the authentications match, information is transmitted from WWW server 106 to portable terminal device 100 (step 506). If the authentications do not match, the WWW server 106 notifies the portable terminal device 100 that the authentication has failed (step 507).
[0033]
When the authentication information matches, the information in the WWW server 106 can be accessed, and the information is transmitted from the WWW server 106 to the portable terminal device 100.
[0034]
When the authentication information does not match, the information in the WWW server 106 cannot be accessed, and the WWW server 106 notifies the portable terminal device 100 that the authentication has failed (authentication mismatch).
[0035]
On the other hand, the personal computer (PC) 105 can also access the WWW server 106. If the WWW server 106 to be accessed is a WWW server that requests personal authentication when providing information, an authentication method similar to that used in the portable terminal device 100 can be used.
[0036]
According to the present embodiment, it is possible to protect the Internet 102 from fraudulent acts such as hacking.
[0037]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0038]
In the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which audio information is used as authentication information. However, in addition to audio information, image information or an electronic file can be used as authentication information. Images captured by the camera can be converted to digital and used as authentication information.
[0039]
FIG. 7 shows an example of digitally converting an image. For example, shooting is performed by the camera unit 208 built in the mobile terminal device 100.
[0040]
The captured image is digitally converted and stored in the RAM 202 as user data. If an authentication request is made when accessing the WWW server 106, the image information stored in the RAM 202 of the mobile terminal device 100 is transmitted as authentication information.
[0041]
The received WWW server 106 as the authentication information compares the information with the already registered information, and transmits the information of the WWW server 106 to the portable terminal device 100 if the information matches.
[0042]
If the authentication information does not match, the mobile terminal device 100 cannot access the information of the WWW server 106.
[0043]
As in the case of the voice information, the image can be used as the authentication information also when accessing a WWW server that requires personal authentication when providing information from the personal computer (PC) 105.
[0044]
In the case of an image as well, the authentication information is registered in advance in the WWW server 106 in the same manner as the voice. Alternatively, the mobile terminal device 100 can use the image, sound, or electronic file downloaded from another WWW server or the like via the Internet 102 as the authentication information.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) As a first effect, the security of authentication information can be improved. In the case of the conventional password method, the length of a general password is about 4 to 8 characters. It is possible to use longer passwords, but this is inconvenient for the user to enter.
[0046]
According to the present invention, it is possible to use a password in a terminal before transmission and transmit complex authentication information having a large amount of information when actually transmitting the communication network. Thereby, information can be protected from unauthorized access in the communication network.
(2) The second effect is that information that is difficult to copy, such as images and sounds, can be used. As a result, it is difficult to duplicate and use the same authentication information, and the security is further improved.
[0047]
As similar means, there are fingerprint authentication and corneal authentication. However, recognition devices and the like are expensive and require very high precision, and are difficult to mount in terms of price for use in portable terminal devices.
[0048]
As described above, in the present invention, security can be further improved using a simple procedure.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the mobile terminal device 100.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a WWW server 106.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a password using characters.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure for converting audio information into a digital signal.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an authentication method using voice information.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of digitally converting an image.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Mobile terminal device 101 Base station 102 Communication network (Internet)
103, 106 WWW server (information transmission server)
104 Provider 105 PC

Claims (6)

A terminal provided with first communication means for transmitting multimedia information including at least one of voice information, image information, and an electronic file as authentication information, which is input or obtained through a communication network,
A first storage unit that stores the multimedia information transmitted from the terminal in advance as first information, a second storage unit that stores information to be provided to the terminal, and a second storage unit that stores the multimedia information transmitted from the terminal. An authentication unit for comparing and authenticating the second information with the first information, receiving the multimedia information from the terminal, and transmitting the information stored in the second storage unit to the terminal when the authentication is performed; An authentication system on a network, comprising: a second communication unit; and a server connected to the terminal via the communication network. 2. The authentication system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal has third storage means for storing multimedia information inputted or obtained through a communication network as authentication information, and said first terminal is provided when said authentication is requested. An authentication system for transmitting multimedia information stored in the third storage unit from a communication unit. 3. The authentication system according to claim 1, wherein the multimedia information is digitally encoded. 4. The authentication system according to claim 3, wherein the digital encoding is performed in the terminal. The authentication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the terminal is a portable terminal device or a computer. First storage means for storing multimedia information including at least one of audio information, image information, and an electronic file transmitted in advance from a terminal as first information, second storage means for storing information to be provided to the terminal, An authentication unit for comparing and authenticating the second information, which is the multimedia information transmitted from the terminal, with the first information, and receiving the multimedia information from the terminal, A communication means for transmitting information stored in the second storage means, the server being connected to the terminal via a communication network.

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