JP2004302569A - Electronic mail management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably prevent the leakage of information of high confidentiality without detriment to the convenience of electronic mail. <P>SOLUTION: An electronic mail management system is provided with means as follows. When electronic mail confirmed by a destination confirmation means 34 is not addressed to only a special destination, the electronic mail is determined to be general mail not requiring the preservation of confidentiality and is transmitted to the destination through a general mail delivery means 36. Meanwhile, when the electronic mail is addressed to only the special destination, the electronic mail is determined to be requiring the preservation of confidentiality, a document and attached information included therein are extracted by a document/attached information extraction means 39 and are stored in an information-by-individual storage means 35, and a guide mail created by a guide mail creation means 38 on the basis of the electronic mail is transmitted to the destination through the general mail delivery means 36. Hereby, a destination person who has received the guide mail can view the document and the attached information of high confidentiality stored in the information-by-individual storage means 35 by an information-by-individual viewing means 24. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic mail management system capable of preventing leakage of confidential information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
E-mail has evolved, and due to its convenience, highly confidential documents are stored in the same mail server without being distinguished from general documents, and are output as needed. It is not preferable from the viewpoint of.
[0003]
In view of the above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-216400 describes a technique of storing a device that has received an electronic document together with the electronic document, and specifying a leakage route when a confidential electronic document is leaked.
[0004]
Further, instead of pressing a seal on a document to approve the document, a document for approval is transmitted by e-mail, and the electronic mail is stamped with an electronic approval seal and returned.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-353172 A
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-9-81477
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 merely specifies a leakage route when a confidential electronic document is leaked, so it is difficult to prevent the confidential electronic document from leaking itself.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to reliably prevent leakage of highly confidential information without impairing the convenience of electronic mail.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail input / transmission unit having a document creation function, a destination selection function, and an attachment information creation function, and an electronic mail input / transmission unit. Destination confirmation means for determining whether the destination of the transmitted e-mail is only the special destination, and general mail for sending the e-mail to the destination as general mail when the result of the confirmation by the destination confirmation means is not only the special destination A delivery means, and a guide mail creating means for transmitting a guide mail created based on the information included in the e-mail to the destination via the general mail delivery means when the result of confirmation by the destination check means is only a special destination. If the result of the confirmation by the destination confirmation means is only a special destination, the document / attachment information extraction means for extracting the document and the attachment information included in the e-mail, Individual information storage means for storing the documents and attached information extracted by the information extracting means as individual information corresponding to the destination, and individual information for browsing the documents and attached information stored in the individual information storage means An electronic mail management system comprising a browsing unit is proposed.
[0009]
According to the above configuration, the destination of the e-mail transmitted from the e-mail input / transmission unit is confirmed by the destination confirmation unit, and if the destination is not only a special destination, the e-mail is a general mail that does not need to be kept confidential. Is determined and transmitted to the destination via the general mail distribution means, so that the user does not need to perform any new or difficult operation, and the convenience of the e-mail is not impaired.
[0010]
On the other hand, if the destination of the e-mail sent from the e-mail input / transmission means is only a special destination, it is determined that the e-mail needs to be kept confidential, and the document and attached information contained in the e-mail are attached to the document / attachment. Since the information is extracted by the information extracting means and stored in the individual information storage means corresponding to the destination, the guide mail created by the guide mail creating means based on the electronic mail is transmitted to the destination via the general mail distribution means. The recipient who has received the guide mail can browse the highly confidential document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage means by the personal information browsing means. In this way, highly confidential documents and attached information are stored and browsed in individual information storage means without passing through general mail distribution means, so not only can confidentiality be ensured, but also the person responsible for confidentiality management can Can be clarified.
[0011]
According to the invention described in claim 2, an e-mail input / transmission means having a document creation function, a destination selection function, an attached information creation function, and a special destination selection function of selecting a special destination, A destination confirmation unit that determines whether the destination of the e-mail transmitted from the transmission unit is a special destination; and if the result of the confirmation by the destination confirmation unit is a special destination, the information included in the e-mail is included. A guide mail creating means for sending a guide mail created based on the destination to a destination, and a document / attachment information extracting means for extracting a document and attached information contained in the e-mail when the result of the confirmation by the destination checking means is a special destination And a personal information storage means for storing the document and the attachment information extracted by the document / attachment information extraction means as individual information corresponding to the destination, and a personal information storage means. Electronic mail management system characterized by comprising a personalized information browsing means for browsing documents and accompanying information is proposed.
[0012]
According to the above configuration, the destination of the e-mail transmitted from the e-mail input / transmission unit is confirmed by the destination confirmation unit. If the destination is not the special destination selected by the special destination selection function, the e-mail is classified. Since it is determined that it is a general mail that does not need to be retained and sent to the destination via general mail delivery means, the user does not need to perform any new or difficult operation, and the convenience of e-mail will not be impaired Absent.
[0013]
On the other hand, if the destination of the e-mail sent from the e-mail input / transmission means is the special destination selected by the special destination selection function, it is determined that the e-mail needs to be kept confidential, and the documents included in the And the attached information is extracted by the document / attached information extracting means and stored in the personal information storage means corresponding to the destination, and the guide mail created by the guide mail creating means based on the e-mail is transmitted through the general mail distribution means. Therefore, the recipient who has received the guide mail can view the highly confidential document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage means by the personal information browsing means. In this way, highly confidential documents and attached information are stored and browsed in individual information storage means without passing through general mail distribution means, so not only can confidentiality be ensured, but also the person responsible for confidentiality management can Can be clarified.
[0014]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, a transfer destination selecting means for selecting a transfer destination to transfer the document and the attached information browsed by the individual information browsing means. And an e-mail management system comprising: a policy checking unit that determines whether the transfer destination selected by the transfer destination selection unit is a permitted transfer destination.
[0015]
According to the above configuration, when the transfer destination for transferring the highly confidential document and the attached information browsed by the personal information browsing unit is selected by the transfer destination selection unit, the policy confirmation unit determines that the transfer destination is permitted to transfer the transfer destination. Since it is determined whether or not the transfer is a destination, it is possible to reliably avoid a situation in which highly confidential documents and attached information are transferred to a transfer destination to which transfer is not permitted. Therefore, the work load for the transfer source to make the above determination is reduced.
[0016]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the third aspect, the electronic mail input / transmission means includes a designation policy setting means for setting a designation policy for permitting or prohibiting transfer to the transfer destination. The policy checking means compares the designated policy set by the designated policy setting means with the transfer destination selected by the transfer destination selecting means to determine whether or not the selected transfer destination is a permitted transfer destination. An e-mail management system is proposed.
[0017]
According to the above configuration, the designated policy setting unit sets a designated policy that permits or prohibits transfer to a predetermined transfer destination, and the policy checking unit compares the selected transfer destination with the designated policy to determine whether transfer is possible. Since the determination is made, it is possible to determine whether or not the transfer to the predetermined transfer destination can be performed by reflecting the intention of the sender of the electronic mail, and the confidentiality can be more securely maintained.
[0018]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the third aspect, the electronic mail input / transmission means includes a basic policy storage means storing a basic policy for permitting or prohibiting transfer to the transfer destination. The policy checking means compares the basic policy stored in the basic policy storage means with the transfer destination selected by the transfer destination permitting means, and determines whether the selected transfer destination is a permitted transfer destination. An e-mail management system is proposed.
[0019]
According to the above configuration, the basic policy for permitting or prohibiting the transfer to the predetermined transfer destination is stored in the basic policy storage unit in advance, and the policy check unit compares the selected transfer destination with the basic policy to transfer the transfer. Can be determined based on a basic policy set in advance when the sender of the e-mail does not have a special intention, and the balance between disclosure of information and confidentiality can be balanced. Can be kept properly.
[0020]
According to the invention described in claim 6, in addition to the configuration of claim 3, if the transfer is not permitted by the policy checking means, the transfer permission request is automatically sent to the sender of the e-mail. An electronic mail management system, comprising: a transfer approval requesting means for transmitting the transfer permission; and a transfer approval means for approving the transfer permission at a source of the electronic mail requested to transfer. You.
[0021]
According to the above configuration, when the transfer is not permitted, the transfer approval requesting means automatically transmits the transfer permission request to the source of the e-mail, so that the source approves the transfer permission by the transfer approval means. Thus, the transfer to the transfer destination whose transfer is prohibited by the policy checking means can be enabled. In addition, since the transfer permission request is automatically transmitted, the work load of the transfer source is reduced.
[0022]
According to the invention described in claim 7, in addition to the configuration of claim 1 or claim 2, a browsing log creating means for creating a browsing log indicating a browsing state of the personal information browsing means, A browsing log collecting unit that collects a browsing log from the browsing log creating unit, a browsing log storage unit that stores the browsing log collected by the browsing log collecting unit, and a browsing log stored in the browsing log storage unit at an electronic mail source. There is proposed an electronic mail management system characterized by comprising a browsing log referencing means for referring to.
[0023]
According to the above configuration, the browsing log creating means creates a browsing log indicating the browsing state of the individual information browsing means, the browsing log collecting means collects browsing logs from the plurality of browsing log creating means, and the browsing log storage means The browsing log collected by the browsing log collection unit is stored in the browsing log storage unit, and the browsing log reference unit refers to the browsing log stored in the browsing log storage unit. It is possible to confirm whether or not the document and the attached information stored in the individual information storage means have been browsed.
[0024]
According to the invention described in claim 8, in addition to the structure of claim 1 or claim 2, when the document and the attached information browsed by the personal information browsing means are transferred to the transfer destination, the personal information storage means There is proposed an electronic mail management system comprising a transfer means for transferring the document and the attached information stored in the electronic mail to a transfer destination.
[0025]
According to the above configuration, when transferring the viewed document and the attached information to the transfer destination, the transfer means transfers the document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage means to the transfer destination. It becomes clear that management is performed responsibly.
[0026]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.
[0027]
FIG. 1 shows an e-mail management system in which a plurality of personal computers are connected via a network. Here, reference numeral 11 denotes a personal computer that is a source of an e-mail, and reference numeral 12 denotes a personal computer that is a destination of an e-mail. Suppose there is.
[0028]
The personal computer 11, which is a transmission source, includes an authentication unit 13 for identifying a user and an e-mail input / transmission unit 14. The electronic mail input / transmission means 14 includes a document creation means 15, a destination selection means 16, an attached information creation means 17, a special destination designation means 18, a designated policy setting means 19, a browse log reference means 20, and a transfer approval means 21. It is.
[0029]
The personal computer 12 as a destination includes an authentication unit 22 for identifying a user and a browsing unit 23. The browsing unit 23 includes an individual information browsing unit 24, a comment attaching unit 25, a transfer destination selecting unit 26, and a transfer approval requesting unit 27.
[0030]
FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen of the e-mail input / transmission means 14 of the personal computer 11 as a transmission source. The transmission source is Mr. Kato of the sales department, and the destinations are officers A and B. , F, G, and H, the subject is “2002 sales performance report”, the content (document) of the subject, and attached information are displayed. FIG. 3 shows another example of the screen described above. Only the destination is different from the screen of FIG. 2, and the destination is only officer A and officer B.
[0031]
When a special destination is designated by the special destination designation means 18, that is, when "special destination" is clicked on the screens of FIGS. 2 and 3, the special destination is stored in the special destination storage means 31 of FIG. 1 without inputting an individual destination. Is automatically selected. FIG. 4 shows information stored in the special destination storage means 31. The special destination is all officers (officers A to E).
[0032]
By the way, officers are authorized to view confidential documents and attached information in e-mails, and officers who have viewed the confidential documents and attached information forward them to another destination. In some cases, the transfer is permitted according to the transfer destination, the transfer is not permitted without the approval of the source, or the transfer is prohibited. Are stored in the basic policy storage unit 32 of FIG.
[0033]
FIG. 5 shows the information stored in the basic policy storage means 32. The transfer to the officers and the head of the department is permitted, and the transfer to the general company and related / cooperating companies requires the approval of the sender. Forwarding outside the vehicle is prohibited.
[0034]
Mr. Kato of the sales department who is the user of the personal computer 11 that is the transmission source can set a different policy (designated policy) from the basic policy stored in the basic policy storage unit 32 by the designated policy setting unit 19. . FIG. 6 shows an example of the screen of the designated policy setting means 19. In the basic policy, the setting is made so that the transfer to the general company requiring approval is permitted without requiring the approval. It is set so that the transfer to the related / cooperating company whose transfer is permitted is prohibited regardless of the approval or non-approval.
[0035]
As described above, when the specified policy is not set by the specified policy setting unit 19, the basic policy is adopted as it is, and when the specified policy is set by the specified policy setting unit 19, the set portion has priority over the basic policy. To be adopted. The specified policy set by the specified policy setting unit 19 is stored in the specified policy storage unit 33 of FIG.
[0036]
When the e-mail created by the e-mail input / transmission unit 14 is transmitted, the destination is confirmed by the destination confirmation unit 34 in FIG. That is, in step S1 of the flowchart of FIG. 7, if all of the electronic mails are officer mails, that is, if a special destination is designated by the special destination designation unit 18, the e-mail is stored in the special destination storage unit 31 of FIG. The addresses of the five officers A to E are automatically assigned, and in step S2, the document and the attached information of the e-mail are stored in the individual information storage unit 35 described later. In step S1, if the destination of the e-mail is not the special destination specified by the special destination specifying means 18, it is determined in step S3 whether or not the destination is only the officer, and as shown in FIG. If so, in step S4, the document and the attached information of the e-mail are stored in the individual information storage means 35 described later. In step S3, if the destination is not only the officer as shown in FIG. 2, the electronic mail is transmitted to the destination as general mail through the general mail distribution unit 36 in FIG. 1 in step S5.
[0037]
In short, the case where the e-mail destination is only the officer, that is, the case where only the destination of the officer is selected by the destination selection means 16 and the case where the special destination (destination of five officers) is specified by the special destination specifying means 18 In such a case, it is determined that the e-mail is of a content that needs to be kept confidential, and a special process described later is performed. On the other hand, if the destination of the e-mail includes a person other than the officer, it is determined that the e-mail does not need to be kept confidential, and the e-mail is sent to the destination via the general mail distribution means 36. Send.
[0038]
If the destination of the e-mail is only for officers and confidentiality is required, the information distribution means 37 shown in FIG. The mail is sent to the mail creating means 38, and the guide mail creating means 38 creates a guide mail as shown in FIG. 9 and sends it to the destination (for example, officer A) via the general mail distribution means 36. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the guide mail is transmitted along the same route as the general mail, in addition to the general mail. On the other hand, the document / attachment information extracting means 39 in FIG. 1 extracts information related to confidentiality (that is, the document and attached information of the e-mail) from the information distribution means 37 as confidential information. The confidential information is stored in the corresponding one of the five individual information storage means 35 provided corresponding to the five officers. FIG. 10 shows an example of the contents of the confidential information stored in the individual information storage means 35.
[0039]
The officer A who received the guide mail shown in FIG. 9 uses the personal information browsing unit 24 of the personal computer 12 to read the guide mail among the information stored in his own personal information storage unit 35. (2002 sales report) can be opened and viewed (see FIG. 11).
[0040]
As described above, when the destination of the e-mail confirmed by the destination confirmation unit 34 is not only the officer, it is determined that the e-mail is a general mail that does not need to be kept confidential. Sent to the destination. Therefore, the user does not need to perform a new operation or a difficult operation, and the convenience of the e-mail is not impaired.
[0041]
On the other hand, when the destination of the e-mail confirmed by the destination confirmation means 34 is only the officer, it is determined that the e-mail needs to be kept confidential, and the confidential document and the The attached information is extracted by the document / attached information extracting means 39 and stored in the personalized information storage means 35 corresponding to the destination, and at the same time, the guide mail created by the guide mail creating means 38 based on the e-mail is sent to the general mail distribution means. Since the information is transmitted to the officer at the destination via 36, the officer who receives the guide mail can browse the document and the attached information stored in his / her personal information storage means 35 with the personal information browsing means 24. As described above, the highly confidential document and the attached information are stored in the personal information storage means 35 for each officer and are browsed without passing through the general mail distribution means 36. The person responsible for security management can be identified.
[0042]
When Officer A who browses the confidential information stored in the personal information storage means 35 determines that it is necessary to add a comment to the confidential information and forward it to Officer C and Mr. Takano of the Planning Office, As shown in FIG. 12, Officer A first attaches a comment using the comment attaching means 25, then clicks the Officer button in FIG. 12 to call up the screen in FIG. 13A, and designates Officer C as the transfer destination. I do. Further, the user clicks the in-house general button shown in FIG. 12 to call up the screen shown in FIG. 13B, and designates Mr. Takano as the transfer destination. Since the screen of FIG. 13A shows that the same confidential information has already been delivered to the officer B, it is possible to avoid wasteful designation of the officer B as the transfer destination again.
[0043]
When the transfer destination of the confidential information is designated as described above, the policy checking means 40 in FIG. 1 determines whether the transfer of the confidential information to the transfer destination is permitted. The policy confirmation unit 40 determines whether or not the transfer is permitted based on the basic policy (see FIG. 5) stored in the basic policy storage unit 32. The specified policy is stored in the specified policy storage unit 33. In this case, the determination is made by giving priority to the designated policy with respect to the basic policy.
[0044]
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the function of the policy confirmation unit 40. This flowchart is an example of the case where the transfer destination includes an affiliated company / subcontractor. However, the transfer destination includes an officer, the transfer destination includes a general manager, and the transfer destination includes an in-house general. Similar decisions are made for each.
[0045]
First, in step S11, the policy is referred to by the policy checking means 40, and in step S12, the policy is compared with the transfer destination. If it is determined in step S13 that the transfer destination does not include the affiliated company / cooperating company, the process ends. If it is, the process determines in step S14 whether the transfer to the affiliated company / cooperated company is permitted. At this time, if the policy in the policy checking means 40 is the basic policy itself, the transfer to the affiliated company / subcontractor is prohibited based on the basic policy, but the transfer to the affiliated company / subcontractor is permitted by the designated policy. If so, it is determined that the transfer is permitted, and the process ends.
[0046]
If the answer to step S14 is NO, it is determined in step S15 whether the transfer to the affiliated company / cooperating company is permitted by approval. If the policy in the policy checking means 40 is the basic policy itself, the transfer to the affiliated company / subcontractor is prohibited based on the basic policy, but the transfer to the affiliated company / subcontractor is approved by the designated policy by approval. If it is, an approval permission process is executed in step S16, and the process ends. If the transfer to the affiliated company / cooperating company is not permitted even if the transfer to the affiliated company or cooperating company is approved by the designated policy in step S16, a transfer impossible message is output in step S17 and the process ends.
[0047]
FIG. 15 shows an example of the screen of the transfer approval request means 27. When the officer A attempts to transfer the confidential information to Mr. Takano of the planning office, the policy confirmation means 40 determines that the transfer approval is necessary. If this is done, it will be sent automatically to ask for approval from Mr. Kato of the sales department who sent the first e-mail.
[0048]
FIG. 16 shows an example of the screen of the transfer approval means 21, which is used by Mr. Kato of the sales department to approve the transfer of confidential information from the requesting officer A to Mr. Takano of the planning office.
[0049]
In this way, when the transfer of the confidential information from the officer A to the Mr. Takano of the planning office is permitted by the approval, the transfer means 41 of FIG. 1 uses the confidential information stored in the personal information storage means 35. A certain document and attached information are read and transmitted to the destination confirmation unit 34 and the information distribution unit 37. The transfer of the confidential information from the officer A to the officer C is permitted unless there is special circumstances, that is, unless the transfer is prohibited by the designated policy. In this case as well, the transfer means 41 reads the confidential information document and the attached information stored in the individual information storage means 35 and transmits them to the destination confirmation means 34 and the information distribution means 37.
[0050]
The transfer of the confidential information from the officer A to the officer C is performed in the same manner as the transmission of the confidential information from the first sales department Mr. Kato to the officers A and B. FIG. 17 shows the contents of the guide mail at that time. As is clear from a comparison between FIG. 9 and FIG. 17, the contents of the guide mail in FIG. 17 are changed to “The transfer information has been received from officer A”.
[0051]
The transfer of confidential information from Officer A to Mr. Takano in the Planning Office is transmitted in the same way as general mail via general mail distribution means 36 because Mr. Takano who is not an officer does not have individual information storage means 35. You.
[0052]
As described above, the basic policy serving as a criterion for determining whether or not transfer to a predetermined transfer destination is possible is stored in the basic policy storage unit 32 in advance, and the policy check unit 40 compares the selected transfer destination with the basic policy. By determining whether transfer is possible or not, it is possible to prevent confidential information from being transferred to an inappropriate destination even if the sender of the e-mail does not pay special attention. The confidentiality balance can be appropriately maintained.
[0053]
Also, when it is desired to specify whether or not the transmission of the e-mail is permitted by a policy different from the basic policy, the designated policy setting unit 19 sets an arbitrary designated policy so that the forwarding by the designated policy can be performed prior to the basic policy. Is determined. As a result, it is possible to determine whether or not transfer to a predetermined transfer destination is possible by reflecting the intention of the sender of the e-mail, and the confidentiality is further ensured.
[0054]
In any of the above cases, the transfer of the confidential information is automatically determined by the policy checking unit 40, so that the work load of the transferor making the determination is reduced.
[0055]
Further, if the transfer is prohibited by the policy checking unit 40, the transfer approval requesting unit 27 automatically sends a transfer permission request to Mr. Takano of the sales department, which is the source of the e-mail. Therefore, Mr. Takano approves the transfer permission by the transfer approval unit 21, so that the transfer to the transfer destination where the transfer is prohibited by the policy check unit 40 becomes possible, and the convenience is improved. In addition, since the transfer permission request is automatically transmitted, the work load of the transfer source is reduced.
[0056]
Furthermore, when transferring the document and the attached information browsed at the destination to the transfer destination, the transfer unit 41 transfers the document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage unit 35 to the transfer destination. It will be clear that we will be responsible for managing
[0057]
The browsing log creating means 42 of FIG. 1 creates a record of browsing the information stored in the personal information storing means 35 by the personal information browsing means 24, and the record is created by the browsing log collecting means 43 of FIG. It is collected and stored in the browsing log storage unit 44 of FIG. The information stored in the browsing log storage means 44 can be referred to by the browsing log reference means 20 by Mr. Takano of the sales department who is the source of the first e-mail.
[0058]
FIG. 18 shows a browsing log created by the browsing log creating means 42. Here, HJS3678 is a personal computer dedicated to officer A installed in the executive office, and AKL8886 is a personal computer of an overseas corporation.
[0059]
FIG. 19 shows information stored in the browsing log storage means 44. For example, among the information of information ID = 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 transmitted to officer A, information ID = 1 and 2 Is opened twice, the information with information ID = 4 is opened once, and the information with information ID = 3, 5 is not yet opened.
[0060]
FIG. 20 shows the screen of the browsing log reference means 20 of Mr. Takano of the sales department. Among the officers A and B who sent the e-mail first, the officer B still browses. It is clear that Officer C, who received the transfer from Officer A, has finished browsing.
[0061]
By the way, the general mail transmitted via the general mail distribution means 36 can be checked at the source as to whether or not it has been opened at the destination, but the individual information storage means does not pass through the general mail distribution means 36. It is not possible to confirm whether the document and the attached information stored in 35 have been browsed. However, according to the present embodiment, the browsing log creating unit 42, the browsing log collecting unit 43, the browsing log storing unit 44, and the browsing log referencing unit 20 determine that the source is the document stored in the personal information storing unit 35 and the attached file. It is possible to check whether or not the information has been browsed, and it is possible to prevent information from being omitted.
[0062]
Also, the number of times the document and attached information stored in the individual information storage means 35 are viewed and the location where the information is viewed are recorded in the viewing log storage means 44. Can be accomplished.
[0063]
The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, various design changes can be made in the present invention without departing from the gist thereof.
[0064]
For example, in the embodiment, the authority to view the highly confidential document and the attached information in the electronic mail is given to the officer, but the authority to give the authority can be set arbitrarily.
[0065]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the destination of the e-mail transmitted from the e-mail input / transmission unit is confirmed by the destination confirmation unit. The e-mail is judged to be general e-mail that does not need to be kept confidential, and is sent to the destination via general e-mail distribution means. Will not be.
[0066]
On the other hand, if the destination of the e-mail sent from the e-mail input / transmission means is only a special destination, it is determined that the e-mail needs to be kept confidential, and the document and attached information contained in the e-mail are attached to the document / attachment. Since the information is extracted by the information extracting means and stored in the individual information storage means corresponding to the destination, the guide mail created by the guide mail creating means based on the electronic mail is transmitted to the destination via the general mail distribution means. The recipient who has received the guide mail can browse the highly confidential document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage means by the personal information browsing means. In this way, highly confidential documents and attached information are stored and browsed in individual information storage means without passing through general mail distribution means, so not only can confidentiality be ensured, but also the person responsible for confidentiality management can Can be clarified.
[0067]
According to the invention described in claim 2, the destination of the e-mail transmitted from the e-mail input / transmission means is confirmed by the destination confirmation means, and the destination is not the special destination selected by the special destination selection function. In this case, the e-mail is determined to be general mail that does not require confidentiality, and is sent to the destination via general mail distribution means, so that the user does not need to perform any new or difficult operation, and the e-mail Convenience is not lost.
[0068]
On the other hand, if the destination of the e-mail sent from the e-mail input / transmission means is the special destination selected by the special destination selection function, it is determined that the e-mail needs to be kept confidential, and the documents included in the And the attached information is extracted by the document / attached information extracting means and stored in the personal information storage means corresponding to the destination, and the guide mail created by the guide mail creating means based on the e-mail is transmitted through the general mail distribution means. Therefore, the recipient who has received the guide mail can view the highly confidential document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage means by the personal information browsing means. In this way, highly confidential documents and attached information are stored and browsed in individual information storage means without passing through general mail distribution means, so not only can confidentiality be ensured, but also the person responsible for confidentiality management can Can be clarified.
[0069]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the transfer destination for transferring the highly confidential document and the attached information browsed by the individual information browsing unit is selected by the transfer destination selection unit, the policy confirmation unit sets the transfer destination to the destination. Is determined to be a transfer destination to which transfer is permitted, so that a situation in which highly confidential documents and attached information are transferred to a transfer destination to which transfer is not permitted can be reliably avoided. Since the possibility of transfer is automatically determined by the policy checking means, the work load of the transfer source making the above determination is reduced.
[0070]
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the designated policy setting means sets a designated policy for permitting or prohibiting the transfer to the predetermined transfer destination, and the policy checking means compares the selected transfer destination with the designated policy. Since the transfer is determined by matching, it is possible to determine whether the transfer to a predetermined transfer destination is possible by reflecting the intention of the sender of the electronic mail, and the confidentiality is further secured.
[0071]
According to the invention described in claim 5, the basic policy for permitting or prohibiting the transfer to the predetermined transfer destination is stored in the basic policy storage means in advance, and the policy confirmation means stores the selected transfer destination in the basic form. Disclosure of information can be determined based on the basic policy set in advance when the sender of the e-mail does not have a special intention, because it is determined whether transfer is possible by comparing it with the policy. And confidentiality can be properly balanced.
[0072]
According to the invention described in claim 6, when the transfer is not permitted, the transfer approval requesting means automatically transmits the transfer permission request to the source of the e-mail. By approving the transfer permission, the transfer to the transfer destination whose transfer is prohibited by the policy checking means can be enabled. In addition, since the transfer permission request is automatically transmitted, the work load of the transfer source is reduced.
[0073]
According to the invention described in claim 7, the browse log creating means creates a browse log indicating the browsing state of the individual information browsing means, and the browse log collecting means creates a browse log from a plurality of browse log creating means. The browsing log collected by the browsing log collecting means is stored in the browsing log storing means, and the source of the e-mail refers to the browsing log stored in the browsing log storing means by the browsing log reference means. The transmission source can confirm whether the document and the attached information transmitted by the user and stored in the individual information storage means have been viewed.
[0074]
According to the invention described in claim 8, when transferring the viewed document and the attached information to the transfer destination, the transfer means transfers the document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage means to the transfer destination. Therefore, it becomes clear that the transfer source responsibly manages confidentiality.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an e-mail management system.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen of an e-mail input / transmission means (when destinations include officers and general employees).
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen of an electronic mail input / transmission means (when the destination is only for officers).
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing information stored in a special destination storage unit.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing information stored in a basic policy storage unit.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen of a transfer destination permission selecting unit.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the function of a destination confirmation unit.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing information of general e-mails (including guidance e-mails) delivered to officers.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a screen of a guide mail reaching an officer.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing information stored in individual information storage means.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen of individual information browsing means.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing screens of a comment attaching unit and a transfer destination selecting unit;
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen of a transfer destination selection unit.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the function of a policy confirmation unit.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen of a transfer approval request unit.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen of a transfer approval unit.
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a guide mail at the time of transfer;
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a browse log created by a browse log creating unit.
FIG. 19 is a diagram showing information stored in a browse log storage unit.
FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a screen of a browse log reference unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
14 E-mail input / transmission means
19 Designated policy setting means
20 Browse log reference means
21 Transfer approval means
24 Personal information browsing means
26 Transfer destination selection means
27 Transfer approval request means
32 Basic policy storage means
34 Address confirmation means
35 Individual information storage means
36 General mail delivery means
38 Guide mail creation means
39 Document / Attachment Information Extraction Means
40 Policy confirmation means
41 transfer means
42 Viewing log creation means
43 Viewing log collection means
44 reading log storage means

Claims (8)

E-mail input / transmission means (14) having a document creation function, a destination selection function, and an attached information creation function;
Address confirmation means (34) for determining whether or not the destination of the e-mail transmitted from the e-mail input / transmission means (14) is only a special destination;
A general mail delivery means (36) for transmitting an e-mail as a general mail to the destination when the result of the confirmation by the destination confirmation means (34) is not only a special destination;
If the result of the confirmation by the destination confirmation means (34) is only a special destination, a guidance mail created based on the information included in the e-mail is transmitted to the destination via the general mail distribution means (36). Means (38);
A document / attachment information extracting unit (39) for extracting a document included in the e-mail and attached information when the result of the confirmation by the destination confirming unit (34) is only a special destination;
Individual information storage means (35) for storing the document and attached information extracted by the document / attachment information extraction means (39) as individual information corresponding to the destination;
Personal information browsing means (24) for browsing documents and attached information stored in personal information storing means (35);
An e-mail management system comprising: E-mail input / transmission means (14) having a document creation function, a destination selection function, an attached information creation function, and a special destination selection function of selecting a special destination;
Destination confirmation means (34) for determining whether or not the destination of the e-mail transmitted from the e-mail input / transmission means (14) is a special destination;
A guide mail creation unit (38) for sending a guide mail created based on information included in the electronic mail to the destination when the result of the check by the destination check unit (34) is a special destination;
A document / attachment information extracting unit (39) for extracting a document and attached information included in the e-mail when the result of the confirmation by the destination confirming unit (34) is a special destination;
Individual information storage means (35) for storing the document and attached information extracted by the document / attachment information extraction means (39) as individual information corresponding to the destination;
Personal information browsing means (24) for browsing documents and attached information stored in personal information storing means (35);
An e-mail management system comprising: Transfer destination selecting means (26) for selecting a transfer destination to transfer the document and the attached information browsed by the individual information browsing means (24);
Policy checking means (40) for determining whether or not the transfer destination selected by the transfer destination selecting means (26) is a permitted transfer destination;
The electronic mail management system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: The electronic mail input / transmission means (14) includes a designated policy setting means (19) for setting a designated policy for permitting or prohibiting the transfer to the transfer destination,
The policy checking unit (40) compares the designated policy set by the designated policy setting unit (19) with the transfer destination selected by the transfer destination selection unit (26), and determines that the selected transfer destination is an authorized transfer destination. The electronic mail management system according to claim 3, wherein it is determined whether or not the e-mail is. The electronic mail input / transmission means (14) includes a basic policy storage means (32) storing a basic policy for permitting or prohibiting transfer to the transfer destination,
The policy checking unit (40) compares the basic policy stored in the basic policy storage unit (32) with the transfer destination selected by the transfer destination permission unit (26), and determines whether the selected transfer destination is a permitted transfer destination. The electronic mail management system according to claim 3, wherein it is determined whether or not the e-mail is. A transfer approval requesting means (27) for automatically transmitting a transfer permission request to an electronic mail source when the policy confirmation means (40) determines that the transfer is not permitted;
Transfer approval means (21) for approving the transfer permission at the source of the e-mail having received the transfer permission request;
The electronic mail management system according to claim 3, further comprising: A browsing log creating means (42) for creating a browsing log indicating a browsing state of the individual information browsing means (24);
Browsing log collecting means (43) for collecting browsing logs from a plurality of browsing log creating means (42);
Browsing log storage means (44) for storing browsing logs collected by the browsing log collecting means (43);
Browsing log reference means (20) for referring to the browsing log stored in the browsing log storage means (44) at the source of the e-mail;
The electronic mail management system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Transfer means (41) for transferring the document and the attached information stored in the personal information storage means (35) to the transfer destination when transferring the document and the attached information browsed by the individual information viewing means (24) to the transfer destination; The electronic mail management system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

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