JP2006217350A - Image data inspection system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow image data of an arbitrary document to be held in a storage area in association with processed user information even if the document is not a specific secret document which has user information preliminarily embedded therein, and to allow a log to be acquired without stopping functions, regardless of reduction in capacity of the storage area in a device, in a system wherein image data are accumulated in the device for the purpose of inspecting image data. <P>SOLUTION: A digital multi-functional machine includes a login means for attain user authentication, a user authority obtaining means for obtaining authority for operation of a specific user, resulting from user authentication, and an image data temporary storage means wherein image data of a document obtained by user's reading the document is electrically or magnetically stored. A user attribute after user authentication and the image data are stored in the temporary storage area in association with each other, and the image data are moved to an external image storage area constituted by an external server, on a prescribed condition. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image data auditing system that reads digital image data from a document and prints it, so that which user has read what document, when and how much can be kept as a record and can be traced later. The present invention relates to an image data inspection system.

  In recent years, with the progress of computer communication technology, various levels of confidential information have been sent over information communication networks. For example, resident's card information, registry information, and the like are listed in government offices, and various confidential business information is digitized and shared by computers using a computer network. From such a background, maintaining the confidentiality of electronic information flowing on the network is cited as an extremely important issue. In fact, there is a problem that such confidential information is leaked through an information communication network by a malicious user.

  For image readers that can capture manuscripts and documents of various levels of confidentiality as electronic data and send them to an information communication network, this problem is prevented and what information is leaked by anyone when the information leaks. It is important to have the ability to track what happened later.

  Conventionally, in order to solve the above problem, a malicious user holds and manages processing information such as what kind of original is read and what processing is performed inside an external receiving means or device. A method to keep it is proposed.

  Patent Document 1 discloses receiving means for receiving copy information transmitted from a plurality of copying machines, additional information for identifying a document from copy information received by the receiving means, the number of copies from the original, the copy date and time, and use A management apparatus is disclosed that includes means for reading additional information such as a company name and manages the additional information and the read document image in association with each other.

Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a document image read by a composite copying apparatus by leaving it in a security unit inside the apparatus by electrical or magnetic means, and at any later date, by whom, what and what A mechanism that can track whether a manuscript has been sent or copied is disclosed.
JP-A-6-20122 JP-A-7-212602

  By the way, according to the prior art (Patent Document 2), the image data is held in the security unit inside the apparatus by electrical or magnetic means. However, since a dedicated apparatus such as a multifunction copying machine is not intended to store images for a long period of time, there is a limit to the storage capacity of image data inside the apparatus. Therefore, when the user transmits / copies a large amount of originals, it is difficult to wipe out the possibility that the capacity of the security unit in the apparatus will immediately overflow, no matter how much the image is compressed.

  On the other hand, according to another conventional example (Patent Document 1), it is assumed that a user name or the like is embedded in advance as additional information in a confidential document. Therefore, it is not always possible to track information leakage for an arbitrary document. Further, when additional information embedded in the confidential document in advance, for example, the user name is different from the actual information, there is a problem that it is not possible to correctly check who performed the information when the confidential information was leaked.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a problem in the prior art, and can associate a user attribute based on user authentication performed in advance with the read document data and store it in an internal or external data storage unit. It is an object to provide an image data inspection system that is possible.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image data inspection system according to the present invention includes a log-in means for realizing user authentication, a user authority realizing means for realizing operation authority of a specific user obtained as a result of user authentication, An MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral) having a temporary storage unit for image data in which a user reads a document and temporarily stores image data of the document electrically or magnetically, and a user attribute (user authority etc.) that has been authenticated by the user And the image data are stored in the image storage area in association with each other, and the image data is moved to an external image storage area constituted by an external server under a predetermined condition.

  On the other hand, a management client is connected to the network in order to search and refer to image data held in an external image storage area later. In this case, the image data inspection system according to the present invention includes at least one MFP, the server, the authentication server, and a management client.

[Action]
In the image data inspection system configured as described above, the image data generated inside the MFP when the user reads the document is stored in the image storage area in association with the user attribute of the user who is correctly authenticated. User authentication is performed based on information registered in advance by the system administrator, so correct user attributes can be read and stored in association with image data without embedding user information in confidential documents in advance. It becomes.

  As a result of the authentication, the user is granted use or operation authority for the MFP. This use authority is given at the time of user authentication based on the user's trust information. It is possible to designate a storage method of image data according to authority.

  For example, an attribute can be assigned with a capacity such that a user who has been given managerial authority has high trust, while a user who has been given guest authority has low trust. In this case, if the user has low trust, read It is possible to reduce the compression rate of the image data and store the original reading data with as high a resolution as possible, and conversely, the image data is not stored for a highly reliable user. This means that the size of the image data to be accumulated can be dynamically changed according to the user attribute given at the time of user authentication, and as a result, the accumulation area can be used efficiently.

  According to the image data inspection system of the present invention, when a confidential manuscript or document is read using a digital multi-function peripheral, transmitted via a network, or copied, it is performed when the digital multi-function peripheral is used in advance. The user attribute based on user authentication and the read document data can be associated with each other and stored in the data storage unit inside or outside the apparatus. Since the digital multi-function peripheral has a function of cooperating with the audit system in the network system, it is possible to suppress acts such as copying of confidential manuscripts and documents that are malicious to the user, and scanning and taking them out.

  The image data audit system according to the present invention cooperates with an authentication server in which user authentication information is centrally managed on a LAN (Local Area Network), and acquires various attributes of the user who uses the MFP from the authentication server. , And hold it in association with the read image data. This eliminates the need for pre-processing such as selecting a confidential document in advance and embedding additional information about the user in the document, and it is possible to acquire an image log for any document or document at any time without omission. became. And it led to improving the reliability of the scanned image data audit for information leakage.

  In addition, since the image data audit system according to the present invention cooperates with a larger external image storage area, the capacity of the image storage area inside the digital multi-function peripheral overflows. This does not cause the troubles seen in the conventional example that makes it impossible. In addition, it is possible to dynamically change the compression rate and accumulation mode during image accumulation according to user attributes and the remaining capacity of the image accumulation area. For this reason, it has become possible to construct a more reliable system in the security audit system that acquires image logs.

  On the other hand, by managing the image log compression method and storage presence / absence as a part of user attribute information, and associating the image log with voice and user attributes, the reliability policy of the image log stored in the MFP is set as a system operation. Can be changed and managed. As a result, it is possible to improve the scalability of the image log audit system.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image data inspection system according to the present invention.

  1 and 100 are MFPs (Multi-Function Peripherals). The MFP 100 is a digital multifunction peripheral having a scanner function, a printer function, a FAX function, a network function, and the like. The MFP 100 is operated by software included in the device, and includes a login unit 101 for user authentication, a user authority realizing unit 102 for realizing the MFP operation authority of the user given based on the authentication, In addition, each has image data temporary storage means 103 for temporarily storing image data for processing when the user reads a document. The login unit 101 includes a UI function for user authentication.

  1 and 110 are image log servers. The image log server 110 includes image data storage means 111 for acquiring image data read by the MFP 100 via a network and storing the image data using an electrical or magnetic method.

  1 and 120 are authentication servers. Authentication server 120 centrally manages user authentication information for using MFP 100 and information related to user authority. User authentication information and information related to user authority are held in the data storage device held by the authentication server 120 by the authentication data management means 122.

  Further, the authentication server 120 includes an authentication unit 121 that realizes user authentication in cooperation with the login unit 101 of the MFP 100, and an authority grant unit 123 that grants an operation authority to the user when the user is correctly authenticated. ing. Note that the authority granting unit 123 operates in cooperation with the user authority realizing unit 102 provided in the MFP 100, the operation authority for the MFP 100 of the user who is correctly authenticated is granted, and the operation restriction according to the authority is realized. .

  1 and 130 are management clients. The management client 130 is composed of a general-purpose PC, and is connected to the image log server 110 through a network in order to retrieve and reference image data from the image data storage unit 111.

  Next, an image data holding flow when reading an original in MFP 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The user must go through uniform authentication when using the functions of the MFP 100 (S200). This is for limiting the use of the MFP 100 to users who have the authority to use the functions of the MFP 100, and for limiting the functions that can be used for each user by assigning MFP functions according to the user's authority. As a result, for example, it is possible to limit the number of copies that can be made for each user, limit color or black and white, and limit functions other than copying, such as FAX and scanner. Become.

  User authentication is implemented by the login means 101 in FIG. In this embodiment, authentication data necessary for user authentication is managed by the authentication data management unit 122, and the MFP 100 is connected to the authentication server 120 via the network, and the authentication unit 121 and the authority granting unit 123 realized by the authentication server 120. Done. More specifically, the authentication server can be realized by an LDAP server that supports an authentication protocol. In this case, an authentication protocol based on SSL / TLS, Kerberos, Challenge and Response method, or the like can be applied.

  As a result of user authentication, the MFP 100 receives information specifying the authority of the authenticated user from the authentication server 120 (S201). Furthermore, the function restriction according to the user authority is realized by the user authority realizing unit 102. Through the above process, the user can use the MFP function within the range of authority given to the MFP 100.

  FIG. 2 S202 describes a process in which an MFP operation by an authenticated user is performed. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user reads a document using a copy or scan function. The read original is converted into digital image data through various image processing steps (not shown), and the image data is associated with the user authority (attribute) determined at the time of user authentication (S203). The user authority (attribute) includes, for example, user ID information that uniquely identifies the user, MFP operation authority given to the user, information that directly specifies the data storage method, and the like.

  The MFP 100 temporarily stores the read image data in the image data temporary storage unit 103. The image storage system according to the present invention does not hold the image data as it is, but stores it after compressing it in a method that can realize a predetermined compression rate according to the image data storage attribute, or the data storage itself Has a function of bypassing. The image data storage attribute can be set in accordance with a predetermined algorithm (S204).

  For example, if the guest user uses the MFP 100 as a result of user authentication, the image data is stored at a high resolution compression rate, while a user having management authority compresses the image data using a low resolution compression method. accumulate. Further, it is possible to determine the image data storage attribute by dynamically changing it according to the user's operation. For example, when a plurality of copies of a document are read, it is possible to specify that the first copy of the image data is stored in the image storage area.

  The predetermined image data storage attribute for realizing the image data storage attribute determination step S204 is separately defined as a part of the user attribute and is managed by the authentication data management unit 122 of the authentication data management unit 122 of the authentication server 120. ing. Accordingly, the image data storage attribute can be changed later by changing user-specific data for authentication.

  When the image data storage attribute is determined (S204), it is next determined whether or not to store the read image data based on the image data storage attribute (S205).

  For example, a user who has the system administrator authority of the MFP 100 may designate “do not store image data” in the above-described image data storage attribute on the premise of a security policy of giving full trust. Conceivable. When this attribute is designated, image data storage processing, which will be described later, is bypassed in the determination process. When determining whether or not to store image data (S205), if image data is to be stored, the process proceeds to an image storage determination step of S206. On the other hand, when the image data is not accumulated, the process proceeds to a logout determination step in S209.

  S206 is a step of actually compressing the read image data according to the compression rate of the image data determined based on the image data storage attribute determination step S204 after acquiring the image data. As a result of this processing step, the storage capacity necessary for storing the image data in the image data temporary storage means is found.

  Therefore, in the next S207, a comparison process is performed between the storable data capacity of the image data temporary storage unit 103 inherent in the MFP 100 and the compressed image data capacity. Here, when the compressed image data size exceeds the storable data capacity, the process shifts to the data discarding and the operation canceling in S210. On the other hand, if the accumulation does not exceed the brain capacity, the process proceeds to S 208, where the accumulation is actually executed in the image data temporary accumulation unit 103.

  By the way, when it is determined in the data storage possibility determination step S207 that the compressed image data cannot be stored, the process transitions to the discarding of the read image data and the user operation canceling step (S210) as described above. To do. This is to prevent the user operation from being executed continuously when the MFP 100 cannot store an image when the image log must be stored, and is a process for ensuring the integrity of image data tracking. is there.

  When the capacity of the image data temporary storage unit 103 is reduced and the processing step S210 is performed, the image data held in the image data temporary storage unit 103 is moved so that the next user operation can be performed. There is a need to.

  In the data storage apparatus according to the present invention, the image log server 110 in FIG. 1 performs processing for this purpose. That is, the image data is downloaded from the image data temporary storage unit 103 of the MFP 100 via the network.

  The timing at which the image log server 110 sucks image data from the MFP 100 is performed in the processing step S211 after the MFP 100 reaches the processing step S210. That is, an event is actively issued from the MFP 100 when the data storage capacity of the image data temporary storage unit 103 decreases and the user operation cannot be continued any more (S211). As a result, the image log server 110 can know the timing of copying image data from the MFP 100.

  After notifying the image log server 110 of the event in S <b> 211, the MFP 100 transitions to a processing step S <b> 209 that determines logout of the user. Here, it is determined whether or not the user explicitly logs out. When logging out, a series of processing flow of the document reading operation is completed.

  On the other hand, if the user is not logged out, the process transitions again to the process step S202 and waits for a state in which the user continues to operate the MFP. Here, when the image data temporary storage area of MFP 100 is small and an operation for reading an image cannot be performed, MFP operations other than the operation for reading an image are released to the user.

  Next, the image data siphoning process on the image log server 110 side will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The image log server 110 receives notification from the MFP 100 to suck up image data through the network. The notification protocol may follow a standard known protocol or a private proprietary protocol. The image data inspection system according to the present invention is not a main part of the invention, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

  The image log server 110 that has received the notification once disconnects the notification session from the MFP 100 side, and then makes a session connection to the MFP 100 from the image log server 110 side again (S301).

  The image log server 110 immediately copies all the compressed image data held in the image data temporary storage unit 103 of the MFP 100 to its own image data storage unit 111 (S302). After all the compressed image data is copied from the image data temporary storage means 103 of the MFP 100, the MFP 100 is issued an instruction to delete the image data in the image data temporary storage area of the MFP 100, and the compressed image data is stored. Deletion is executed (S303). After the deletion of the compressed image data is executed, the MFP 100 subtracts the deleted image data capacity from the remaining data storage area (S304). A series of these processes is performed so that the externally compressed image data is moved from the MFP 100 to the image log server 110.

  Note that these image data movement processes may be performed in units of compressed image data, or may be performed using the entire image capacity stored in the image data temporary storage unit 103 as one unit. Which form is taken may be determined as a system specification in connection with an increase in network traffic caused by image data flowing in the network.

  In addition, the above-described image data movement processing of the image log server 110 has a mechanism in which the MFP 100 can write the activation in the embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the image log server 110 itself periodically sets the MFP 100 to the MFP 100. Polling may be performed to confirm the remaining amount of the image data temporary storage means 103 and to move the compressed image data.

  In this way, for example, image data movement processing is realized by concentrating on a time zone with low nighttime network traffic, while image data is temporarily stored during daytime and while the user frequently uses the MFP 100. Even when the remaining amount of the storage means 103 is insufficient, the image data can be moved asynchronously by the image log server, and an effective image data auditing system can be constructed.

  The image log server 110 stores all image data that is finally obtained when the user scans a document with the MFP 100. The image data storage unit 111 is realized by using a large-capacity electrical or magnetic storage unit, but its capacity is finite. The image data storage unit 111 has a sufficient capacity to store a large amount of image data, and can hold the image data for a certain period of time. However, since the capacity itself is finite, it is needless to say that the system administrator needs to regularly perform image data backup work.

  The management client 130 is connected to the image recording server 110 via a network, and can search for an image log and specify a user who has operated the MFP 100 by a user having audit authority. In order to use the management client 130, login to the system according to the present invention, that is, user authentication is required. The management client 130 can also be connected to the authentication server 120 via a network (not shown), and only a user who is authenticated as a user having the system management authority or the image log auditing authority is concerned. Use of 130 is permitted.

  The management client 130 is usually composed of a general-purpose PC, but in the system according to the present invention, in particular, the stored image data search reference means 131 is provided in the management client 130. A user who has been authenticated by the management client 130 accesses the image log server 110 using the stored image data search reference unit 131 and searches for image data stored in the image data storage unit 111 and user attributes related thereto. Refer to it. In the system according to the present invention, when searching for image data, the system is configured to use a known search algorithm.

It is a block diagram of the image data inspection system concerning this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow from reading a document to storing image data in the MFP of the image data inspection system according to the present invention. It is the flowchart explaining the image data movement processing flow in the image log server of the image data inspection system concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 MFP
101 Login means 102 User authority realization means 103 Image data primary storage means 110 Image log server 111 Image data storage means 120 Authentication server 121 Authentication means 122 Authentication data management means 123 Authority grant means 130 Management client 131 Stored image data search reference means

Claims (6)

  Login means for realizing user authentication, user authority realizing means for realizing the operation authority of a specific user obtained as a result of the user authentication, and the user reads the document temporarily, and the image data of the document is electrically or magnetically A digital multi-function peripheral having image data temporary storage means for storing the stored image data in an image storage area in association with the user attribute that has been authenticated by the user, and configured by an external server under a predetermined condition An image data inspection system, wherein image data is moved to an image storage area.   The image data auditing system according to claim 1, wherein the image data storage method is changed in accordance with a user attribute determined at the time of user authentication.   2. The image data auditing system according to claim 1, wherein the image data storage method is changed according to whether the user attribute obtained as a result of the user authentication is a color copy execution authority or a monochrome copy execution authority. .   2. The image data inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the image data storage method is changed according to the remaining capacity of the image storage area in the digital multi-function peripheral.   When the remaining capacity of the image storage area inside the digital multifunction peripheral falls below a predetermined value, the digital multifunction peripheral notifies the external image storage means, and when the image storage means outside the digital multifunction peripheral receives the notification, 2. The image data inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the image data inspection system is connected to the digital multifunction peripheral and moves image data inside the digital multifunction peripheral.   User authentication in the digital multi-function peripheral is performed in cooperation with an authentication server that is connected to the LAN and centrally manages all information related to user authentication and access authority. As a result of successful user authentication, The image data inspection system according to claim 1, wherein a user attribute based on an access authority or the like of the user managed by the authentication server is assigned.

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