JP2007316694A - Authentication device, electronic equipment, and program for authentication - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an authentication technique for preventing information leakage to a maintenance personnel to continue maintenance in safety when the maintenance is performed by a maintenance personnel. <P>SOLUTION: Electronic equipment comprises a first authentication means performing authentication processing of a password for the maintenance personnel; a second authentication means performing the authentication processing under an on or off state of the switch of the equipment by means of a physical key; and a control means allowing the execution of prescribed processing such as initializing processing of a manager password when the authentication by the first and the second authentication means are completed successfully. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to authentication technology, and in particular, there is a risk that internal information may be leaked to a maintenance staff or the internal information may be tampered with when a device administrator requests maintenance from a maintenance staff. It relates to safe authentication technology that can be avoided.

  With the growing awareness of the importance of security in companies, higher security is required not only for the Internet and personal computers, but also for electronic devices that handle data such as copy / facsimile multifunction peripherals. In response to this heightened awareness, in recent years it has become common for electronic devices such as copier / facsimile multifunction peripherals to set a password for an administrator. In such a device, since the administrator inputs a dedicated password to access the device, security can be ensured.

  However, such password management has one weakness. That is, a situation may occur in which the administrator of the device forgets the administrator password (administrator password), which is the administrator's own password. In other words, if the administrator forgets the administrator password, there may arise a problem that the administrator's setting cannot be canceled, rather than starting the apparatus. In such a case, a method has been employed in which the administrator password is initialized or the password is reset so that the password can be reset.

  The administrator who forgot the administrator password is the same as the general user, and allowing the administrator who has forgotten the administrator password to initialize the administrator password allows the general user to initialize the administrator password. There is a security problem. For this reason, it is necessary to leave the administrator password initialization to the maintenance staff of the device. In this case, the maintenance personnel handled the following.

  As a first countermeasure, there is a method of contacting maintenance personnel and having the entire device information including the administrator password initialized by the maintenance personnel menu. Here, the maintenance staff menu is a menu for facilitating maintenance by the maintenance staff and assisting the maintenance staff. In this method, since the entire device information is initialized, there is no security problem, but all device information is lost. Therefore, it is necessary to re-register all the phone book information and operation parameters that have already been registered in the apparatus, and there is a problem that work loss such as re-registration is large.

  As a second countermeasure, there is a method of contacting the maintenance staff and having only the administrator password initialized by the maintenance staff menu. In this case, it is possible for a malicious maintenance person or spoofing maintenance person to enter the administrator menu by using the initialized administrator password, and to tamper with or take out the data in the device. .

  As a third countermeasure, there is a method in which the maintenance password can be changed without contacting the maintenance staff and inputting the current password from the maintenance staff menu. In this case, there is a possibility that the maintenance person himself changes the administrator password and enters the administrator menu, and the data in the apparatus is altered or taken out.

  If the administrator notices that the password has been initialized even though he / she has not changed the administrator password, the administrator may have initialized the password. I can notice. However, it is too late to notice that the password has been initialized, and internal information such as user information and telephone directory information may have already been leaked, resulting in a security problem.

  Against this background, several methods have been proposed as countermeasures against forgotten passwords.

  For example, there is a technique in which a plurality of passwords are provided for one manager ID, and even if one password is forgotten, the ID can be reissued using a second password (Patent Document 1).

  Also, a technique has been proposed in which a setting agent is provided and the setting agent performs a password reissue process safely and quickly when the authentication information (password) is forgotten (Patent Document 2).

  However, these methods have other difficulties.

  For example, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, when the second password is forgotten, it is inevitable that the maintenance staff of the device must be called. Further, as in the invention described in Patent Document 2, even when the login by the administrator ID can be restored by the setting agent without going through the maintenance staff, it is complicated such as a copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral. When it comes to complex machines, there are many situations where expert knowledge of maintenance personnel is required to set internal information appropriately. For this reason, even if a countermeasure for forgetting the password for the administrator ID is sufficiently implemented, the risk of information leakage will not be eliminated unless maintenance work by maintenance personnel can be avoided. For example, since the information handled by the administrator includes confidential information in the company, customer information, and the like, it is desirable to restrict registration and reference to maintenance personnel who are outsiders. However, there are many cases where it is necessary to provide information including confidential information to maintenance personnel for early failure resolution, which is difficult in practice. In addition, there are many users who have little security awareness for maintenance personnel.

  Therefore, the following techniques have been proposed as techniques for solving the above problems. In other words, this is a technique for ensuring security by an administrator performing settings for restricting the operation of maintenance personnel using an administrator menu (Patent Document 3).

In addition, authentication of maintenance personnel is performed using a password from the operation panel of the multifunction device, and if both the conditions of “successful authentication process” and “permitted to be set” are satisfied, the user can log in to the setting screen to maintain confidentiality. There are technologies to prevent information leakage. In other words, if the administrator's side sets the work restriction of the maintenance staff (CE) in advance, the access to the internal information of the maintenance staff is restricted, for example, “control data is allowed, confidential data is not allowed”. (Patent Document 4).
JP 2002-024181 A JP 2005-031884 A JP 2004-303215 A JP 2005-222464 A

  However, the proposed technique also has a big problem.

  In other words, when the device administrator has restricted work for the maintenance staff, if the device administrator loses the authentication means due to forgetting the password or the like, the means for releasing the work restriction cannot be executed, and maintenance work (maintenance) Can not be.

  In order to deal with this problem, a remedy is disclosed in which only the administrator password initialization process can be operated even when the work restriction is turned on. However, this technique detracts from the original idea of restricting operation for maintenance personnel. As long as the maintenance staff can freely initialize the administrator password, a security problem still occurs.

  On the other hand, there may be a misconception that the work restriction was not actually made because the work restriction was intended.

  Accordingly, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that authentication is performed so that maintenance can be safely continued even if the password corresponding to the management ID is forgotten when maintenance is performed by a maintenance person, preventing leakage of information to maintenance personnel. Is to provide technology.

  A first invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is an authentication device, wherein a first authentication means for performing a password authentication process for maintenance personnel and a second authentication for performing an authentication process using a physical key And a control means for permitting a predetermined process when authentication by the first authentication means and the second authentication means is successful.

  A second invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is an electronic device, wherein the first authentication means for performing the authentication process for the maintenance personnel password and the authentication process in a state where the switch is turned on or off by a physical key And a control means for executing an administrator password initialization process when the authentication by the first authentication means and the second authentication means is successful. .

  A third invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is a program for an authentication device, wherein the authentication device is authenticated using first authentication means for performing authentication processing of a maintenance personnel password and a physical key. And a second authentication unit that performs the above and a control unit that permits a predetermined process when authentication by the first authentication unit and the second authentication unit is successful.

  A fourth invention for solving the above-described problem is a program for an electronic device, in which the electronic device is switched on or off by a first authentication means for performing authentication processing of a maintenance personnel password and a physical key. Second authentication means for performing authentication processing in an off state, and functioning as control means for executing initialization processing of an administrator password when authentication by the first authentication means and the second authentication means is successful It is characterized by making it.

  A fifth invention for solving the above-described problem is an authentication device, comprising: an authentication unit that performs an authentication process using a physical key; and an authentication process different from the authentication process that uses the physical key. And authentication means to perform, and control means for permitting predetermined processing when all the authentication by the plurality of authentication means is successful.

  With the above configuration, high security can be ensured when maintenance is performed by maintenance personnel.

  The reason is that since the present invention has two different authentication means, each authentication means can be assigned to different persons.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 2 are for explaining an embodiment of an electronic device with an authentication function according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram and FIG. 2 is a flowchart.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a5 is an electronic device with an authentication function according to the present invention, and here is a copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral (hereinafter, sometimes abbreviated as multifunction peripheral a5). The operators who operate the multifunction machine a5 are roughly divided into users and maintenance personnel. The administrator a2 is an administrator who manages the multifunction machine a5. a3 is a general user who uses the multifunction peripheral a5. Here, the administrator a2 and the general user a3 are humans and users who have purchased the copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral a5. Reference numeral a4 denotes a CE (customer engineer) belonging to a company that makes a maintenance contract with a customer who has purchased the multifunction machine a5 and contracts maintenance, and is a maintenance worker who performs maintenance of the multifunction machine a5.

  a1 is a physical key stored by the administrator a2, and is a tool that is inserted into the switch of the multi-function device a5 and used to turn on or off the switch. When performing maintenance of the copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral a5, the administrator uses the key to turn on the switch of the multifunction peripheral a5 to permit maintenance by the maintenance staff.

  Here, the configuration of the multifunction peripheral a5 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The multi-function device a5 includes an authentication switch a51, an authentication switch status register a52, a maintenance staff operation processing unit a53, an administrator operation processing unit a54, a device information storage area a55, and a copy facsimile function unit a56. .

  The authentication switch a51 is a switch for permitting an administrator password initialization operation performed by maintenance personnel, and can be turned on or off by an operation key a1 stored by the administrator a2. .

  The authentication switch state register a52 is a storage element for storing the state (on or off) of the authentication switch a51. When the administrator a2 switches the authentication switch a51 using the operation key a1, the state of the switch after the switching is reflected in the authentication switch state register a52.

  The maintenance worker operation processing unit a53 is a processing unit that actually processes in response to an instruction given by the maintenance worker via the maintenance worker menu. Here, the maintenance staff menu is a menu for maintenance staff provided in the multifunction machine a5 for facilitating maintenance of the maintenance staff a4 and assisting the maintenance staff, and is provided in a touch panel format here. Is. The maintenance staff menu is activated when the password is correctly authenticated by the maintenance staff a4. The maintenance person a4 can perform work by selecting the content of maintenance using this menu when the operation is not restricted by the administrator. When the operation is restricted, the menu operation is prohibited.

  The administrator operation processing unit a54 is a processing unit that actually processes in response to an instruction given by the administrator via the administrator menu. Here, the administrator menu is a menu provided in the multifunction machine a5 so that the administrator of the multifunction machine a5 can easily perform various management tasks and assist the administrator's work. The administrator a2 can operate the administrator menu after password authentication, and can use this menu to select the contents of the management work and perform the work. In addition, since the technique regarding such an operation menu is known, detailed description is omitted.

  The device information storage area a55 is set when an administrator password that is a password for an administrator, a maintenance person password that is a password for maintenance personnel, and a range of maintenance work that can be performed by maintenance personnel. This is a storage area for storing maintenance staff operation restriction information and other device information.

  Here, the maintenance worker operation restriction information is a flag that is set by the administrator using the administrator menu when the operation is restricted to the maintenance personnel, and indicates ON or OFF. Maintenance staff operation restriction information can be changed only from the administrator menu, and maintenance staff a4 and general user a3 cannot change settings. The other device information includes, for example, checking the usage status of maintenance parts accessed by maintenance personnel, fine adjustment data of the scanner / printer unit, use permission setting information of individual support functions, network setting information accessed by the administrator, copy There are initial parameter information and telephone directory information when using the facsimile function. When only the authenticated user is permitted to use the copy facsimile apparatus, information on the authenticated user is also stored.

  The copy facsimile function unit a56 is a processing unit for realizing the copy, scanner, and facsimile functions, and accepts the display of the maintenance staff menu / administrator menu and the operation from the operator, and controls the device.

  Furthermore, the configuration of each processing unit and functional unit will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

  The maintenance personnel operation processing unit a53 includes a maintenance personnel authentication unit a531, an authentication switch state determination unit a532, a maintenance personnel operation restriction information determination unit a533, an administrator password initialization unit a534, and a device information setting reference unit a535. Have

  The maintenance staff authentication unit a531 provides an authentication unit for verifying whether the maintenance staff a4 is a correct maintenance staff. Specifically, the password entered by the maintenance person a4 is compared with the maintenance person password stored in the device information storage area a55, and if they match, the password is authenticated as the correct password (correct maintenance person). Then, launch the maintenance staff menu and allow maintenance personnel to operate. If it is determined that they do not match, the maintenance staff menu is not launched and the operation by the maintenance staff a4 is prohibited.

  The authentication switch state determination unit a532 refers to the authentication switch state register to determine whether the authentication switch a51 is on or off.

  The maintenance worker operation restriction information determination unit a533 checks whether or not an operation restriction is imposed on the maintenance staff. Specifically, the maintenance personnel operation restriction information stored in the device information storage area a55 is checked, and if the maintenance personnel operation restriction information is in the off state, the maintenance personnel menu can be operated to enable maintenance personnel operation. Allow operations. On the other hand, if the maintenance personnel operation restriction information is in the ON state, maintenance personnel operation restriction information determination unit a533 prohibits maintenance personnel menu 4 from being operated by maintenance personnel a4.

  The administrator password initialization unit a534 initializes the administrator password in the device information storage area a55.

  The device information setting reference unit a535 is a part that receives the instruction content requested from the maintenance staff via the maintenance staff menu and performs the actual maintenance processing when the maintenance staff a4 performs maintenance using the maintenance staff menu. . Specific maintenance processing includes fine adjustment of parameters of scanner / printer mechanism and image parameter adjustment, reference of maintenance part failure / life information, permission setting for use of individual support function, failure when an image error or device operation error occurs Information collection, device information initialization, firmware update, etc.

  Next, the administrator operation processing unit a54 includes an administrator authentication unit a541, a maintenance personnel operation restriction information setting unit a542, an administrator password changing unit a543, and a device information setting reference unit a544.

  The administrator authentication unit a541 provides an authentication unit for confirming whether the administrator a2 is a correct administrator. Specifically, the password input by the administrator a2 is compared with the administrator password stored in the device information storage area a55, and if they match, it is authenticated that the password is correct (correct administrator). Then, the administrator menu is launched and the operation of the administrator a2 is permitted. If it is determined that they do not match, the administrator menu is not launched and the operation by the administrator a2 is prohibited.

  The maintenance worker operation restriction information setting unit a542 rewrites the maintenance person operation restriction information in the device information storage area a55 from off to on or from on to off. Specifically, upon receiving a request from the copy facsimile function unit a56 to restrict the operation to the maintenance staff, the maintenance staff operation restriction information in the device information storage area a55 is rewritten to ON, and the operation restriction is applied to the maintenance staff. do. On the contrary, when a request for canceling the operation restriction for the maintenance staff is received from the copy facsimile function unit a56, the maintenance staff operation restriction information in the device information storage area a55 is rewritten to be off, and the operation restriction for the maintenance staff is released. .

  In response to the administrator password change request, the administrator password change unit a543 rewrites the administrator password in the device information storage area a55.

When the administrator a2 performs management work using the administrator menu, the device information setting reference unit a544 receives a request for an instruction requested from the administrator via the administrator menu, and actually processes the management work. It is a part to do. The specific management process includes network settings, initial parameter settings when using the copy facsimile function, registration / reference of speed dial and phone book information,
For example, registration / reference of authenticated user information when the apparatus permits the use of the copy facsimile apparatus only to the authenticated user.

  The copy facsimile function unit a56 includes a scanner / printer unit a561, a communication control unit a562, a network control unit a563, a display unit a564, and a user operation control unit a565.

  The scanner / printer unit a561 performs scanning processing and printing processing.

  The communication control unit a562 controls communication with a FAX machine via a WAN line such as a public network or an ISDN network.

  The network control unit a563 is a control unit for connecting to a LAN and communicating with an IP device such as an IP address FAX or a personal computer.

  The display unit a564 is a touch panel type display device, and displays an administrator menu, a maintenance staff menu, various messages to the operator, and the like.

  The user operation control unit a565 instructs the administrator password initialization unit a534 to execute the administrator password initialization process according to the authentication result. Specifically, when the authentication by the maintenance staff is successful and the authentication switch a51 is in the ON state, the administrator password initialization unit a534 is instructed to execute the administrator password initialization process. Further, according to the authentication result, various messages such as a start / stop confirmation message for the maintenance staff menu are displayed on the display unit a564, and an interface between the operator and the device main body is provided. For example, the user operation control unit a565 refers to the maintenance staff operation restriction information in the device information storage section a55, and when the maintenance staff operation restriction information is in an off state, the maintenance staff menu is activated so that the maintenance staff can operate. To do. On the other hand, if the maintenance personnel operation restriction is on, a predetermined message such as “maintenance operation is prohibited” is displayed on the display unit a564 of the copy facsimile function unit a56. In this case, maintenance personnel cannot perform operations.

  It is desirable that the authentication switch a51 that is turned on / off by the operation key a1 has a structure that makes it difficult to disassemble the device so that it is not easily altered by the maintenance person a4. Also, it is desirable that the register information is not disclosed so that the authentication switch status register a52 is not operated by the maintenance person a4 so that the corresponding register operation from the maintenance person menu or the like cannot be performed. Furthermore, a write-protect register is prepared, and when a corresponding register operation is performed, the configuration is such that it is necessary to change the setting of the write-protect register to write permission first and then write to the maintenance staff a4. It is desirable that the authentication switch state register a52 is not changed by the register operation.

  The operation of the electronic device with an authentication function configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

  Note that, here, “initialization of the administrator password” will be described as an example of processing to which the authentication technique of the present invention is applied, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the authentication technology of the present invention may be applied when executing the format (initialization) of a storage medium containing important data, or the authentication technology of the present invention is applied when executing a shutdown (device stop) command. It is good. Further, here, a “copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral” will be described as an example of an electronic device to which the authentication technology of the present invention is applied, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a medical device that requires operational safety may be used as an application target electronic device, or a general-purpose computer that operates in a mission critical mission-critical system may be used as an application target electronic device.

  In a normal service in which maintenance of the copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral a5 is not performed, the administrator a2 who attaches importance to security turns on the maintenance worker operation restriction for the purpose of restricting the operation on the maintenance worker a4. The authentication operation at this time will be described first.

  When an administrator password is input from the input unit a57 by the administrator a2, the administrator authentication unit a541 compares the administrator password registered in advance in the device information storage area a55 with the input password for authentication. Do.

  If the passwords match (if authentication is successful), the administrator menu is activated. When maintenance personnel operation restriction information is set to ON by the administrator a2 via the administrator menu, the maintenance worker operation restriction information setting unit a542 rewrites maintenance personnel operation restriction information in the device information storage area a55 to ON. . Then, the maintenance person a4 can no longer perform operations in the maintenance person menu. When an operation in the maintenance staff menu such as trouble investigation or periodic inspection becomes necessary, the administrator a2 temporarily switches off the maintenance staff operation restriction information in the administrator menu. It is necessary to allow the operation.

  Next, an operation of authentication when the maintenance staff a4 performs maintenance of the multifunction peripheral a5 in a periodic inspection or the like will be described.

  When the maintenance person password is input from the input unit a57 by the maintenance person a4 (step S0), the maintenance person authentication part a531 uses the maintenance person password registered in advance in the device information storage area a55 and the input password. Compare and authenticate (step S1).

  If the passwords match (step S2: authentication successful), the maintenance staff menu is launched, and then the authentication switch state determination unit a532 refers to the authentication switch state register a52 to determine the state of the authentication switch a51 (on or off). Is determined (step S3).

  If it is determined that the authentication switch is off, the maintenance personnel operation restriction information determination unit a533 further checks maintenance personnel operation restriction information in the device information storage area a55 (step S4), and maintenance personnel operation restriction is performed. If it is also in the OFF state, the operation in the maintenance staff menu becomes possible (step S5). On the other hand, if the maintenance personnel operation restriction is on, the user operation control unit a565 displays a message such as “Operation not permitted. Please contact the administrator” on the display unit a564 (step S10). ). At this time, the user operation control unit a565 receives an instruction to end the maintenance staff menu and ends the maintenance staff menu (step S6).

  Incidentally, the administrator a2 may forget the administrator password. The authentication operation associated with this case is as follows.

  First, the administrator a2 contacts the maintenance person a4 and goes to the installation location of the corresponding multifunction machine a5.

  After the maintenance person a4 arrives, the authentication switch a51 is changed to the ON state by the administrator a2 using the authentication switch operation key a1. In this state, when the maintenance person password is input from the input part a57 by the maintenance person a4 (step S0), the maintenance person authentication part a531 inputs the maintenance person password registered in advance in the device information storage area a55. Authentication is performed by comparing with the password thus obtained (step S1).

  If the passwords match (authentication success), the authentication switch state determination unit a532 refers to the authentication switch state register a52 to determine the state (on or off) of the authentication switch a51 (step S3). In this case, since the authentication switch state register a52 stores the state of the switch indicating ON, it is determined that the state of the authentication switch a51 is ON. Then, the user operation control unit a565 displays a confirmation message for confirmation on the display unit a564 of the copy facsimile function unit a56 (step S7). This confirmation message is a message including content for confirming that the administrator password is to be initialized, such as “Do you want to initialize the administrator password?”.

  If YES is selected in response to this confirmation message (step S8), the user operation control unit a565 requests the administrator password initialization unit a534 to initialize the administrator password, and the administrator password initialization unit performs device information. The administrator password in the storage area a55 is initialized (step S9). When the initialization of the administrator password is completed, the user operation control unit a565 receives an instruction to end the maintenance staff menu from the maintenance staff and ends the maintenance staff menu (step S6). At this time, the user operation control unit a565 may display a message that prompts the maintenance person a4 to end the maintenance person menu.

  When No is selected for this confirmation message (step S8: No), the administrator password initialization unit a534 does not initialize the administrator password in the device information storage area a55, and the user operation control unit a565 In response to a maintenance staff menu end instruction from maintenance staff a4, the maintenance staff menu is terminated.

  When the initialization of the administrator password is completed, the administrator a2 next changes (resets) the initial password when the administrator password is initialized to another password that the maintenance staff does not know.

  First, the administrator a2 inputs the administrator password from the input unit a57 while keeping the authentication switch on. Then, the administrator authentication unit a541 performs authentication by comparing the input password with the administrator password registered in advance in the device information storage area a55 and the input password.

  If the passwords match (if authentication is successful), the administrator menu is activated. When the administrator a2 requests to change the administrator password via the administrator menu, the administrator password changing unit a543 responds to the request and rewrites the administrator password in the device information storage area a55.

  Next, the administrator a2 who attaches importance to the security for the maintenance worker a4 confirms that the maintenance worker operation restriction is turned on. Then, the authentication switch a51 is returned to the off state by the authentication switch operation key a1 managed by the administrator a2. As a result, there is no risk that the administrator password will be changed by the maintenance person a4. At this time, in the state where the maintenance personnel operation restriction is off, when the maintenance personnel authentication is successful, the user operation control unit a565 activates the maintenance personnel menu and enables the maintenance personnel to perform the operation. On the other hand, when the maintenance personnel operation restriction is on, even if the maintenance personnel password is entered by trying to activate the maintenance personnel menu and the authentication is successful, the user operation control unit a565 prompts the maintenance personnel to the maintenance personnel menu. Is not permitted, and a message such as “Operation not permitted. Please contact the administrator” is displayed on the display unit a564. The maintenance person a4 cannot perform an operation using the maintenance person menu.

  In the first embodiment, the copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral is different from the first authentication unit using the maintenance person's password and the second authentication unit using the authentication switch using a physical key. Since the authentication unit is provided and authentication is performed by different persons, high security can be ensured when the administrator password is initialized. In addition, by ensuring high security, it is possible to initialize only the administrator password without initializing the entire device information, so even if the administrator forgets the administrator password, efficient recovery is possible. It becomes possible.

  In the first embodiment, when “authentication by an authentication switch using a physical key” is performed and “maintenance personnel authentication using a password” is performed, control means (user operation control unit) ) Is allowed to initialize the administrator password, but the order of authentication can be reversed. In other words, the initialization of the administrator password may be performed on the condition that “authentication by an authentication switch using a physical key” is performed after “maintenance personnel authentication using a password” is performed. In this embodiment, password authentication is used for one of a plurality of different authentication means. However, “authentication by an authentication switch using a physical key” is used for one authentication means. If so, the other authentication means may be an authentication means other than password authentication. For example, fingerprint authentication may be used instead of password authentication.

  In the first embodiment, the administrator operation processing unit a54, the maintenance worker operation processing unit a53, and the copy facsimile function unit a56 are configured by hardware. However, some or all of the above-described units can be configured by an information processing apparatus that operates with a program that performs the above-described processing.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when performing the initialization of the administrator password, the conditions are “authentication of maintenance personnel using a password” and “authentication by an authentication switch using a physical key”. However, there are also the following embodiments. In other words, in addition to “authentication by the authentication switch using a physical key”, “the maintenance menu being displayed” may be used as the condition for initializing the administrator password.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 4 are for explaining a second embodiment of the electronic apparatus with an authentication function according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an overall block diagram and FIG. 4 is a flowchart.

  First, the configuration of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention includes an authentication switch change processing unit a58 in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, and also includes a maintenance worker operation processing unit a53. Maintenance staff menu display state setting means a536 is further provided, and maintenance staff menu display state information is further provided in the device information storage area a55. Since the other components are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  First, the configuration of the authentication switch change processing unit a58 will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

  The authentication switch change processing unit a58 determines whether the switch state of the authentication switch a51 is changed or whether the maintenance staff menu is displayed. The maintenance staff menu display state determination section a581 and the authentication switch state determination Part a582 and an administrator password initialization part a583.

  The maintenance staff menu display state determination unit a581 refers to the device information storage unit a55 and determines whether or not the maintenance menu is displayed on the display unit a564. If the maintenance person operation is restricted by the administrator a4, a message indicating that the maintenance person is restricted is displayed at the same time as the maintenance person menu is displayed. In this case, the maintenance staff cannot operate the maintenance staff menu, but the maintenance staff menu display state determination unit a581 determines that the maintenance staff menu is activated.

  When the state of the authentication switch a51 changes, the authentication switch state determination unit a582 detects the change in the state with reference to the authentication state register a52.

  The administrator password initialization unit a583 initializes the administrator password in the device information storage area a55 when the maintenance staff menu is displayed and the authentication switch is on.

  The maintenance staff menu display state setting means a 536 in the maintenance staff operation unit a53 rewrites the maintenance staff menu display state information in the device information storage section a55 when the maintenance staff menu is activated and the maintenance staff menu is launched. Specifically, when the maintenance staff menu is launched, the information is rewritten to a flag indicating that the maintenance staff menu is activated.

  The maintenance personnel menu display state information in the device information storage unit a55 is information indicating whether or not the maintenance personnel menu is displayed on the display unit a564. The maintenance staff menu display state determination unit a581 refers to this information to determine whether the maintenance staff menu is displayed on the maintenance staff menu display section a564.

  Next, the operation in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In this case as well, “initialization of the administrator password” will be described as an example of processing to which the authentication technique of the present invention is applied, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the authentication technology of the present invention may be applied when executing the format (initialization) of a storage medium containing important data, or the authentication technology of the present invention is applied when executing a shutdown (device stop) command. It is good. Further, although a “copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral” will be described as an example of an electronic device to which the authentication technology of the present invention is applied, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a medical device that requires operational safety may be used as an application target electronic device, or a general-purpose computer that operates in a mission critical mission-critical system may be used as an application target electronic device.

  When the administrator a2 forgets the administrator password, the maintenance person a4 is contacted and sent to the place where the copy / facsimile multifunction peripheral a5 is installed. Arriving maintenance person a4 inputs the maintenance person password. Then, the maintenance person authentication unit a531 authenticates whether the password is correct (step T1).

  Here, when maintenance personnel operation restriction information is set on by maintenance personnel operation restriction information setting unit a542 (that is, when maintenance personnel operation is restricted) or when maintenance personnel operation restriction information is set off (maintenance personnel operation) Two cases are assumed: when there is no restriction. If the maintenance personnel operation restriction is set to OFF by the administrator a2 and the authentication is successful, the user operation control unit a565 correctly starts the maintenance personnel menu. The maintenance staff is allowed to operate in the maintenance staff menu. On the other hand, if authentication is successful when the administrator a2 is set to ON for maintenance personnel operation restriction, the operation of maintenance personnel such as “Operation is not permitted. Please contact the administrator” is restricted. A message (operation restriction message) indicating this is displayed on the display unit a564 in a pop-up window. At this time, the maintenance staff menu itself is activated, but the maintenance staff menu operation by the maintenance staff is limited.

  After the authentication process (step T1) by the maintenance staff, the authentication switch a51 is turned on by the administrator a2 (step T3).

  Next, when the authentication by the maintenance staff is successful, the maintenance staff menu display state setting unit a536 uses the maintenance staff menu display state information in the device information storage section a55 as a flag “1” indicating that the maintenance staff menu is activated. To rewrite. In the case of authentication failure, the maintenance staff menu display state information is not rewritten, and the flag “0” indicating that the maintenance staff menu is not activated remains.

  Next, the maintenance staff menu display state determination unit a581 refers to the maintenance staff menu display state information in the device information storage section a55 to determine whether or not the maintenance staff menu is displayed (step T4).

  If the authentication switch a51 is changed from OFF to ON while the maintenance staff menu is displayed (step T4: Yes), the user operation control unit a565 displays a message such as "Do you want to initialize the administrator password?" Is displayed on the display part a564 (step T5). If Yes is selected at this time (step T6), the administrator password initialization unit a583 initializes the administrator password in the device information storage unit a55 (step T7). After the initialization of the administrator password, the process returns to step T3, which is a screen display when the authentication switch a51 is changed to ON (step T8).

  When the authentication switch a51 is changed to ON while the operation restriction message is displayed, the user operation control unit a565 similarly displays a message such as “Would you like to initialize the administrator password?” a564 is displayed (step T5). When Yes is selected (step T6), the administrator password initialization unit a583 initializes the administrator password in the device information storage unit a55 (step T7). After the administrator password initialization is completed, return to the display screen that displays an operation restriction message such as “Operation not permitted. Please contact the administrator.” Along with the maintenance staff menu (Step T3).

  If the administrator a2 is a careless administrator, the maintenance switch a51 is turned on even though the maintenance worker a4 is a spoofing maintenance worker who has not performed authentication processing. Is assumed. Alternatively, it is not difficult to assume a case where the maintenance switch a4 forgets to turn off the authentication switch and leaves the switch on.

  In this case, since the authentication process by the maintenance person a4 is not performed and the maintenance person menu is not activated (step T2), the maintenance person menu display state information in the device information storage unit a55 is not rewritten and remains a flag indicating OFF.

  When the authentication switch is turned on (step T3) in such a state, that is, in a state where the maintenance staff authentication has not succeeded and the maintenance staff menu and the operation restriction message are not displayed (step T2), authentication is performed. The maintenance staff menu display state determination section a581 of the switch change processing section a58 refers to the maintenance staff menu display state information and determines that the maintenance staff menu and the operation restriction message are not displayed on the screen (step T4: No). . Then, the user operation control unit a565 displays a message such as “Please turn off the authentication switch” (step T9). Here, a method of displaying a message is used as a notification means, but other methods may be used as long as the administrator can be notified that the authentication switch a51 is turned on. A message may be sent to the administrator by e-mail, or the switch may be turned off by voice from a speaker.

  When the authentication switch is turned off by the administrator a2, the authentication switch state determination unit a582 detects this, and the process returns to step T3 which is a screen display when the authentication switch a51 is turned on (step S3). T8).

  In the second embodiment, an authentication switch change processing unit a58 that detects a change in the authentication switch a51 is provided, and a message to be processed or displayed is changed depending on the screen state at the time when the authentication switch a51 is changed to ON. Therefore, the user operability is improved. In addition, maintenance personnel start the maintenance menu, and the administrator changes the authentication switch from off to on in that state, so the authentication switch is accidentally left in the on state, and maintenance personnel It is also possible to prevent the administrator password from being initialized before the menu is activated. In addition, the administrator password is initialized in a state where both the maintenance staff and the administrator who are in different positions surely exist on the spot, and high security is ensured.

  In this embodiment, the change in the state of the authentication switch a51 from OFF to ON is detected by the authentication switch change processing unit a58. However, the authentication switch state register a52 is periodically monitored. A change in state from off to on may be detected, or may be detected by setting a hardware configuration that activates an interrupt and performing interrupt processing.

  In the second embodiment, the administrator operation processing unit a54, the maintenance staff operation processing unit a53, the copy facsimile function unit a56, and the authentication switch change processing unit a58 are configured by hardware. However, some or all of the above-described units can be configured by an information processing apparatus that operates with a program that performs the above-described processing.

The block diagram which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

a1 Authentication switch operation key a2 Device administrator a3 General user using the device a4 Device maintenance personnel a5 Copy / facsimile multifunction device a6 FAX
a7 IP address FAX
a8 Personal computer a51 Authentication switch a52 Authentication switch status register a53 Maintenance staff operation processing unit a54 Administrator operation processing unit a55 Device information storage unit a56 Copy facsimile function unit a57 Input unit a58 Authentication switch change processing unit
Patent Applicant NEC Corporation
Agent Katsumi Udaka

Claims (7)

A first authentication means for performing a password authentication process for maintenance personnel;
A second authentication means for performing an authentication process using a physical key;
An authentication apparatus comprising: a control unit that permits a predetermined process when authentication by the first authentication unit and the second authentication unit is successful. A first authentication means for performing a password authentication process for maintenance personnel;
A second authentication means for performing authentication processing in a state where the switch is turned on or off by a physical key;
An electronic apparatus comprising: a control unit that executes an initialization process of an administrator password when authentication by the first authentication unit and the second authentication unit is successful.   3. The electronic device according to claim 2, further comprising a notifying unit that notifies the release of the switch when the first authentication unit is not authenticated and the switch of the second authentication unit is on. 4. . A first authentication means for performing authentication processing of a password for maintenance personnel on the authentication device;
A second authentication means for performing an authentication process using a physical key;
A program for an authentication apparatus that functions as a control unit that permits predetermined processing when authentication by the first authentication unit and the second authentication unit is successful. A first authenticating means for performing an authentication process of a password for maintenance personnel on the electronic device;
A second authentication means for performing authentication processing in a state where the switch is turned on or off by a physical key;
An electronic apparatus program that functions as a control unit that executes an initialization process of an administrator password when authentication by the first authentication unit and the second authentication unit is successful.   6. The authentication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the authentication is not performed by the first authentication means and the switch of the second authentication means is in an ON state, the authentication apparatus functions as a notification means for notifying the release of the switch. The electronic device program described in 1. An authentication means for performing an authentication process using a physical key;
Authentication means for performing an authentication process different from the authentication process using the physical key;
An authentication apparatus comprising: control means for permitting predetermined processing when all of the authentication by the plurality of authentication means is successful.

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