JP2009009272A - Electronic mail processor and electronic mail gateway device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology capable of appropriately processing an electronic mail having no mail text with respect to a gateway device which encrypts the electronic mail. <P>SOLUTION: The gateway device 2 is interposed between a client device 1 which transmits mail and an SMTP server 3. When receiving electronic mail with a plaintext from the client device 1, the gateway device 2 decides whether or not a mail text is included in the plaintext mail (step S1). When the mail text is included in the plaintext mail, the gateway device 2 performs electronic signature processing or encryption processing as usual (step S2). When there is no mail text, the gateway device 2 transmits the electronic mail with the plaintext to the SMTP server 3 without performing the electronic signature processing or the encryption processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus that performs encryption processing or electronic signature processing on electronic mail.

  Information exchange by e-mail is now frequently performed. However, since transmission / reception of electronic mail is performed via an unspecified communication path, the possibility of eavesdropping or falsification of electronic mail in the middle of the communication path cannot be denied. Therefore, an e-mail encryption system that encrypts e-mail has been developed so that the sending / receiving client can use the e-mail system with peace of mind.

  As a method for easily using an electronic mail encryption system, there is a method in which a gateway device for encrypting and decrypting electronic mail is interposed between a client device and a mail transmission / reception server. This gateway device can also serve as a simple mail transmission / reception server. The following patent documents 1 and 2 can be cited as documents disclosing the gateway device.

JP 2006-13747 A JP 2006-80805 A

  The mail gateway apparatus executes an encryption process or an electronic signature process corresponding to the destination mail address for the electronic mail received from the client apparatus. For example, encryption processing or electronic signature processing using S / MIME is executed.

  Therefore, for example, even an e-mail that does not necessarily have a mail text, such as an opening confirmation mail, may be subjected to encryption or electronic signature processing.

  Only the mail body is subject to encryption and digital signature processing in S / MIME, and the mail header portion is not subject. However, even if there is no body text, a fixed-length data is generated by a hash function, etc., so a fixed-length electronic signature is added to the mail body, and the mail body with the electronic signature added is encrypted. Will be. In the first place, it is inefficient to perform such a uniform process for an e-mail that does not have a mail body and does not require processing such as encryption and electronic signature.

  Also, suppose that there is a system that operates according to command mail that has no mail text. In this case, even if the sender using this system sends a command email without a mail text, the gateway device adds an electronic signature, and the recipient sends the electronic signature with the electronic signature. become. For this reason, there is a problem that the system cannot be normally operated, such as an error determination by the receiving system.

  Therefore, in view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an appropriate processing technique for an e-mail without a mail text for a gateway device that encrypts the e-mail.

  The invention described in claim 1 is an electronic mail processing apparatus comprising: encryption means for performing an encryption process on an electronic mail; and means for transmitting the electronic mail encrypted by the encryption means to a mail transmission server. When there is no mail text in the electronic mail, the electronic mail is transmitted to the mail transmission server without performing the encryption process.

  A second aspect of the present invention is an electronic mail process comprising: signature processing means for performing signature processing on an electronic mail; and means for transmitting an electronic mail with an electronic signature generated by the signature processing means to a mail transmission server. The apparatus is characterized in that, when an e-mail does not have a mail text, the e-mail is transmitted to the mail transmission server without adding an electronic signature.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided: means for receiving plain text e-mail from a mail client device; encryption means for performing encryption processing on the e-mail; and e-mail encrypted by the encryption means as a mail transmission server A mail gateway device comprising: means for transmitting to the mail transmission server without performing the encryption processing when the mail body does not have a mail text.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided: a means for receiving a plain text e-mail from a mail client device; a signature processing means for performing a signature process on the e-mail; A mail gateway apparatus comprising: means for transmitting to a mail transmission server, wherein the electronic mail is transmitted to the mail transmission server without adding an electronic signature when the electronic mail has no mail text.

  The electronic mail processing apparatus of the present invention transmits an electronic mail to a mail transmission server without performing encryption processing when the electronic mail does not have a mail text. Thereby, it is possible to eliminate inefficient processing such as performing encryption processing even though there is no mail text.

  In addition, when there is no mail text in the electronic mail, the electronic mail is transmitted to the mail transmission server without adding an electronic signature. Thereby, it is possible to eliminate inefficient processing such as performing electronic signature processing even though there is no mail text.

  According to the present invention, even when a special-purpose system is used on the assumption that there is no mail body, an electronic signature is added to the mail body, or a decryption processing result or an electronic signature processing result is added. The system can be operated normally.

{Configuration of e-mail system}
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view of an electronic mail system including a client device 1, a gateway device 2, an SMTP server 3, a POP3 server 4, and the like.

  The client device 1 transmits a plain text mail to the gateway device 2. Further, the client device 1 receives the plain text mail that has been decrypted and verified by the electronic signature from the gateway device 2. Examples of the client device 1 include a personal computer and a digital multifunction peripheral.

  The gateway device 2 applies an electronic signature and encryption to the plain text mail received from the client device 1 and transmits the electronic mail with the electronic signature to the SMTP server 3. Further, the gateway device 2 decrypts the electronic signature-added encrypted mail received from the POP3 server 4 and verifies the electronic signature. Then, the client device 1 receives the plain text mail that has been decrypted and verified by the electronic signature from the gateway device 2. In the present embodiment, the gateway device 2 performs an encryption process using S / MIME, but a gateway device using an encryption algorithm such as PGP can also be used.

  The SMTP server 3 receives the encrypted mail with the electronic signature from the gateway device 2 and transmits the encrypted mail with the electronic signature to the transmission destination. The POP3 server 4 receives the electronically signed encrypted mail from the transmission source. Then, the gateway device 2 receives the electronically signed encrypted mail from the POP3 server 4. Further, the POP3 server 4 is provided with a server mailbox 41. In the present embodiment, the SMTP server 3 and the POP3 server 4 are used, but other mail transmission / reception servers can also be used.

  The gateway device 2 includes an in-gateway SMTP server 21, an in-gateway POP3 processing unit 22, and the like.

  Among the functions of the gateway device 2, the gateway SMTP server 21 has a function of applying an electronic signature and encryption to a plain text mail received from the client device 1 and transmitting an electronic mail with an electronic signature to the SMTP server 3.

  The in-gateway POP3 processing unit 22 has a function of decrypting and verifying an electronic signature with respect to an electronic mail with an electronic signature received from the POP3 server 4 among the functions of the gateway device 2. Then, the client device 1 receives the plaintext mail that has been decrypted and verified by the electronic signature from the in-gateway POP3 processing unit 22. As described above, the POP3 processing unit 22 in the gateway functions as a POP3 server in the relationship with the client device 1, but functions as a POP3 client in the relationship with the POP3 server 4.

  The in-gateway SMTP server 21 includes an electronic signature adding unit 211, an encryption unit 212, and the like.

  The electronic signature adding unit 211 applies an electronic signature to the plain text mail received from the client device 1 and outputs the plain text mail with the electronic signature to the encryption unit 212. As a specific method for the electronic signature adding unit 211 to apply an electronic signature to a plain text mail, the electronic signature giving unit 211 generates a message digest from the plain text mail using a message digest function. Then, the electronic signature assigning unit 211 encrypts the message digest using the transmission-side private key 211S.

  However, in the present embodiment, the electronic signature assigning unit 211 does not perform the electronic signature process when the mail text does not exist in the plain text mail received from the client device 1.

  The encryption unit 212 encrypts the plaintext mail with the electronic signature input from the electronic signature giving unit 211 and transmits the encrypted mail with the electronic signature to the SMTP server 3. As a specific method for the encryption unit 212 to encrypt the plaintext mail with the electronic signature, the encryption unit 212 uses the common key on the transmission / reception side to convert the encrypted mail with the electronic signature from the plaintext mail with the electronic signature. Generate. Then, the encryption unit 212 encrypts the transmission / reception-side common key using the reception-side public key 212P.

  However, in the present embodiment, the encryption unit 212 does not perform the encryption process when the mail text does not exist in the plain text mail received from the client device 1.

  The intra-gateway POP3 processing unit 22 includes a decryption unit 221, an electronic signature verification unit 222, an intra-gateway mailbox 223, and the like.

  The decryption unit 221 decrypts the encrypted mail with the electronic signature received from the POP3 server 4 and outputs the plain text mail with the electronic signature to the electronic signature verification unit 222. As a specific method for the decryption unit 221 to decrypt the electronically signed encrypted mail, the decryption unit 221 decrypts the transmission / reception-side common key using the reception-side private key 221S. Then, the decryption unit 221 generates a plain text mail with an electronic signature from the encrypted mail with an electronic signature, using the common key on the transmission / reception side.

  The electronic signature verification unit 222 performs electronic signature verification on the plaintext mail with an electronic signature input from the decryption unit 221 and stores the plaintext mail in the gateway mailbox 223. As a method for the electronic signature verification unit 222 to perform electronic signature verification on plaintext mail with an electronic signature, the electronic signature verification unit 222 decrypts the message digest using the transmission side public key 222P. In addition, the electronic signature verification unit 222 newly generates a message digest from the plain text mail using the message digest function. Then, the electronic signature verification unit 222 compares the decrypted message digest with the newly generated message digest.

  The in-gateway mailbox 223 stores the plain text mail generated by the electronic signature verification unit 222. The client device 1 makes a reception request to the in-gateway POP3 processing unit 22 and receives plain text mail stored in the in-gateway mailbox 223.

  Usually, a plurality of transmission / reception clients using the electronic mail system shown in FIG. 1 exist. In this case, the digital signature assigning unit 211 may store the transmission-side private key 211S of each transmission client, and the encryption unit 212 may store the reception-side public key 212P held by each transmission client. The decryption unit 221 may store the reception-side private key 221S of each reception client, and the electronic signature verification unit 222 may store the transmission-side public key 222P held by each reception client. Further, the POP3 server 4 may include the in-server mailbox 41 of each receiving client, and the in-gateway POP3 processing unit 22 may include the in-gateway mailbox 223 of each receiving client.

{Flow of electronic signature and encryption processing}
The flow of the electronic signature and encryption processing in the electronic mail system described above will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the gateway device 2 receives the plain text e-mail from the client device 1, it determines whether or not a mail body exists in the e-mail (step S1).

  If the e-mail contains a mail text (YES in step S1), the electronic signature affixing unit 211 creates an electronic signature for the e-mail using a message digest function, and the e-mail contains the electronic text. Add a signature. Further, the encryption unit 212 encrypts the mail text with the electronic signature added (step S2).

  Whether to add an electronic signature to an electronic mail to be transmitted or to perform encryption is determined according to the destination electronic mail address. The gateway device 2 holds individual setting information such as whether to add an electronic signature to a destination electronic mail address or to perform encryption.

  Therefore, in step S2, depending on the destination electronic mail address, both encryption and electronic signature are performed, either one is performed, or neither process is performed.

  In step S2, the electronic signature and the electronic mail that has been encrypted are transmitted to the SMTP server 3 (step S3). As a result, the electronic signature and the electronic mail subjected to the encryption process are transferred to the destination client device via the SMTP server 3.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the mail text does not exist (NO in step S1), the gateway device 2 sends the electronic mail to the SMTP server without performing electronic signature processing and encryption processing on the electronic mail. 3 (step S3). As a result, the plain text e-mail is transferred to the destination client device via the SMTP server 3 without being added with an electronic signature and without being encrypted.

  As described above, when the gateway device 2 according to the present embodiment is used, when there is no mail text in the email transmitted by the client device 1, the electronic signature processing and the encryption processing are not performed. Thereby, unnecessary processing can be eliminated and efficient processing can be performed.

  In addition, the S / MIME gateway apparatus may add a decryption processing result and a signature verification result to the mail body for the received electronic mail depending on the setting. On the other hand, there are special-purpose systems that operate on the assumption that there is no mail text. If the electronic signature processing or encryption processing is performed uniformly on the destination email address as before, the electronic signature is added to the email without the body text, and encryption is performed. Is called. In this case, the decryption processing result and the signature verification result are automatically added to the email without the body received by the receiving S / MIME gateway, and the special purpose system as described above cannot be normally operated. There was a problem. However, such a problem can be avoided by using the gateway device 2 of the present embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, the gateway device 2 interposed between the client device 1 and the SMTP server 3 excludes the electronic signature processing or the encryption processing for an email without a mail text.

  However, in the mail client device, an electronic signature process or an encryption process may be performed on an electronic mail to be transmitted. For example, this is a case where an S / MIME program or the like is installed in a personal computer or the like. In this case, the mail client device determines whether or not the mail body exists in the created e-mail, and does not perform the electronic signature process or the encryption process for the e-mail without the mail body. May be.

1 is an overall view of an electronic mail system. It is a figure which shows the flow of the electronic signature process with respect to an electronic mail, and an encryption process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Client apparatus 2 Gateway apparatus 3 SMTP server 4 POP3 server 21 In-gateway SMTP server 22 In-gateway POP3 processing part 41 In-server mailbox 211 Electronic signature provision part 212 Encryption part 221 Decryption part 222 Electronic signature verification part 223 In-gateway mail box

Claims (4)

An encryption means for performing encryption processing on the e-mail;
Means for transmitting the email encrypted by the encryption means to a mail transmission server;
An e-mail processing device comprising:
An e-mail processing apparatus, wherein an e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail transmission server without performing the encryption process when there is no e-mail body in the e-mail. A signature processing means for applying a signature processing to the e-mail;
Means for sending an e-mail with an electronic signature generated by the signature processing means to a mail transmission server;
An e-mail processing device comprising:
An e-mail processing apparatus, wherein an e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail transmission server without adding an e-signature when the e-mail has no e-mail text. Means for receiving plain text e-mail from the mail client device;
An encryption means for performing encryption processing on the e-mail;
Means for transmitting the email encrypted by the encryption means to a mail transmission server;
A mail gateway device comprising:
An e-mail gateway device that transmits an e-mail to the e-mail transmission server without performing the encryption process when the e-mail has no e-mail text. Means for receiving plaintext e-mail from the mail client device;
A signature processing means for applying a signature processing to the e-mail;
Means for sending an e-mail with an electronic signature generated by the signature processing means to a mail transmission server;
A mail gateway device comprising:
An e-mail gateway device, wherein an e-mail is transmitted to the e-mail transmission server without adding an e-signature when the e-mail has no e-mail text.

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