JP2009181461A - Information management system, user terminal, information management method and information management program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform safe operation of information while managing the information in a user terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The user terminal 10 connects a download-only application 11a to a server 20 to perform a download request. The server 20 controls, when the download request is received from the download-only application 11a, to permit download of information to be downloaded. The user terminal 10 downloads the permitted information using the application 11a. Thereafter, the user terminal 10 determines, when access to the download information is received from an application 11, whether the access to the information of the application 11 is permitted or not. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information management system, a user terminal, an information management method, and an information management apparatus, and in particular, manages information by limiting applications and access means that can access information stored in the user terminal. The present invention relates to an information management system, a user terminal, an information management method, and an information management program.

  Conventionally, there are two major means for handling important information. The first means is to manage important information on the server side, configure it so that it cannot be used unless the user terminal is connected to the server, and operate in a system called thin client type that does not store information in the user terminal. There is a way.

  Also, as a second means, it is allowed to store information in the user terminal and manage the information in the user terminal, but the entire hard disk in which the information is stored is encrypted and protected, or important There are means for protecting a part of the storage area in which information is stored by encrypting (see Patent Document 1) and means for preventing the user terminal from writing to the removable media (Patent Document 2). reference).

JP 2004-164604 A JP 2001-147850 A

  By the way, in the above-described thin client system in which information is not stored in the user terminal, there is a problem that information managed by the server cannot be used when the user terminal is in an environment where network connection is not possible. In addition, if the network speed is slow, the thin client type cannot be used when there is a problem such as insufficient performance for presentations or when it is necessary to bring the information managed by the server to the user terminal. There's a problem.

  In addition, in the method of encrypting the entire hard disk described above or prohibiting writing to removable media and managing information on the user terminal, there is a risk of information leakage intentionally by the user due to E-Mail or the like. There is a problem that information cannot be managed safely.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to manage information safely while allowing the user terminal to manage the information.

  A feature of this system is an information management system that includes a server and a user terminal that can be connected to the server, and stores information managed by the server in a storage area of the user terminal. The server permits download. A download control unit that controls to allow the download of the information when a download request is received from a specific application that is a registered application, and the user terminal includes information permitted by the download control unit Download means for downloading using the specific application, and access that is permitted to access information of the application when access to the information downloaded by the download means is received from the application It is a requirement in that it comprises a determining permission determining unit there, the.

  The disclosed system allows a server to download information only to a specific application (eg, a download-only application), and the application's access to the downloaded information is permitted access by the authorized application. Therefore, it is possible to manage the information on the user terminal, and control the permitted application to allow only the permitted access to the downloaded information. As a result of restricting the output and duplication of information, it is possible to manage the information safely while allowing the user terminal to manage the information.

  Exemplary embodiments of an information management system, a user terminal, an information management method, and an information management program according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In the following embodiments, the outline and features of the information management system according to the first embodiment, the configuration of the information management system, and the flow of processing will be described in order, and finally the effects of the first embodiment will be described.

[Outline and Features of Information Management System According to Embodiment 1]
First, the outline and features of the information management system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline and features of the information management system according to the first embodiment.

  The information management system 1 according to the first embodiment is configured by a server 20 and a user terminal 10 that can be connected to the server 20, and outlines that information managed by the server 20 is stored in a storage area of the user terminal 10. The information management system 1 is mainly characterized in that the information can be managed safely while the user terminal can manage the information.

  This main feature will be specifically described. The user terminal 10 provides a dedicated storage area 13a in at least a part of the recording area, and stores information to be managed by the user terminal 10 in the dedicated storage area 13a. In addition, the user terminal 10 includes various applications 11, of which a download dedicated application 11 a that can be downloaded from the server 20 and stored in the dedicated storage area 13 a.

  Under such a configuration, the user terminal 10 makes a download request by connecting the download-only application 11a to the server 20 (see (1) in FIG. 1). Then, when receiving a download request from the download-only application 11a, the server 20 performs control so as to permit the download requested information to be downloaded (see (2) in FIG. 2).

  Specifically, the server 20 permits download after a download file is designated by the download-only application 11a and performs user authentication, and when the downloaded information is displayed (see “ (See “Storage Date”), who (user information), which terminal (terminal information) downloaded what information, and the like.

  Then, the user terminal 10 downloads the permitted information using the download dedicated application 11a (see (3) in FIG. 1). Specifically, the user terminal 10 downloads the information of the permitted protection format using the download dedicated application 11a and stores it in the dedicated storage area 13a.

  Thereafter, when the access to the downloaded information is received from the application 11, the user terminal 10 determines whether the access is permitted to access the information of the application (see (4) in FIG. 1).

  Specifically, when the user terminal 10 is accessing the dedicated storage area, the user terminal 10 determines what the file operation is to be performed (for example, “Copy”, “Rename”, “Write”, “Delete”). It is determined whether the application is permitted to access the information stored in the dedicated storage area. As a result, if the file operation is permitted and the file operation is permitted for the application, the file operation is controlled to be permitted.

  As described above, the server 20 permits the download of information only to the download-only application 11a, and determines whether the access of the application to the downloaded information is permitted access by the permitted application. 10 is able to manage the information, and control the permitted application to allow only authorized access to the downloaded information, and limit the output and copying of the downloaded information to the outside As a result, as described above, it is possible to manage the information safely while allowing the user terminal to manage the information.

[Configuration of information management system]
Next, the configuration of the information management system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the information management system 1 according to the first embodiment, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of server-side management information, and FIG. 4 is an implementation example of an access control function. 5 is a diagram for explaining processing when the user terminal is connected to the server, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a format of information stored in the dedicated storage area. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining dedicated area determination processing, FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining application determination processing, and FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining file access determination permission processing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the information management system 1 includes a user terminal 10 and a server 20 that are connected via a network 30. This server 20 manages the information of the encrypted protection format, and when a download request is received from the user terminal 10, the application that requested the download is the download dedicated application 11a, and the user authentication has succeeded. If so, control is performed to permit downloading of the information requested to be downloaded.

  In addition, when the access is made by the download dedicated application 11a, the server 20 downloads a file and designates a file whose storage period has expired as a deleted file. Thereafter, when the server 20 receives a notification indicating that the deletion has been made from the download-only application 11a, the server 20 stores the deleted date / time in the information management data database 21 described later as the deleted date / time. As described above, the server 20 includes the information management data database (information management DB in FIG. 2) 21 in order to manage the downloaded information.

  Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the information management data database 21 uniquely identifies “user information” that uniquely identifies a user, “terminal information” that uniquely identifies a terminal, and uniquely identifies downloaded information. “Information”, “Date and time of download” (that is, date and time stored in the dedicated storage area 13a of the user terminal 10), and how long the user terminal 10 can store the downloaded information “Storage deadline” and “erasure date” indicating the date and time when the information stored in the dedicated storage area 13a of the user terminal 10 is erased are stored in association with each other.

  The information management data database 21 holds such table information for each user terminal. The number of entries in the information management database 21 continues to increase, but entries that become stale after a certain period may be deleted.

  The user terminal 10 includes an application 11, an access control unit 12, and a storage unit 13. The processing of each of these units will be described below. As shown in FIG. 4, the user terminal 10 incorporates the access control function itself into the OS itself. Generally, when the OS itself can be used, the user terminal 10 can be incorporated into the OS itself. Built on top of the file system.

  The application 11 executes various processes by various applications, and particularly includes a download-dedicated application 11a that is closely related to the present invention. The download-only application 11a downloads information permitted to the server 20.

  Specifically, the download dedicated application 11a connects to the server 20 and performs user authentication, and then downloads specific information from the server 20 and stores it in the dedicated storage area 13a. That is, a user who downloads information can download the information and store the information in the dedicated storage area 13a only by using the download dedicated application 11a.

  Here, the specific processing of the download-only application 11a when connecting to the server will be described with reference to FIG. When the download-only application 11a designates a download file with the download-only application and performs user authentication, the file can be downloaded from the server. At this time, the server 20 stores in the information management database 21 when and who has stored the information in the information management database 21 with respect to the information downloaded by the download-only application 11a. 10 stores information on the storage time limit indicating whether it can be stored (see FIG. 3).

  Thereafter, when access is made by the download-only application 11a, the server 20 designates a file whose storage period has expired as a deletion file along with the file download. Then, the download-only application 11a stores the downloaded protected format file, and when receiving the delete file specification, deletes the file specified by the delete file specification stored in the exclusive area and deletes it to the server. Notify that. Thereby, by setting the deletion date and time of the server information management database 21, it is possible to confirm that the information has been deleted on the server 20 side.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the storage unit 13 stores data acquired from the server 20 and data necessary for various processes performed by the program access control unit 12. A storage area 13a is provided. The dedicated storage area 13a is an area for storing information downloaded from the server 20 by the download dedicated application 11a.

  Here, the format of information stored in the dedicated storage area 13a will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the information itself is encrypted and an information header is added. In this information header, a document ID is stored in order to specify the document. In general, the data is stored in the protected format on the server 20, but may be changed to the protected format when downloaded from the server. Depending on the security of the dedicated storage area, the information itself may not be encrypted.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the access control unit 12 has an internal memory for storing a program that defines various processing procedures and the necessary data, and executes various processes using these programs. Are closely related to the permission application determination unit 12a, the file access determination permission unit 12b, and the dedicated area determination unit 12c.

  The permitted application determination unit 12a receives access from the application 11 to the storage unit 13 and identifies the type of the application. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, when the permitted application determination unit 12 a receives file access to the storage unit 13 by the application 11, the permitted application determination unit 12 a receives a “process ID” from the application 11 ((1 in FIG. 7). )reference). Then, the permitted application determination unit 12a acquires the file path of the application from the received process ID (see (2) to (3) in FIG. 7), and identifies the application from the file path ((4) in FIG. 7). Refer to the file access determination permission unit 12b described later as application information.

  The file access determination permission unit 12b determines whether the application that accesses the downloaded information is an application that is permitted to access the information. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the file access determination permission unit 12 b has a file path designated to indicate information to be accessed by the application 11 when the application 11 accesses the storage unit 13. Notification is made from the application 11 (see (1) in FIG. 8).

  Then, the file access determination permission unit 12b transmits a file path to a dedicated area determination unit 12c described later (see (2) in FIG. 8), and dedicated area information (for example, dedicated storage) for specifying the dedicated storage area 13a. Whether or not the specified file path is included in the file path for the folder in the area 13a is determined by the dedicated area determination unit 12c (see (3) in FIG. 8), and the determination result is received (in FIG. 8). (Refer to (4)).

  Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the file access determination permission unit 12b receives the application information received from the permitted application determination unit 12a and the determination result received from the dedicated area determination unit 12c, and then receives the application information and the determination. It is determined whether or not a file access command from the application is permitted using the result. If access is permitted, a file access process is performed.

  Here, the determination process for determining whether or not to permit the file access instruction and the file access process will be described in more detail. Upon receiving the file access instruction, the file access determination permission unit 12b uses the determination result to store the dedicated storage area. It is determined whether or not the access is to 13a. If the access is not to any area other than the dedicated area, normal access processing is performed. On the other hand, the file access determination permission unit 12b determines whether the operation is a Copy or Rename operation when the access is to the dedicated area.

  As a result, the file access determination permission unit 12b performs control so that the process is interrupted when the operation is Copy or Rename, and determines whether the access is Write or Delete when the operation is not Copy or Rename. As a result, the file access determination permission unit 12b determines whether the access is from the download-only application 11a when the access is Write or Delete.

  As a result, the file access determination permission unit 12b interrupts the processing when the access is not from the download-only application 11a, and permits the file operation when the access is from the download-only application 11a. Control and perform access processing.

  On the other hand, the file access determination permission unit 12b determines whether or not the read access is from a permitted application when the access is not Write or Delete. The determination as to whether or not the application is permitted is performed by determining whether or not the “permitted application” (see FIG. 6) stored in the information header matches the application information received from the permitted application determination unit 12a. If they match, it is determined that the application is permitted.

  As a result, the file access determination permission unit 12b interrupts the processing if the read access is not from the permitted application, and decrypts the file if the read access is from the permitted application. Process to pass to the application.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the dedicated area determination unit 12c determines whether or not the file access by the application is an access to the dedicated storage area 13a. Specifically, the dedicated area determination unit 12c holds dedicated area information (for example, a file path for a folder in the dedicated storage area 13a) for specifying the dedicated storage area 13a, and receives a file path from the file access determination permission unit 12b. Is received, it is determined whether or not the received file path is included in the dedicated area information (for example, the file path for the folder in the dedicated storage area 13a), and the determination result is transmitted to the file access determination permission unit 12b. (See FIG. 8).

[Processing by user terminal]
Next, processing performed by the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the processing operation of the user terminal 10 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in the figure, when the user terminal 10 receives the file access command (Yes in step S101), the file access determination permission unit 12b determines whether the access is to the dedicated storage area 13a using the determination result. (Step S102) If the access is not to any area other than the dedicated area (No at Step S102), normal access processing is performed (Step S103). On the other hand, when the access is to the dedicated storage area 13a (Yes at Step S102), the user terminal 10 determines whether the operation is a Copy or Rename operation (Step S104).

  As a result, when the user terminal 10 is a Copy or Rename operation (Yes at Step S104), the user terminal 10 controls to interrupt the process (Step S105), and when it is not a Copy or Rename operation (No at Step S104), It is determined whether the access is Write or Delete (step S106). As a result, when the access is Write or Delete (Yes at Step S106), the user terminal 10 determines whether the access is from the download-only application 11a (Step S107).

  As a result, if the access is not from the download-only application 11a (No at Step S107), the user terminal 10 interrupts the processing (Step S108), and if the access is from the download-only application 11a (Step S107). (Yes in S107), control is performed so as to permit file operation, and access processing is performed (step S109).

  On the other hand, when the access is not Write or Delete (No at Step S106), the user terminal 10 determines whether or not the read access is from a permitted application (Step S110). Whether or not the app is permitted is determined by determining whether or not the “permitted app” (see FIG. 6) stored in the information header matches the “app information”. It is determined that the application has been released.

  As a result, if the user terminal 10 does not read access from the permitted application (No at Step S110), the user terminal 10 interrupts the processing (Step S111), and if it is Read access from the permitted application. (Yes in step S110), a process of decrypting the file and passing it to the application is performed (step S112).

[Effect of Example 1]
As described above, the information management system 1 allows the server to download information only to a specific application (for example, a download-only application), and an application that accesses the downloaded information is permitted. It is possible to download information to only a specific application and manage the information on the user terminal, while allowing the permitted application only to allow access. As a result of restricting the output of the downloaded information to the outside and copying of the downloaded information, it is possible to manage the information safely while allowing the user terminal to manage the information.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, when the server 20 is controlled to permit downloading of information, the storage deadline that is a time limit that the user terminal can hold the downloaded information is stored in the information management database 21. When the storage deadline stored in the information management database 21 is exceeded, the deletion is requested by designating information that has exceeded the storage deadline. When the user terminal 10 accepts the deletion request, Since the specified information is deleted, it is possible to operate the information safely by permitting the user terminal to store the information only for a necessary period and deleting it after a predetermined time limit.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the information specified by the deletion request is deleted, and the server 20 is notified that the information has been deleted, so that the server 20 can confirm that the information has been deleted. Thus, it is possible to operate safe information.

  In the first embodiment, the case where the dedicated storage area 13a for storing the information downloaded from the server 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the dedicated storage area 13a is not used. You may make it comprise.

  Therefore, in the following second embodiment, a case where information management is performed by adding an information type indicating management information without providing the dedicated storage area 13a will be described with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. The configuration of the information management system and the processing of the user terminal in Example 2 will be described. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information management system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the processing operation of the user terminal according to the second embodiment.

  First, the configuration of the information management system 1a according to the second embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, the information management system 1 a includes a user terminal 10 a and a server 20 connected via a network 30 as in the first embodiment.

  Unlike the first embodiment, the user terminal 10 a according to the second embodiment does not have the dedicated storage area 13 a in the storage unit 13. Further, the user terminal 10a is different from the exclusive area determination unit 12c in that an information type determination unit 12d is newly provided, and the download dedicated application 11b newly adds an information type.

  That is, the download-only application 11b downloads the information permitted to the server 20, adds an information type indicating that the information is to be managed to the downloaded information, and stores the information in the storage unit 13. . The information may be, for example, a file extension (for example, “.prt”) or may be provided as non-separable information linked to other information. Now, an example using an extension will be described.

  When there is an access from the application 11 to the information stored in the storage unit 13, the information type determination unit 12 d determines whether or not the information type is added to the information, and determines the determination result as a file determination. Notify the permission unit 12b.

  The file access determination permission unit 12b receives the application information received from the permitted application determination unit 12a and the determination result received from the information type determination unit 12d, and then uses the application information and the determination result to execute a file access command from the application. And only the application that is permitted to access is controlled so as to permit only a read operation to information with a specific extension. This prohibits operations such as changing the information extension, copying information with a specific extension, changing the name, or deleting the information with a specific extension. Provide a function that can

  Next, the information management process of the user terminal 10a according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Compared to the information management process according to the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the access control process according to the second embodiment determines whether it is an access to a specific information type instead of determining whether the access is to a dedicated storage area. Is different.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 12, when the user terminal 10a receives the file access command (Yes in step S201), the file access determination permission unit 12b is an access to information with a specific extension. It is determined whether or not (step S202). As a result, when the access is to information with a specific extension (Yes at step S202), only the application that is permitted to access is attached with the specific extension as in the first embodiment. Control is made so as to permit access to the stored information (steps S204 to S212).

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to operate information safely without using a dedicated area. In addition, for example, when control is performed so that only a read operation is permitted to information with a specific extension, the extension of information is changed with respect to information with a specific extension, It is possible to prohibit operations such as copying information with a specific extension, renaming or deleting information.

  By the way, in the first embodiment, when the information read from the dedicated storage area 13a is saved after editing, it is managed so that both the information before editing and the information after editing are deleted. Good.

  Therefore, in the following third embodiment, the editing source information and the edited information are managed in association with each other, and when the editing source information is deleted, the edited information is also deleted. A table and processing held by the user terminal 10a according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information storage table provided in the user terminal according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating processing operations of the user terminal according to the third embodiment.

  Compared with the user terminal according to the first embodiment, the user terminal according to the third embodiment has a new information storage table that stores the information of the editing source and the edited information in association with each other as illustrated in FIG. The point to prepare is different. As shown in the figure, the information storage table stores “information”, which is an identifier of information after editing, and “creation source information”, which is an identifier of information of the editing source, in association with each other.

  In other words, if you write to the dedicated storage area and save as another name, the number of files that must be managed increases, and an information storage table is created as a table for managing the increase. The For example, after the document ID-C is created and stored from the document ID-A, if the information of the document ID-A has to be deleted, the information of the document ID-C may have to be deleted. As you can see, a table is created. At the time of deletion, if both the information of document ID-A and the information of document ID-C are deleted, the server notifies the server that the information of document ID-A has been deleted and manages the information.

  Next, the processing operation of the user terminal according to the third embodiment will be described. Compared with the information management process according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the access control process according to the third embodiment has a dedicated application when the information read from the dedicated storage area is edited and saved. The difference is that control is performed so that writing is performed only in the storage area.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 14, when the user terminal receives a file access command (Yes at Step S301), the user terminal determines whether or not the dedicated storage area 13a is accessed using the determination result (Step S302). If the access is not to other than (No in step S302), it is determined whether the process is an application that has read the dedicated storage area (step S303).

  As a result, if the user terminal is an application process that has read the dedicated storage area (Yes in step S303), the user terminal determines which access is “Copy”, “Rename”, “Write”, or “Delete” ( In step S305 to S312), if it is a write access of the permitted application (Yes in step S312), the file is encrypted and stored in the dedicated storage area, and an information storage table is created (step S314). That is, the user terminal controls the application to write only to the dedicated storage area when the information read from the dedicated storage area is edited and saved.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, when the information specified by the deletion request is edited, both the information before editing and the information after editing are deleted, so that the editing is performed based on the downloaded information. Therefore, when the information before editing and the information after editing exist in the user terminal, it is possible to delete both of them so that safer information operation can be performed.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, the present invention may be implemented in various different forms other than the embodiments described above. Accordingly, another embodiment included in the present invention will be described below as a fourth embodiment.

(1) Implementation Example of Access Control Function In the above-described first embodiment, the case where the access control function itself is incorporated in the OS itself has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the access control function is installed in the OS. You may make it incorporate in an add-in format using API of. In the case of incorporating in this add-in format, as illustrated in FIG. 15, it can be incorporated between the middle layer of the OS or between the OS and the application API.

  Thus, since the access control function is incorporated in the add-in format using the OS API, the access control function can be incorporated without directly modifying the OS.

(2) Setting of permitted application In the first embodiment, the permitted application is included for each document by including an application for which access is permitted in the information header of the information stored in the dedicated storage area (see FIG. 6). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the information type (for example, extension) and the permitted application permitting access to the information of the information type are stored in association with each other. In addition, a permitted application may be set for each document type.

  Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 16, the user terminal stores an “extension type” that indicates the type of information and an “permitted application” that permits access to information of the information type in association with each other. Provide a table. As described above, when the permitted application is set for each document type, the information header of the information stored in the dedicated storage area does not include the permitted application, as shown in FIG.

  As described above, the information type and the permitted application that permits access to the information of the information type are stored in association with each other, and the permitted application is set for each document type. Therefore, the information stored in the dedicated storage area It is possible to omit the process of including the permitted application in the information header.

(3) Deletion Processing In the first embodiment, the server 20 manages the storage deadline, and when downloading is requested, the server 20 designates the deletion file to the user terminal 10 and deletes the information stored in the dedicated storage area. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the user terminal may manage the storage time limit and automatically delete the information stored in the dedicated storage area.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 18, the user terminal stores the deletion deadline in the information header of the information stored in the dedicated storage area. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 19, the user terminal includes a management table that stores an identifier of information and an erase date and time indicating the date and time when the information is erased in association with each other. Under such a configuration, as an example, the user terminal checks the deletion deadline and the current date and time in the information header of the accessed information, and deletes the information if the deletion deadline has come. The fact that the information has been deleted is stored in the management table.

  Thereafter, the next time the user terminal accesses the server, the user terminal can confirm that the information has been deleted by transferring the information stored in the management table to the server. Note that the management table information may be managed in the protected area when there is an area protected from unauthorized rewriting or deletion (including hardware protection) other than the dedicated management area. In addition, it may be checked whether there is information to be deleted periodically rather than when the information to be deleted is accessed.

  As another method for automatically deleting the information stored in the dedicated storage area, instead of setting a deletion deadline for each document, the deletion deadline may be stored and managed in a management table ( FIG. 20). Then, the user terminal creates a management table in the dedicated storage area when the download dedicated application stores the information in the dedicated storage area. In this management table, the erasure date / time is not written before the deletion, and the erasure date / time is written when the erasure is actually performed. The erasing timing may be periodically checked even when the target information is actually accessed.

  As described above, since the user terminal automatically deletes information stored in the dedicated storage area, it is possible to delete information whose storage period has expired without receiving a deletion instruction from the server. is there.

(4) System Configuration, etc. Each component of each illustrated device is functionally conceptual and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution / integration of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or a part thereof may be functionally or physically distributed or arbitrarily distributed in arbitrary units according to various loads or usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured. For example, the permitted application determination unit 12a and the file access determination permission unit 12b may be integrated. Further, all or any part of each processing function performed in each device may be realized by a CPU and a program analyzed and executed by the CPU, or may be realized as hardware by wired logic.

(5) Program By the way, the various processes described in the above embodiments can be realized by executing a prepared program on a computer. In the following, an example of a computer that executes a program having the same function as that of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a computer that executes an information management program.

  As shown in the figure, a computer 600 as a user terminal is configured by connecting an HDD 610, a RAM 620, a ROM 630, and a CPU 640 via a bus 650.

  In the ROM 630, an information management program that exhibits the same function as that of the above embodiment, that is, as shown in FIG. 21, a permission application determination program 631, a file access determination permission program 632, and a dedicated area determination program 633 are stored in advance. It is remembered. Note that the programs 631 to 633 may be appropriately integrated or distributed in the same manner as each component of the user terminal shown in FIG.

  Then, the CPU 640 reads out these programs 631 to 633 from the ROM 630 and executes them, so that each program 631 to 633 has a permitted application determination process 641, a file access determination permission process 642, a dedicated area as shown in FIG. It functions as the determination process 643. Each of the processes 641 to 643 corresponds to the permitted application determination unit 12a, the file access determination permission unit 12b, and the dedicated area determination unit 12c illustrated in FIG.

  The HDD 610 is provided with a dedicated storage area 611 as shown in FIG. The dedicated storage area 611 corresponds to the dedicated storage area 13a illustrated in FIG. The CPU 640 registers data in the dedicated storage area 611, reads data from the dedicated storage area 611, stores the data in the RAM 620, and executes processing based on the data stored in the RAM 620.

  The following supplementary notes are further disclosed with respect to the embodiments including the following Examples 1 to 4.

(Supplementary note 1) An information management system configured by a server and a user terminal connected to the server, and storing information managed by the server in a storage area of the user terminal,
The server
When a download request is received from a specific application, which is an application that is permitted to download, the download control means for controlling to permit the download of the information,
The user terminal is
Download means for downloading the information permitted by the download control means using the specific application;
Permission determination means for determining whether access to information of the application is permitted when access to the information downloaded by the download means is received from an application;
An information management system comprising:

(Appendix 2) The server
A storage time limit storage means for storing, in a predetermined storage unit, a storage time limit that is a time limit that the user terminal can hold the downloaded information when the download control means controls to allow the download of the information; ,
A deletion request notifying means for notifying the user terminal of a deletion request for specifying deletion when the storage deadline stored in the predetermined storage unit is exceeded, specifying information that has exceeded the storage deadline; Prepared,
The user terminal is
The information management system according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion unit that deletes information specified by the deletion request when the deletion request notified by the deletion request notification unit is received.

(Supplementary note 3) The information management system according to supplementary note 2, wherein the deletion unit deletes information specified by the deletion request and notifies the server that the information has been deleted.

(Supplementary note 4) The information management system according to Supplementary note 2 or 3, wherein the deletion unit deletes both the pre-edit information and the post-edit information specified by the deletion request.

(Supplementary Note 5) The user terminal
A dedicated storage area for storing information downloaded by the download means;
The download means stores the information in the dedicated storage area using the specific application after downloading the information,
The permission determining unit determines whether the access to the information of the application is permitted when the access to the information stored in the dedicated storage area is received from the application. The information management system as described in any one of -4.

(Appendix 6) The download means downloads information and adds an information type indicating management information to the downloaded information.
The permission determination unit determines whether the access to the information of the application is permitted when the access to the information to which the information type is added is received from the application. The information management system as described in any one of -4.

(Appendix 7) A user terminal that stores information managed by a connected server in a predetermined storage area,
Download means for downloading information permitted to be downloaded by the server using a specific application that is an application permitted to download;
Permission determination means for determining whether an application that accesses information downloaded by the download means is an application that is permitted to access the information;
A user terminal comprising:

(Supplementary note 8) An information management method for storing information managed by a server in a storage area of a user terminal connected to the server,
When the server receives a download request from a specific application that is an application that is permitted to download, a download control step for controlling to allow the information to be downloaded;
A download step in which the user terminal downloads the information permitted by the download control step using the specific application;
A permission determination step of determining whether access to the information of the application is permitted when the user terminal receives access from the application to the information downloaded by the download step;
Information management method characterized by including

(Supplementary note 9) An information management program for causing a computer to execute an information management method for storing information managed by a server in a storage area of a user terminal connected to the server,
In the computer as the server,
When a download request is received from a specific application that is an application that is permitted to download, execute a download control procedure that controls to allow the information to be downloaded,
In the computer as the user terminal,
A download procedure for downloading the information permitted by the download control procedure using the specific application;
A permission determination procedure for determining whether access to information of the application is permitted when access to the information downloaded by the download procedure is received from the application;
An information management program for executing

  As described above, the information management system, the user terminal, the information management method, and the information management program according to the present invention are useful when storing information managed by the server in the storage area of the user terminal. It is suitable for safe operation of information while enabling management of information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview and characteristics of an information management system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information management system according to a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the management information on the server side. It is a figure which shows the example of mounting of an access control function. It is a figure for demonstrating the process at the time of the server connection of a user terminal. It is a figure which shows an example of the format of the information stored in a dedicated storage area. It is a figure for demonstrating the determination process of an exclusive area. It is a figure for demonstrating an application determination process. It is a figure for demonstrating a file access determination permission process. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the user terminal according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information management system which concerns on Example 2. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a user terminal according to a second embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the information storage table with which the user terminal which concerns on Example 3 is provided. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a user terminal according to a third embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of mounting of an access control function. It is a figure which shows an example of the format of the information stored in a dedicated storage area. It is a figure which shows an example of a permission application table. It is a figure which shows an example of the format of the information stored in a dedicated storage area. It is a figure which shows an example of the management table by the side of a user terminal. It is a figure which shows an example of the management table by the side of a user terminal. It is a figure which shows the computer which performs an information management program.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information management system 10, 10a User terminal 11 Application 11a Download exclusive application 12 Access control part 12a Permitted application determination part 12b File access determination permission part 12c Dedicated area determination part 13 Storage part 13a Dedicated storage area

Claims (7)

An information management system comprising a server and a user terminal connected to the server, storing information managed by the server in a storage area of the user terminal,
The server
When a download request is received from a specific application, which is an application that is permitted to download, the download control means for controlling to permit the download of the information,
The user terminal is
Download means for downloading the information permitted by the download control means using the specific application;
Permission determination means for determining whether access to information of the application is permitted when access to the information downloaded by the download means is received from an application;
An information management system comprising: The server
A storage time limit storage means for storing, in a predetermined storage unit, a storage time limit that is a time limit that the user terminal can hold the downloaded information when the download control means controls to allow the download of the information; ,
A deletion request notifying means for notifying the user terminal of a deletion request for specifying deletion when the storage deadline stored in the predetermined storage unit is exceeded, specifying information that has exceeded the storage deadline; Prepared,
The user terminal is
The information management system according to claim 1, further comprising: a deletion unit that deletes the information specified by the deletion request when the deletion request notified by the deletion request notification unit is received.   The information management system according to claim 2, wherein the deletion unit deletes the information specified by the deletion request and notifies the server that the information has been deleted.   4. The information management system according to claim 2, wherein the deletion unit deletes both the information before editing and the information after editing when the information designated by the deletion request has been edited. 5. . A user terminal that stores information managed by a connected server in a predetermined storage area,
Download means for downloading information permitted to be downloaded by the server using a specific application that is an application permitted to download;
Permission determination means for determining whether an application that accesses information downloaded by the download means is an application that is permitted to access the information;
A user terminal comprising: An information management method for storing information managed by a server in a storage area of a user terminal connected to the server,
When the server receives a download request from a specific application that is an application that is permitted to download, a download control step for controlling to allow the information to be downloaded;
A download step in which the user terminal downloads the information permitted by the download control step using the specific application;
A permission determination step of determining whether access to the information of the application is permitted when the user terminal receives access from the application to the information downloaded by the download step;
Information management method characterized by including An information management program for causing a computer to execute an information management method for storing information managed by a server in a storage area of a user terminal connected to the server,
In the computer as the server,
When a download request is received from a specific application that is an application that is permitted to download, execute a download control procedure that controls to allow the information to be downloaded,
In the computer as the user terminal,
A download procedure for downloading the information permitted by the download control procedure using the specific application;
A permission determination procedure for determining whether access to information of the application is permitted when access to the information downloaded by the download procedure is received from the application;
An information management program for executing

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