JP2010015290A - E-mail wrong transmission checking apparatus and method for checking presence/absence of wrong transmission after e-mail transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an e-mail wrong transmission checking apparatus and a method which can use a mechanism of encryption of e-mail to prevent leakage of transmission information and enable a transmitter to check presence/absence of wrong transmission after e-mail transmission. <P>SOLUTION: The e-mail wrong transmission checking apparatus includes: an encryption means 21 for encrypting e-mail and generating decryption information of the e-mail; a decryption information DB30 for storing e-mail information related to encrypted e-mail in association with decryption information; a notification e-mail generation means 22 for generating notification e-mail composed of encrypted e-mail and notification of a decryption information acquisition method; a decryption information acquisition means 24 which, when decryption information request e-mail for the notification e-mail is received, acquires encryption information from the decryption information DB30 in response to confirmation by the transmitter of validity of a person having transmitted decryption information request e-mail, depending on e-mail information of decryption information request e-mail presented to the transmitter; and a reply e-mail generation means 25 for generating e-mail for notifying the decryption information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for confirming the presence or absence of erroneous transmission after transmission of an electronic mail.

  Conventionally, when an e-mail is transmitted, there is a risk of erroneous transmission due to a mistake in the other party's mail address. The erroneous transmission of e-mail leads to the leakage of personal information and important information due to the information being passed to another person other than the original recipient, and has risks such as loss of trust and liability for damages. Therefore, a method of encrypting an electronic mail has been proposed in order to prevent information leakage even when erroneous transmission occurs (Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1 discloses a system that automatically encrypts an email when sending the email. The system described in Patent Document 1 first performs a conversion process for concealing an attached file of an e-mail using a character string set in advance in a sender's terminal device as a password, and then transmits the e-mail. The recipient who has received the e-mail that has undergone the conversion process obtains the original attached file by inputting the password for decryption that has been announced in advance.
JP-A-2005-285111

  However, in Patent Document 1, there is no description about a password exchange method for decryption. In general, there are separate exchange methods such as a method of sending separately by e-mail and a method of notifying by telephone or FAX. However, in these methods, erroneous transmission may occur when exchanging passwords. Further, by encrypting the electronic mail, information leakage due to erroneous transmission can be prevented, but it is not possible to confirm whether or not there is erroneous transmission.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention uses an electronic mail encryption mechanism to prevent transmission information from being leaked, and an electronic device that allows a sender to confirm the presence or absence of erroneous transmission after transmission of an electronic mail. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for confirming erroneous email transmission.

(1) A device for confirming the presence or absence of erroneous transmission after transmission of an e-mail transmitted via a network,
An encryption means for creating encrypted email by decrypting plain text email created by the sender of the email, and decryption information for decrypting the encrypted email; and
Decryption information storage means for storing the email information related to the encrypted email and the decryption information in association with each other;
A notification email creating means for creating a notification email composed of the encrypted email and a notification of the method of obtaining the decryption information;
When the recipient of the notification email receives the decryption information request email of the encrypted email sent based on the notification of the acquisition method, the notification of the email information obtained from the decryption information request email Presenting means to present to the sender of the email;
According to the electronic mail information presented by the presenting means, in response to the sender confirming that the person who performed the decryption information request mail is a valid recipient of the notification electronic mail, Decryption information acquisition means for acquiring decryption information from the decryption information storage means based on mail information;
A response email creating means for creating a response email for the decryption information request mail, notifying the decryption information obtained by the decryption information obtaining means;
E-mail erroneous transmission confirmation device comprising:

  According to the invention of (1), the sender stores the decryption information of the encrypted electronic mail, acquires the decryption information from the decryption information storage means in response to the request of the recipient of the encrypted electronic mail, and the response electronic mail The decoding information is notified at. Thereby, the recipient can decrypt the encrypted mail and can read the plain text mail. Further, since the decryption information is notified by a response electronic mail in response to the request of the recipient, erroneous transmission of the decryption information can be prevented. By the way, in a general encrypted mail mechanism, decryption information must be handed over to a recipient in advance and stored. However, according to the present invention, since each mail is sent from the sender, it is not necessary for the receiver to manage the decryption information, and the receiver does not have to worry. Furthermore, when the decryption information acquisition request mail is sent by the recipient of the encrypted electronic mail, the sender can confirm whether or not the encrypted mail has been sent to a legitimate recipient. A legitimate recipient is a destination to which the sender originally intended to send an e-mail.

  The decryption information is information for decrypting the encrypted electronic mail, and is, for example, a decryption key or a password. The e-mail information is information for specifying an e-mail, such as an address of a destination, a subject, and the like.

  (2) The response e-mail creating means can confirm, in the presenting means, that the sender who has performed the decryption information request mail from the e-mail information is a valid recipient of the notification mail. The e-mail erroneous transmission confirmation device according to (1), which creates the response e-mail for notifying that the notification e-mail is an erroneous transmission when there is not.

  According to the invention of (2), when an erroneous transmission is performed, it is possible to notify the recipient of the encrypted electronic mail due to the erroneous transmission that the encrypted electronic mail is an erroneous transmission. If it is an erroneous transmission, the decryption information acquisition unit does not acquire the decryption information from the decryption information storage unit, and therefore the response email creation unit does not create a response email for notifying the decryption information. As a result, the recipient cannot read the plain text mail because the encrypted electronic mail cannot be decrypted.

(3) A method for confirming the presence or absence of erroneous transmission after transmission of an e-mail transmitted over a network,
On the computer,
Creating encrypted email by encrypting plaintext email created by the sender of the email, and decryption information for decrypting the encrypted email; and
Creating a notification email comprising the encrypted email and a notification of the method of obtaining the decryption information;
When the recipient of the notification email receives the decryption information request email of the encrypted email sent based on the notification of the acquisition method, the email information obtained from the decryption information request email is sent to the notification email. A presentation step to present to the sender of the email;
In response to the sender confirming that the person who performed the decryption information request mail from the presented electronic mail information is a valid recipient of the notification electronic mail, the encrypted electronic mail and the decryption A decryption information acquisition step for acquiring decryption information based on the e-mail information from a decryption information record stored in association with information in advance;
A response email creating step of creating a response email to the decryption information request email, notifying the obtained decryption information;
How to run.

  (4) The notification email is erroneously transmitted when the sender cannot confirm that the person who performed the decryption information request mail from the presented email information is the recipient of the notification email The method according to (3), further comprising the step of creating the response e-mail notifying that the response e-mail has been received.

  According to the present invention, an e-mail error transmission confirmation device that prevents leakage of transmission information by using an e-mail encryption mechanism, and allows the sender to confirm whether or not there is an erroneous transmission after the e-mail is transmitted. And methods can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This is merely an example, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to this. Hereinafter, for simplification, the e-mail is referred to as e-mail.

(First embodiment)
[Functional configuration of the wrong email transmission confirmation device]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The erroneous email transmission confirmation device 1 includes an email creation unit 11, an email transmission / reception unit 12, and an erroneous transmission confirmation unit 20. The mail creation means 11 and the mail transmission / reception means 12 are functions provided by application software generally called a mailer, and are, for example, Outlook Express and Netscape Messenger.

  The mail creation means 11 creates a mail based on the contents input by a user of the erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1 (hereinafter referred to as a sender) through an input unit (not shown). In addition, other functions that are used at the time of creating a mail, for example, functions such as attaching a file to a mail, storing a mail, and printing a mail are provided. The mail transmission / reception means 12 transmits a mail to the other party specified in the mail, and an e-mail address (hereinafter referred to as an address for brevity) owned by the user of the erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1 is the other party. Receive mail.

  The erroneous transmission confirmation means 20 includes an encryption means 21, a notification mail creation means 22, a presentation means 23, a decryption information acquisition means 24, a response mail creation means 25, and a decryption information database (hereinafter referred to as DB for simplification). ) 30. The decryption information DB 30 is an example of decryption information storage means.

  The encryption means 21 encrypts the mail created by the mail creation means 11 at the time of mail transmission when there is an encryption instruction from the sender. As an encryption method, there is a method using a secret key, a common key, a password or the like. When a mail is encrypted using a secret key or a common key, a key for decrypting the encrypted mail is used, or when a password is used for encryption, the password corresponds to the mail information. And stored in the decryption information DB 30.

  The notification mail creating means 22 creates a notification mail to be transmitted to the other party together with the mail encrypted by the encryption means 21. The notification mail is, for example, a mail in which a mail encrypted by the encryption unit 21 is attached and a method for obtaining decryption information for opening the attached mail is described.

  The method for obtaining the decryption information is, for example, describing a reply address in the body of the notification mail, and returning a decryption information request mail (hereinafter referred to as a request mail for simplification) to the reply address. There is a way. In addition, there is a method for returning the notification mail itself. In any of the methods, guidance indicating that it is necessary to acquire composite information and a method for acquiring composite information are described in the text of the notification mail. In this embodiment, the destination address of the request mail is a different address from other normal mail. The case where the request mail address is the same as that of other normal mails will be described in detail in the second embodiment.

  When the mail transmitting / receiving means 12 receives the request mail from the mail partner, the presenting means 23 presents the received request mail information to the sender via the output unit (not shown). The request mail information is information for specifying the request mail sender such as the address and name of the request mail, and information for specifying which mail such as the subject is the request mail. . It should be noted that items to be described in the request mail text may be specified in the notification mail, and their contents may be displayed together.

  Based on the content presented by the presenting means 23, the decryption information obtaining means 24 has confirmed that the sender of the request mail is a legitimate destination of the mail created by the sender using the mail creating means 11. In this case, the decryption information is acquired from the decryption information DB 30 based on the information of the request mail.

  The response mail creating means 25 creates a response mail for the request mail. There are two types of response mails: a response mail for sending the decryption information to the sender of the request mail, and a response mail notifying the sender of the request mail that the notification mail is an erroneous transmission. In the case of a mail that transmits the decryption information to the sender of the request mail, a response mail with the decryption information acquired from the decryption information DB 30 is transmitted. On the other hand, when the sender of the request mail is notified that the transmitted mail is an erroneous transmission, a response mail in which the apology of the erroneous transmission or the erroneous transmission is described in the mail body is transmitted. It is desirable for the sender to create this mail in advance. The response mail creating means 25 may create only a response mail for transmitting the decryption information to the sender of the request mail.

  The decryption information DB 30 stores decryption information in association with mail information, for example, a destination or a subject. The mail information is used as a condition when the response mail creating means 25 searches for decryption information.

[Hardware configuration of E-mail error sending confirmation device]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the erroneous email transmission confirmation apparatus 1 according to each embodiment of the present invention. An apparatus in which the present invention is implemented may be a standard one, and an example of the configuration is shown below.

  The erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 310 (a plurality of CPUs such as a CPU 320 may be added in a multiprocessor configuration), a bus line 200, a communication I / F (I / F). F: interface) 330, main memory 340, BIOS (Basic Input Output System) 350, display device 360, I / O controller 370, input device 380 such as a keyboard and mouse, hard disk 390, optical disk drive 400, and semiconductor memory 420 Prepare. The hard disk 390, the optical disk drive 400, and the semiconductor memory 420 are collectively referred to as a storage device 430.

  The control unit 300 is a part that performs overall control of the erroneous email transmission confirmation device 1, and cooperates with the hardware described above by appropriately reading and executing various programs stored in the hard disk 390 (described later), Various functions according to the present invention are realized.

  The communication I / F 330 is a network adapter when the erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1 transmits / receives information to / from a mail server via a communication network. The communication I / F 330 may include a modem, a cable modem, and an Ethernet (registered trademark) adapter.

  The BIOS 350 records a boot program executed by the CPU 310 when the erroneous email transmission confirmation device 1 is started, a program depending on the hardware of the erroneous email transmission confirmation device 1, and the like.

  The display device 360 includes a display device such as a cathode ray tube display device (CRT) or a liquid crystal display device (LCD).

  A storage device 430 such as a hard disk 390, an optical disk drive 400, and a semiconductor memory 420 can be connected to the I / O controller 370.

  The input device 380 accepts input by the user of the erroneous email transmission confirmation device 1.

  The hard disk 390 stores various programs for causing the hardware to function as the erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1, programs for executing the functions of the invention, and tables and records to be described later. The erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1 can also use a hard disk (not shown) separately provided as an external storage device.

  As the optical disk drive 400, for example, a DVD-ROM drive, a CD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, or a CD-RAM drive can be used. In this case, the optical disk 410 corresponding to each drive is used. A program or data may be read from the optical disk 410 by the optical disk drive 400 and provided to the main memory 340 or the hard disk 390 via the I / O controller 370.

  The computer referred to in the present invention refers to an information processing device including a storage device, a control unit, and the like. The erroneous mail transmission confirmation device 1 includes an information processing device including a storage device 430, a control unit 300, and the like. This information processing apparatus is included in the concept of the computer of the present invention.

  The encryption unit 21, the notification mail creation unit 22, the presentation unit 23, the decryption information acquisition unit 24, and the response mail creation unit 25 are realized by executing a program by the control unit 300. The decryption information DB 30 is mainly mounted on the hard disk 390.

[Decryption information DB]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a decryption information table of the decryption information DB 30. The decryption information table includes items such as an address field 40, a name field 41, a transmission date / time field 42, a subject field 43, and a decryption information field 44. In addition, the item shown here is an illustration, and may not have all and may have another item. The address column 40 stores the address of the mail partner. The mail destination includes not only mail To but also persons designated as Cc (Carbon Copy) and Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy). This is because a mail sent to a person designated as Cc or Bcc may be encrypted.

  The name column 41 stores the name and name of the owner of the address. Since the name is not described in the mail To or the like, it is necessary to acquire the name and name of the owner of the address from the address book owned by the mailer when the encryption means 21 registers the decryption information. If it cannot be obtained from the address book, it will be blank. The transmission date and time column 42 stores the date and time when the mail was transmitted. The subject field 43 stores the subject of the mail. In the decryption information column 44, decryption information created together with the encryption of the mail by the encryption means 21 is stored.

  Thus, by storing the decryption information at the sender and sending the decryption information to the receiver for each mail, different decryption information can be used for each mail. In other words, different encryptions can be performed each time, and robust security can be ensured.

[Mail transmission / reception processing]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of mail transmission / reception processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The process starts when the sender creates a plain text mail by the mail creating means 11 and instructs the transmission.
S1: The encryption means 21 encrypts the plain text mail created by the sender.
S2: The encryption means 21 creates together the decryption information for decrypting the mail encrypted in step S1, and stores it in the decryption information DB 30. As described above, the decryption information is stored in association with the mail information of the encrypted mail.

S3: The notification mail creating means 22 attaches the encrypted mail encrypted in step S1, and creates a notification mail in which at least the method for obtaining the decryption information is described in the text.
S4: The mail transmission / reception means 12 transmits the notification mail created in step S3 to the partner of the mail encrypted in step S1.

  S5: The recipient terminal that is the other party of the notification mail receives the notification mail transmitted from the sender terminal in step S4. The recipient of the notification mail can only read the body of the notification mail and cannot read the actual mail created by the sender. Therefore, no information is leaked even if the other party of the notification mail is wrong.

S6: The recipient of the notification mail creates a request mail according to the decryption information acquisition method described in the text of the notification mail.
S7: The recipient of the notification mail transmits the request mail created in step S6 to the sender. The transmission destination is an address described in the text of the notification mail.

S8: When the sender terminal receives the request mail transmitted from the receiver terminal, the presenting means 23 presents the mail information of the request mail on an output unit such as a liquid crystal display.
S9: Based on the contents presented in step S8, the sender is the sender of the request mail, that is, the receiver of the notification mail is a valid receiver of the encrypted electronic mail attached to the notification mail. Judgment is made.

  S10: When it is input that the sender has determined that the recipient of the notification mail is valid, the decryption information acquisition means 24 acquires the decryption information from the decryption information DB 30. The decryption information is acquired on the condition that the mail information of the request mail is used. For example, the condition is the sender address and subject of the request mail. In addition, when it is desired to make a more precise determination of the recipient, it is possible to have the sender of the request mail describe the conditions such as name and age in the body of the request mail and use it.

  As a method for inputting that the sender has determined that the recipient of the notification mail is valid, for example, in step S8, the mail information of the request mail presented by the presenting means 23 is displayed in a pop-up display with a confirmation button, There is a method of pressing the confirmation button. In addition, it may be input that the sender has determined that the requester is valid to perform the reply operation of the request mail.

S11: The response mail creating means 25 attaches the decryption information acquired in step S10, and responds with a sentence informing that the mail is attached with the decryption information created in advance in the text. Create an email. In order to make it easy for the recipient of the response mail, it is desirable to clearly indicate the decryption information for which mail in the subject and text.
S12: If it is determined in step S9 that the recipient of the notification mail is not valid, a response mail is written in the body with a sentence that has been created in advance and a message that apologizes for erroneous transmission. create. In step S9, when the response mail is created only when the sender determines that the recipient of the notification mail is valid, if it is determined that the recipient of the notification mail is not valid, the steps after step S12 are performed. No processing is performed. That is, the process ends at step S10.
S13: The mail transmission / reception means 12 transmits the response mail created in step S11 or S12 to the recipient of the notification mail.

S14: The recipient terminal receives the response mail transmitted in step S13.
S15: The user of the recipient terminal, in other words, the recipient of the response mail, decrypts the encrypted mail attached to the received mail in step S5 when the decryption information is attached to the response mail.

  As described above, since the sender can confirm the destination of the mail after sending the mail, an error of the destination can be prevented. That is, by checking the mail information of the request mail by the sender himself, it is possible to confirm whether or not the sender has been sent to the other party to which the mail was originally sent. This confirmation cannot be made by the computer. This is because it is difficult for the computer of the sender of the request mail to determine whether the creator of the encrypted mail is the other party who originally intended to send the mail.

  Further, by using the request mail, it is possible to recognize that the sender has made an erroneous transmission, and to inform the other party of the erroneous transmission. In that case, unless the decryption information is sent, the encrypted mail cannot be read, so no information leakage occurs. The read status of the encrypted mail can also be confirmed based on the presence / absence of the request mail.

(Second Embodiment)
[Functional configuration of the wrong email transmission confirmation device]
In the first embodiment, a case has been described in which the destination address of the request mail is a different address from other normal mails, but the destination address of the request mail is the same as other normal mails. You can also In the second embodiment, changes in that case will be described. By making the destination address of the request mail the same as other ordinary mails, there is an advantage that the sender does not need to own a plurality of addresses.

  Except for the points described below, the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment. Moreover, in the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the portions that perform the same functions as those of the first embodiment, and overlapping descriptions are omitted as appropriate.

[Functional configuration of the wrong email transmission confirmation device]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the erroneous email transmission confirmation apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that a mail type determination unit 26 is provided. In this embodiment, the destination address of the request mail is the same as that of other normal mail. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether the mail is a request mail or other mail, and the mail type determination means 26 makes the determination.

  As for the determination method, the subject of the request mail shall be specified as clearly indicating that it is a request mail, and it may be determined by that, or whether the request mail is a blank mail as nothing is described in the body column. You may judge by whether or not.

[Mail transmission / reception processing]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of mail transmission / reception processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that step S16 is performed after step S7.
S16: When the mail transmission / reception means 12 receives a mail, the mail type determination means 26 determines whether the received mail is a request mail. If it is a request mail, the process proceeds to step S8. If it is not a request mail, the process ends.

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the mail erroneous transmission confirmation apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the mail erroneous transmission confirmation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment which concerns on each embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the decoding information table of decoding information DB which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the mail transmission / reception process which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the email erroneous transmission confirmation apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the mail transmission / reception process which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mail erroneous transmission confirmation apparatus 11 Mail preparation means 12 Mail transmission / reception means 20 Error transmission confirmation means 21 Encryption means 22 Notification mail preparation means 23 Presentation means 24 Decryption information acquisition means 25 Response mail preparation means 30 Decryption information DB

Claims (4)

An apparatus for confirming the presence or absence of erroneous transmission after transmission of an e-mail transmitted via a network,
Encryption means for creating encrypted email by encrypting plain text email created by the sender of the email, and decryption information for decrypting the encrypted email;
Decryption information storage means for storing the email information related to the encrypted email and the decryption information in association with each other;
A notification email creating means for creating a notification email composed of the encrypted email and a notification of the method of obtaining the decryption information;
When the recipient of the notification email receives the decryption information request email of the encrypted email sent based on the notification of the acquisition method, the notification of the email information obtained from the decryption information request email Presenting means to present to the sender of the email;
According to the electronic mail information presented by the presenting means, in response to the sender confirming that the person who performed the decryption information request mail is a valid recipient of the notification electronic mail, Decryption information acquisition means for acquiring decryption information from the decryption information storage means based on mail information;
A response email creating means for creating a response email for the decryption information request mail, notifying the decryption information obtained by the decryption information obtaining means;
E-mail erroneous transmission confirmation device comprising:   In the presenting means, the response e-mail creating means was unable to confirm that the sender who made the decryption information request mail from the e-mail information is a valid recipient of the notification e-mail. In this case, the electronic mail erroneous transmission confirmation device according to claim 1, wherein the response electronic mail is generated to notify that the notification electronic mail is an erroneous transmission. A method for checking whether or not there is an erroneous transmission after sending an e-mail sent via a network,
On the computer,
Creating encrypted email by encrypting plaintext email created by the sender of the email, and decryption information for decrypting the encrypted email; and
Creating a notification email comprising the encrypted email and a notification of the method of obtaining the decryption information;
When the recipient of the notification email receives the decryption information request email of the encrypted email sent based on the notification of the acquisition method, the email information obtained from the decryption information request email is sent to the notification email. A presentation step to present to the sender of the email;
In response to the sender confirming that the person who performed the decryption information request mail from the presented electronic mail information is a valid recipient of the notification electronic mail, the encrypted electronic mail and the decryption A decryption information acquisition step for acquiring decryption information based on the e-mail information from a decryption information record stored in association with information in advance;
A response email creating step of creating a response email to the decryption information request email, notifying the obtained decryption information;
How to run.   When the sender fails to confirm that the person who performed the decryption information request mail from the presented e-mail information is a valid recipient of the notification e-mail, the notification e-mail is erroneously transmitted. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising creating the response email notifying that there has been.

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