JP3158114U - Removable storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pluggable storage device in which a user can sense the fact when the pluggable storage device is infected with a virus. A virus scanning program that resides in the insertion / removable storage device executes a virus scan of the insertion / removable storage device under an operating system built in the computer, and a virus scanning result is obtained from the insertion / removal storage device. A notification device provided in the storage device is used to notify the user. [Selection] Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to a pluggable storage device, and more particularly to a pluggable storage device that can be easily informed to a user when a computer virus is infected.

  In recent years, virus infection of computers has become a problem. For this reason, a virus scanning program is made resident in the computer, and the presence or absence of infection is constantly monitored, and even if one computer is infected, an attempt is made to prevent infection to other computers on the network as much as possible.

  A computer virus (simply referred to as a virus in this application) easily secondarily infects a portable storage medium attached to another interface such as a computer USB port or SD card slot.

  A virus scan program may be resident on the computer, but it is not always resident. Even if they are resident, they are not always updated to handle the latest viruses. For this reason, it is easily expected that the portable storage medium is secondarily infected with a virus and thirdly infected from the portable storage medium to another computer.

JP2009-2111524

  Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a pluggable storage device that can effectively check the presence or absence of its own virus infection. The second purpose is to provide a pluggable storage device that notifies the virus scan results to the user in a simple manner, and in particular continuously notifies the scan results even after being extracted from the host device, and can effectively prevent secondary infection. It is in. The third object is to provide a pluggable storage device that can always obtain highly reliable virus scan results. A fourth object is to provide a pluggable storage device capable of performing multipurpose virus scanning. Other objects will become apparent from the description, drawings, and particularly the claims of utility model registration.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adopts a novel characteristic configuration described in claims.

According to the pluggable storage device of the present invention, a virus scanning program resident in the device performs a virus scan of an existing file inside the device,
Since the virus scan results (presence / absence of virus, removal of virus or isolation of infected file) are notified to the user by the notification means provided on the device, if the device is infected with virus, The processing state can be known effectively. In particular, if the device is equipped with a secondary battery, the scan results can be reliably recognized while the secondary battery is functioning even after it has been removed from the computer, so it can be accidentally attached to another computer to spread the infection. Can be effectively prevented.

In addition, when the device is installed in the computer, the virus scan program automatically starts and the virus definition file can only be stored after it has been updated to the latest one. Scanning with the virus definition file can improve the reliability of the virus scan result of the newly stored file.

It is the 1st basic composition example of a pluggable storage device of the present invention, and the example of use condition. It is an example of the contents of a virus scanning program. It is 1st Example (notification by LED) of the pluggable storage device of this invention. It is a 1st example of a display of the virus scan status by an alerting | reporting means (LED). It is a 2nd example of a virus scanning status display by an alerting | reporting means (LED). It is 2nd Example (notification by LCD) of the pluggable storage device of this invention. This is an explanation of the state when a virus definition file is downloaded. It is the 2nd basic composition example 2 (example which provided the secondary battery) of the pluggable storage device of this invention.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention can take various forms within the scope of the claims, and is not limited to the following embodiments. Absent.

(Pluggable storage device and usage example)
FIG. 1 shows a first basic configuration example of a pluggable storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a usage state thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, the removable storage device 2 of the present invention is used by being inserted into and removed from a host interface 112 (for example, a USB interface port) of the computer 1.

The computer 1 is, for example, a general-purpose personal computer (PC), and includes a CPU 111 that controls the computer 1 centrally, a host interface 112 that is connected to the outside of the computer 1 based on a predetermined standard, and basic software. OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)
(OS) 1141, an auxiliary storage device 114 storing the OS 1141 and an application program (not shown), and a main storage device 113 as a work memory of the CPU 111. The auxiliary storage device 114 is, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and the main storage device 113 can be constituted by a DRAM.

The pluggable storage device 2 receives a command or data sent from the storage device 21 and the host interface 112 via the bus 3 or stores information such as data or program from the storage device 21 as a host. The device interface 22 is transferred to the interface 112, the controller 23 executes data writing / reading to / from the storage device 21 based on the command received by the device interface 22, and the notification device 24 is connected to the controller 23. . A program (firmware 231) necessary for driving the pluggable storage device 2 is installed in the controller 23 in advance, and the controller 23 interprets a notification command (to be described later) by the firmware 231 to notify the notification device. A notification signal is output to 24.

  A virus scanning program 211 is installed in the storage device 21 in advance. The virus scan of the pluggable storage device 2 is performed under the OS 1141 by the user specifying activation of the virus scan program 211 with a mouse or keyboard when the pluggable storage device 2 is mounted on the host interface 112 of the computer 1. Executed. The virus scan program 211 may be set to automatically start by the function of the OS 1141 on the computer 1 side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the virus scan program 211 includes a file search function, a virus scan function, a virus removal function, an infected file quarantine function, a scan status notification command issue function (a function for notifying that a virus scan is being executed), and a scan result. It has a notification command issuing function, a LOG (scan history) writing function, and a virus definition file updating function. The virus removal function and infected file quarantine function can be selected as options.

Here, the “virus scanning function” refers to a function for checking whether or not a file stored in the storage device 21 is infected with a virus. The “virus removal function” is a function for removing a virus program from an infected file. The removal means that the infected virus program itself is erased or encrypted from the storage device 21 so that the storage device 21 and the computer 1 cannot operate. The “infected file quarantine function” is a predetermined location in the storage device 21 for each infected file when the infected virus cannot be removed from the file or when the file cannot be restored to its original state. A function that moves to a partition (for example, a partition dedicated to isolation). In this case, the infected file is appropriately processed such as encryption so that the virus can no longer be activated. The virus scan is executed by vaccine software (strictly, a virus detection engine) included in the virus scan program 211.

Note that the virus scan program 211 and the virus definition file 212 are inseparable from each other in the virus scan function, and both exist as files that can be recognized by the file system of the computer 1.

  When the virus scan program 211 is loaded into the main storage device 113 and activated, the definition file 212 is also loaded. When the virus scan program 211 is activated, first, based on the file search function, a file stored in a disk area where data can be written in the storage device 21 is searched, and a list of file names is created in the main storage device 113. The virus scan program 211 sequentially scans the created list file, refers to the virus definition file, and scans for the presence or absence of a virus defined in the definition file. Since the device 2 of the present invention is a storage device, various user data can be stored in the disk area.

The pluggable storage device 2 has a notification device 24. When the scan is started, the virus scan program 211 issues a command for notifying the controller that the scan is being executed to the controller via the OS 1141 by the scan status notification command issuing function. This command is interpreted, and the notification device 24 notifies the user that the scan is being executed.

The virus scanning program 211 causes the notification device 24 to notify that a virus has been found or not found as a result of scanning, by using a scan result notification command issuing function. That is, the virus scan program 211 causes the notification device 24 to notify the controller 23 of the fact that a virus has been found or has not been found by using the scan result notification command issuing function. Command is issued via the OS 1141, and the controller 23 interprets this command and notifies the user of the scan result from the notification device 24.

  Note that the virus scan program 211 may not have a virus removal function and an infected file isolation function, but in that case, only the scan result (presence or absence of infection) is notified. When the virus removal function and the infected file isolation function are provided, the presence / absence of virus infection and the virus removal or infected file isolation are performed in a series of operations. In other words, when a virus is found, it does not simply notify the fact that the virus is present, but removes the virus or isolates the infected file by using the virus removal function and infected file isolation function of the virus scan program 211. Inform the results. In this case as well, the scan result notification command issuing function of the virus scan program 211 issues a command for causing the controller 23 to notify the controller 23 that the virus has been removed or the infected file has been isolated via the OS 1141. 23 interprets this command and informs the user from the notification device 24 that it has been removed or quarantined.

Further, the virus scan program 211 uses a LOG (scan history) writing function to issue a command for writing the execution of the scan and the result into the storage device 21 as a LOG (history) using a timer function (not shown) of the CPU 111. It is issued to the controller 23. The controller 23 interprets this and stores the LOG in the LOG file 213 of the storage device 21 and saves it. The data to be recorded as LOG is the scan date and time and the result (presence / absence of infected file, file name when infected, name of infected virus, etc.).

  When the host interface 112 of the computer 1 is a USB interface (that is, has a USB port), the pluggable storage device 2 employs a USB interface as the device interface 22 and a nonvolatile memory such as a NAND flash memory as the storage device 21. A semiconductor memory can be used and a USB memory can be used. In this case, the pluggable device 2 is used with the USB electrode attached to the USB port of the computer 1. The pluggable storage device 2 may use another interface that the computer 1 has. For example, when the computer 1 has an EXPRESS card slot, the computer 1 may be inserted into and removed from the slot. If an interface other than the slot for the EXPRESS card is provided, these may be used. In addition, the notification device 24 may be a device that can be visually recognized by the user such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), or a device that can be sensed by the user such as a speaker. These notification devices may be constituted by one piece or plural pieces. Or you may comprise combining the alerting | reporting apparatus from which a kind differs. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention (including a notification example by a notification device) will be described.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a removable storage device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, elements having the same functions and configurations as the basic configuration shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be given only when necessary.

In FIG. 3, the pluggable storage device 2 includes a USB memory 4 having a USB interface 221 as a device interface, and is used by being attached to a USB port of the computer 1.

The USB memory 4 includes, for example, a NAND flash memory 41 as a storage device, a USB interface 221 that receives commands and data sent from a USB interface (not shown) of the computer 1 via the USB bus 30, and a USB interface 221. The controller 43 executes writing and reading of data to and from the flash memory 41 based on the command received in step S1.

  The flash memory 41 includes a CD-ROM area 412 that can be used only for reading data, and a disk area that can be used for reading, writing, and deleting data. 411. The CD-ROM area 412 stores a virus scan program 211 in advance. In addition to user data, the disk area 411 stores updated versions of the LOG file 213 and the virus definition file 212.

  Here, when the pluggable device 2 is attached to the USB port of the computer 1 running the OS 1141, the virus scan program 211 stored in the CD-ROM area 412 is set to automatically start on the computer 1. This is because the autorun. It is possible by writing the inf file in the CD-ROM area 412 in advance. This function is detailed in Japanese Patent No. 3513147 by the present applicant.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a blue light emitting diode (LED 241) and a red light emitting diode (LED 242) are used for the notification device 24. FIG. 4 shows a display example of scan execution and scan results using the LED 241 and the LED 242 when the virus scan program 211 does not have the virus removal function and the infected file isolation function. The LED 241 (blue) and the LED 242 (red) blink both blue and red while the USB memory 4 is attached to the computer 1 and the virus scan of the USB memory 4 that is a pluggable storage device is being executed. If no virus is found as a result of scanning, blue is lit and red is extinguished. When infected, blue is turned off and red is lit.

  When the virus scan program 211 has a virus removal function and an infected file isolation function, as described above, virus removal or infected file isolation is performed in a series of operations together with the virus infection check. An example of the notification is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, when the scan is running and there is no infection, it is the same as the first display example of FIG. 4, but when a virus is found and the removal of the infected virus is complete, blue is lit. When the infected file is quarantined, blue flashes and red lights up. By displaying safety in blue and caution in red, each state can be easily displayed to the user. Moreover, you may change the blink aspect (for example, blink speed) of LED according to the seriousness etc. of infection. Whether or not virus infection check and removal or isolation are performed in a series of operations depends solely on the function of the virus scan program 211, but may be selectable by setting. It should be noted that the virus-infected file can be quarantined in a quarantine dedicated partition, for example, another area configured in a disk format. After the infected file is quarantined, for safety, the virus scan program 211 issues a vendor command for erasing the quarantine dedicated partition to the controller 43 of the pluggable device 2 via the OS 1141, and the controller 43 stores the flash memory 41 in the flash memory 41. It is preferable to designate a physical block that constitutes the quarantine dedicated partition and issue an erase command that removes the electric charge of the cell of the physical block to completely extinguish the virus for each infected file. The controller 43 can designate the physical block address of the dedicated partition for isolation by referring to the logical block / physical block conversion table. Thereby, effective utilization of the 3rd field can be aimed at.

When the main work of the program 211 is finished, a LOG write command is issued to write the LOG to the disk area 411, and a series of operations is finished. Scan history (LOG) can be used for subsequent management of the user.

As described above, since the virus scan is being executed and the scan result (presence / absence of virus infection) can be notified to the user by the LED provided in the USB memory 4, the state of the scan being executed and the scan result Can be notified to the user with a simple configuration. Therefore, in the unlikely event that the device 2 is infected with a virus, the user can immediately know the fact, so that it can be prevented that the device 2 is attached to another computer without knowing to spread the virus infection.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the pluggable storage device 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the notification device of the USB memory 5 is composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 244 (FIG. 6A), and other configurations are the same as those according to the first embodiment. The LCD 244 is a small LCD, for example, and is integrally provided on the surface of the housing of the USB memory 5 at a position where the user can visually recognize it.

When virus scanning is started, a notification command is issued from the virus scanning program 211 to notify that virus scanning is being executed. When the controller 53 receives this notification command, it sends a display signal to the LCD 244, and displays a “virus scanning in progress” message, for example, as shown in FIG. The message display program of the LCD 244 may be written in the firmware 531 in advance.

  If no virus is found as a result of the virus scan, the virus scan program 211 issues a notification command notifying that the virus has not been infected when the scan is completed. When the controller 53 receives this notification command, it sends a display signal to the LCD 244 to display, for example, a message “No virus was found”.

  When a virus is found as a result of the virus scan, a notification command is issued to notify that the virus is infected when the scan is completed. When the controller 53 receives this notification command, it sends a display signal to the LCD 244 to display, for example, a message “A virus has been found”. Further, as described in the first embodiment, scanning and removal or quarantine may be performed in series to display the name of a virus that has been found or the name of an infected file.

  As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, since the virus scan status is notified by characters on the LCD, various expressions are possible, and the types of notification can be increased.

  In addition to the LED and LCD, the notification device 24 may be configured by a small speaker and notified by sound (buzzer sound or melody). Or you may alert | report by vibration using the small vibrator currently used with the mobile telephone terminal. Any one of them or a combination of two or more may be used.

(Virus definition file update function)
Next, the virus definition file update function will be described. As is well known, viruses are regularly scattered around the world by illegal graduates, so the virus definition file provided by the virus scan program vendor is always available so that the virus scan program 211 can keep up with the latest viruses. Need to update. In the present invention, the definition file is updated by the virus definition file update function of the virus scan program 211.

  When the virus scan program 211 finishes executing the virus scan of the disk area 411 of the above described removable storage device 2 and reporting the scan result (this is referred to as the first step of the virus scan program 211), the virus scan program 211 Based on the virus definition file update function of the program 211, the virus definition file update server operated by the virus scan program provider is accessed via the Internet (see the image diagram in FIG. 7). Then, the latest virus definition file is downloaded to the disk area 411 of the pluggable storage device 2. Since the file name of the definition file to be downloaded is the same as the file name of the definition file 212 existing in the disk area 411, the old version of the virus definition file is replaced and updated by the latest version of the virus definition file. (This is called the second step of the virus scan program 211).

  Thus, after the first step is completed, the virus scanning program 211 automatically updates the virus definition file as the second step, so that the user can store a desired file from the computer 1 in the pluggable device 2. After the second step is finished. Since the newly stored file is scanned with the virus definition file updated in the second step after the end of the second step, the user always stores it in the pluggable device 2 with the latest virus definition file provided by the vendor. Files can be scanned for viruses and the reliability of scan results can be improved. If it is desired to scan the file scanned in the first step with the latest virus definition file, it is possible to end the processing of the pluggable device and insert it again into the computer 1.

(Modification)
If it is only necessary to notify the user of the scan result, it is sufficient to notify the display device of the computer 1, but the pluggable storage device of the present invention is provided with a secondary battery as shown in FIG. 8, and the secondary battery functions. In the meantime, notification by LED or LCD is continued (of course, it may be possible to turn it off by a switch). In this way, the notification continues even after the user removes the device 2 ′ from the computer 1 after the pluggable storage device 2 ′ is infected with the virus. Can be more effectively prevented. If the notification on the display screen of the computer 1 and the LED display are performed together, it is possible to reliably grasp the LED display contents after the start.

(Other features)
Note that it is possible to arbitrarily set whether the virus scanning program 211 scans the pluggable storage device 2 or scans the attached host (the computer 1 in this case) by the application program installed in the computer 1. Using this function, the storage device 2 can be attached to a USB port of an FA machine tool (for example, a robot manipulator) that does not have an input device such as a keyboard or an output device such as a monitor. Can be executed. The scan result of the FA machine tool can be notified to the operator via an LED, LCD, or the like, similar to the scan result of the pluggable storage devices 2 and 2 ′ itself.

  When using the pluggable storage devices 2 and 2 'for virus scanning of FA machine tools, from the viewpoint of convenience and operability, the machine control program for FA machine tools produced by the computer 1 is installed in the FA machine tool. Can be used as a portable storage medium.

  If the machine control program itself is installed in an FA machine tool without knowing that it is infected with a virus, the FA machine tool itself is secondarily infected with the virus. If 'is used as a portable storage medium, the presence or absence of virus infection can be checked when the work control program is stored in the devices 2 and 2' from the computer 1, so that secondary infection can be effectively prevented.

  Further, when a virus scan of the FA machine tool is executed with the pluggable device, the virus may not be infected from the FA machine tool to the pluggable device for some reason. At this time, if the scan target of the virus scan program 211 is reset to the device main body, the self-diagnosis of the presence or absence of virus infection of the pluggable device can be executed.

1 Computer 111 CPU
113 Main storage device 114 Auxiliary storage device 1141 OS
2, 2 'Pluggable storage device 3 Bus 4, 5 USB memory 21 Storage device
23, 43, 53 Controller 24 Notification device 25 Secondary battery 30 USB bus 41 Flash memory 211 Virus scan program 221 USB
I / F (device side)
231 431 531 Firmware 241 242 LED
244 LCD
411 Disk area 412 CD-ROM area

Claims (9)

A storage device that has a storage unit and a control unit that controls the storage unit and is used by being inserted into and removed from a predetermined interface of a computer,
A virus scan program resident in the storage unit of the pluggable storage device executes a virus scan of all files stored in a writable area of the pluggable storage device under an operating system built in the computer. ,
A pluggable storage device configured to notify a user of a result of the virus scan by a notification device provided in the pluggable storage device.   2. The pluggable storage device according to claim 1, wherein the notification device is any one of an LED, a liquid crystal display device, a speaker, and a vibrator, or a combination of two or more. A storage device that is inserted into and removed from a computer having at least a predetermined operating system,
The pluggable storage device is:
A first area configured with a CD-ROM format and storing at least a virus scan program, and a second area configured with a disk format and storing at least user data and an updated virus definition file. A storage unit;
A controller for controlling the storage unit;
Having a notification device,
The controller includes a first command issued from the virus scan program via the operating system for notifying that the virus scanning is being executed by the notification device and a second command for notifying that there is no infection. 3. A signal output means for interpreting a third command for informing that the device has been infected and outputting a notification signal in accordance with the command to the notification device. The pluggable storage device described in 1.   The pluggable storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the notification state by the notification device is continued even after the secondary battery is built in and removed from the pluggable storage device computer. The insertion / removal type storage device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the third command is a command for informing the virus scanning program that the virus has been removed after confirming the virus infection. The third command is a command for notifying that the virus scanning program has isolated the file infected with the virus after the virus infection confirmation to the third area configured in the disk format. The pluggable storage device according to claim 3 or 4. Pluggable storage devices are:
In the first area, means (autorun.inf) for automatically starting the virus scanning program is further stored, and when the removable storage device is attached to a predetermined interface of the computer in the operating system activated state The virus scanning program is automatically started on the computer,
Virus scan program:
A first step execution means for performing virus scanning on all files stored in the second area after startup and notifying a scan result by the notification device;
A second step execution means for accessing the server after completion of the first step and replacing the latest version of the virus definition file for the virus scan program with the old definition file stored in the second area;
A third step executing means for scanning a virus newly stored in the pluggable device with the latest virus definition file updated by the second step executing means;
The pluggable storage device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized by comprising:   The storage unit is composed of a NAND flash memory, and the virus scan program issues a command to the controller to erase all data stored in the third area, and the controller receives the command to the NAND flash memory. 4. The pluggable device according to claim 3, wherein the command issued from the virus scan program is executed by issuing an erase command designating a physical block address constituting the third area. The storage device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the virus scan program is capable of executing virus scan on the host side to which the pluggable device is attached according to settings.