JP6082245B2 - Mail transmission management apparatus, mail transmission control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for preventing erroneous transmission of electronic mail (hereinafter referred to as “mail”).

  As a technique for preventing erroneous transmission of mail, there is a technique in which a sender can confirm the legitimacy of a destination before sending the mail, and transmission cannot be performed without checking each destination as a confirmation result (see Patent Document 1).

  In this prior art, when sending a mail, a screen including a list of mail destinations as shown in FIG. 1 is displayed on the client terminal of the sender, and the sender confirms the destination mail address and checks it. Put in. When all destinations are checked, transmission can be executed. In addition to the portion that displays the destination mail address, FIG. 1 also shows the risk level of the mail, but such display of the risk level can be realized by the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. .

JP 2007-87327 A

  In the above prior art, it is expected that mail transmission to an unintended destination can be prevented by checking the destination and checking each destination.

  However, if the sender confirms and checks the destination, it is feared that the check will be made without confirming the validity of the destination. In such a situation, even if the destination is actually wrong, it may be possible to check the validity of the destination without checking it, and as a result, an email may be sent to an unintended destination (e-mail mistransmission). .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in a system for requesting a sender to confirm a destination address when transmitting an e-mail, a technique for causing the sender to confirm the destination reliably. The purpose is to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention acquires an email transmitted from a mailer, acquires one or a plurality of destination addresses from the email, and acquires a dummy address from a dummy address storage unit, or Means for generating;
Means for displaying to the user a transmission confirmation dialog screen configured to check each of the destination address and the dummy address;
A determination processing means for acquiring a result of a check made by a user on the transmission confirmation dialog screen and transmitting the electronic mail to a network when the result of the check is determined to be valid. Configured as a mail transmission management device.

  The determination processing unit determines that the check result is valid when only the dummy address is not checked among the destination address and the dummy address in the check result, and the e-mail When the destination address other than the dummy address is not checked, it is determined that the result of the check is not valid. The warning information may be displayed to the user without sending the e-mail to the network.

  The determination processing means determines that the check result is valid when only the dummy address is not checked among the destination address and the dummy address in the check result, and When a predetermined button on the transmission confirmation dialog screen is pressed, the e-mail is sent to the network and the dummy address is checked, or the destination address other than the dummy address is checked. If there is a destination address that is not included, it may be determined that the result of the check is not valid and the predetermined button cannot be pressed.

  The present invention can also be configured as a mail transmission control method executed by the mail transmission management apparatus configured by a computer, and a program for causing the computer to function as each unit in the mail transmission management apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when transmitting a mail, in the system which requests | requires confirmation of a destination address from a sender, it becomes possible to provide the technique for making a sender confirm the destination reliably.

It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a client terminal in a prior art. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a dummy address table. It is a figure which shows the example of a destination address management table. It is a figure which shows the structural example in the case of providing the function of the mail transmission management apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention in a client terminal. It is a flowchart for demonstrating a dummy address addition process. It is a flowchart for demonstrating a dummy address check result determination process. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a client terminal in this Embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is only an example, and the embodiment to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the following embodiment.

  In this embodiment, when the destination is confirmed by the sender, a dummy email address is included in addition to the destination email address, and when the sender carelessly checks the dummy address, etc. Warning message output, transmission impossible processing, etc. are performed. The configuration and operation of the system according to the present embodiment enabling such processing will be described in detail below.

(System configuration)
FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of a system according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the system according to the present embodiment includes a client terminal 10 and a mail transmission management device 20. The mail transmission management device 20 is connected to the network 30. This network 30 is a network including functions necessary for transferring mail such as a mail server.

  In the present embodiment, the mail transmitted from the client terminal 10 is temporarily stored in the mail transmission management apparatus 20 and is transmitted to the network 30 after checking the destination in the client terminal 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration when a mail is transmitted from the client terminal 10. The mail transmission management device 20 may have a function of receiving a mail from the network 30 and transferring the received mail to the client terminal 10. Regarding the reception of the mail, the mail transmission management device 20 does not pass through the mail transmission management device 20. Also good.

  The client terminal 10 is a terminal having a mailer 11 that is a program for sending and receiving mail. The client terminal 10 may be of any type as long as it has a computer function including a CPU, a memory, and the like and can execute a program to display a screen and input information. The client terminal 10 is, for example, a PC or a smartphone. In FIG. 2, a transmission confirmation dialog 12 is shown in the client terminal 10. The transmission confirmation dialog 12 is a name of a screen displayed on the client terminal 10 based on information transmitted from the mail transmission management device 20 to the client terminal 10. The screen is a dialog with the user on the client terminal 10. Since it has a function of performing (dialogue), it is shown here as a transmission confirmation dialog 12.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the mail transmission management device 20 includes a mail erroneous transmission prevention control unit 21 and a mail transmission unit 22. The erroneous mail transmission prevention control unit 21 is a functional unit that performs control for preventing erroneous mail transmission. The mail transmission unit 22 is a functional unit that transfers the mail once stored to the network 30 side upon receiving a transmission instruction from the mail erroneous transmission prevention control unit 21.

  The erroneous mail transmission prevention control unit 21 includes a dummy address addition processing unit 23, a dummy address check result determination processing unit 24, a dummy address table 25, and a transmission address management table 26.

  The dummy address addition processing unit 23 receives a mail transmitted from the mailer 11 of the client terminal 10 and stores it in a storage unit such as a memory provided in the mail transmission management device 20. One or a plurality of destination addresses are acquired, dummy addresses are acquired from the dummy address table 25, screen information of a transmission confirmation dialog describing these addresses is created, and the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog is transmitted to the client terminal 10. It is a functional part to do. At this time, the address described in the transmission confirmation dialog is stored in the destination address management table 26 by the dummy address addition processing unit 23.

  The dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 is a functional unit that receives a destination address check result made by the user on the transmission confirmation dialog 12 of the client terminal 10 and performs processing such as mail transmission and warning based on the result. .

  The dummy address table 25 is a storage unit that stores dummy addresses. FIG. 3 shows an example of the dummy address table 25. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the dummy address is stored in the form of an email address. In addition to this storage method, the address part (left side of @) and the domain part (right side of @) are stored separately. When adding a dummy address to the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog, a mail address as a dummy address may be generated from the address part and the domain part. Further, in order to use the destination address of the mail once transmitted as a dummy address, it may be stored in the dummy address table 25.

  The dummy address table 25 may not be provided, and the destination address may be analyzed at the time of mail acquisition to automatically generate a dummy address related to the destination address. The dummy address related to the destination address is, for example, an address whose domain part is the same as the original destination address and is likely to be recognized as a correct destination address unless the sender confirms it well.

  The destination address management table 26 in FIG. 2 is a storage unit that stores a destination address of a mail that is a target for preventing erroneous mail transmission and an added dummy address. FIG. 4 shows an example of the destination address management table. As shown in FIG. 4, the destination address management table 26 holds a destination address and a dummy flag indicating whether or not the destination address is a dummy address.

  The mail transmission management apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment can be realized, for example, by causing a computer (server or the like) having an IP communication function to execute a program describing the processing contents described in the present embodiment. That is, the functions of each unit of the mail transmission management device 20 execute programs corresponding to the processes executed by the respective units using hardware resources such as a CPU, a memory, and a hard disk built in the computer constituting the device. This can be realized by doing so. The above-mentioned program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium (portable memory or the like), stored, or distributed. It is also possible to provide the program through a network such as the Internet or electronic mail. As described above, the point that the apparatus according to the present embodiment can be realized by a computer and a program is the same when the client terminal 10 has the function of the mail transmission management apparatus 20 as described later.

  The mail transmission management device 20 shown in FIG. 2 shows a function related to destination address confirmation. In addition to this function, an evaluation function such as a risk level based on the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided. You may prepare.

  Further, the mail transmission management device 20 shown in FIG. 2 may be a mail server. That is, when a program having the function of the mail transmission management device 20 is installed in and executed by the mail server, the mail server has an original mail transmission / reception function and an erroneous mail transmission prevention control function described in the present embodiment. It is good also as providing.

  FIG. 2 shows the case where the client terminal 10 and the mail transmission management device 20 are separate devices, but the functions of the mail transmission management device 20 (the erroneous mail transmission prevention control unit 21 and the mail transmission unit 22). May be provided in the client terminal 10. A configuration example in that case is shown in FIG. In the configuration of FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are assigned to functional units having the same functions as the functional units in FIG. 1. The communication between the mail transmission management device 20 and the client terminal 10 shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the exchange of information inside the client terminal 10 in FIG. The operation / display unit 27 in FIG. 5 is a functional unit that performs information input and information display, and may be a functional unit that physically includes a plurality of components, or both input and display, such as a touch panel. It may be a functional unit capable of performing A screen of a transmission confirmation dialog is displayed on the operation / display unit 27 for the user, destination check is performed, and the check result is passed to the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24.

  When the function of the mail transmission management device 20 is provided in the client terminal 10, the client terminal 10 can be called a mail transmission management device.

(Operation of Mail Transmission Management Device 20)
Hereinafter, the operation of the mail transmission management apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail.

  First, processing from when a mail is transmitted from the mailer 11 of the client terminal 10 until the mail transmission management device 20 transmits the transmission confirmation dialog screen information to the client terminal 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the user of the client terminal 10 creates a mail using the mailer 11 and performs a transmission operation on the mailer 11, the mail is transmitted and the erroneous mail transmission prevention control unit 21 of the mail transmission management device 20 is transmitted. A mail (corresponding to a mail transmission request) is received (step 1). The dummy address addition processing unit 23 of the erroneous mail transmission prevention control unit 21 stores the received mail in a storage unit such as a memory.

  The dummy address addition processing unit 23 acquires a destination address from the header of the received mail (Step 2). In the present embodiment, all the addresses of To, CC, and BCC are acquired as destination addresses to be acquired here and included in the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog. The destination address may be acquired and included in the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog.

  Subsequently, the dummy address addition processing unit 23 acquires a dummy address from the dummy address table 25 (illustrated in FIG. 3) (step 3). Which dummy address is to be acquired from among a plurality of dummy addresses may be selected randomly or may be selected in the order of records. However, if there is a possibility that the dummy address is the same as the actual destination address (when the destination address of the mail once sent is used as the dummy address), the dummy address different from the destination address acquired in step 2 Select the dummy address to be used. As described above, when the dummy address is stored separately in the address part and the domain part, the address part and the domain part are acquired, and the dummy address is generated from them. As described above, when the dummy address table 25 is not provided, the dummy address addition processing unit 23 automatically generates a dummy address in step 3.

  The dummy address addition processing unit 23 creates screen information of a transmission confirmation dialog including the destination address acquired in step 2 and the dummy address acquired or generated in step 3, and uses these destination address and dummy address as the destination. The flag is stored in the address management table 26 (illustrated in FIG. 4), and a flag for identifying the dummy address is attached to the dummy address (step 4). The screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog is, for example, an HTML document. However, the screen information is not limited to this, and may be information that allows the client terminal 10 to display the screen of the transmission confirmation dialog 12 and allow interaction with the user. Any information is acceptable.

  The dummy address addition processing unit 23 transmits the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog created in Step 4 to the client terminal 10 (Step 5). The client terminal 10 that has received the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog displays the screen of the transmission confirmation dialog 12 to the user.

  FIG. 8 shows a screen example of the transmission confirmation dialog 12 displayed to the user at the client terminal 10 that has received the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog. FIG. 8 shows only the portion related to the present embodiment. In addition to the information shown here, for example, evaluation information based on the technique of Patent Document 1 may be displayed. In FIG. 8, the fourth line surrounded by an ellipse is a dummy address. If the dummy address is checked on this screen, mail transmission is not performed. This determination process will be described later.

  In the processing example shown in FIG. 6, one dummy address is added regardless of the number of destination addresses. However, whether or not the dummy address needs to be added may be determined according to the number of destination addresses. Good. In this case, for example, in the stage before step 3 in FIG. 6, the dummy address addition processing unit 23 compares the number of destination addresses acquired in step 2 with a predetermined threshold value, and the number of destination addresses is the threshold value. If it is above, it will be judged that a dummy address will be added, and the steps 3 and after in FIG. Further, for example, paying attention to the domain part of the destination address, the number of domain types in all destination addresses is compared with a predetermined threshold value, and if the number of domain types is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, a dummy address is set. It may be determined to add, and step 3 and subsequent steps in FIG. 6 may be executed. Further, when using the technique of Patent Document 1, it may be determined that a dummy address is added when the degree of risk of mail is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

  Next, the dummy address check result determination processing by the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, after step 5 shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that a screen of a transmission confirmation dialog 12 as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the client terminal 10. Here, the user confirms the destination he / she intends to send, checks the destination address, and presses (clicks) the send button. By pressing the send button, the check result (including the displayed mail address and information indicating the presence / absence of the check) is transmitted to the mail transmission management apparatus 20.

  Thereafter, in step 11 of FIG. 7, the erroneous mail transmission prevention control unit 21 of the mail transmission management apparatus 20 receives the check result.

  The check result received by the erroneous mail transmission prevention control unit 21 is passed to the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24, and the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 determines whether the check result is valid (step 12). ).

  In step 12, the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 checks whether or not the destination address included in the check result is checked for each destination address in the destination address management table 26. Then, among all the destination addresses including the dummy addresses managed in the destination address management table 26, when it is determined that only the dummy addresses are not checked in the check result, it is determined to be valid and the process proceeds to step 14. Otherwise, it is determined that it is not valid, and the process proceeds to step 13.

  The other cases are when the dummy address is checked or when there is an unchecked destination address in one or more destination addresses other than the dummy address.

  In step 13, the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 transmits screen information of a warning dialog indicating that transmission is not possible to the client terminal 10. Thereby, in the client terminal 10 on which the warning dialog is displayed, for example, a confirmation button for confirming that transmission is not possible, which is displayed on the warning dialog screen, is pressed. The mail transmission management device 20 stops the mail transmission, and the received mail is discarded. This is an example. For example, a send button may be provided in the warning dialog so that an e-mail can be sent when the send button is pressed.

  In step 14, the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 requests the mail transmission unit 22 to transmit a mail. Thereby, the mail transmission unit 22 reads out the mail stored in the storage means such as a memory and transmits it to the network 30.

  The dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 counts the number of times it is determined to be invalid for each transmission user (source address), and reduces the threshold for determining whether or not to add a dummy address according to the number of times. It is also possible to take measures such as increasing the number of dummy addresses.

  Further, the determination process of step 12 may be performed on the client terminal 10 side. That is, in this case, the client terminal 10 confirms whether the destination address is checked on the screen of the transmission confirmation dialog 12 for each destination address, and allows the transmission button to be pressed when only the dummy address is not checked. In other cases (when the dummy address is checked or when there is a destination address that is not checked among the destination addresses other than the dummy address), the transmission button cannot be pressed. Unless the send button can be pressed, information cannot be sent to the mail transmission management device 20, and mail cannot be sent.

  As an example for realizing the above operation, information indicating which destination address is a dummy address in the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog created in step 4 of FIG. 6, the above determination processing, and the transmission button Including the program for performing the above control processing, the screen information of the transmission confirmation dialog including these is transmitted to the client terminal 10. In the client terminal 10, the screen of the transmission confirmation dialog is displayed and the above program is executed, so that the check result is determined and the transmission button is controlled. When the determination process is performed on the client terminal 10 side as described above, the mail transmission management apparatus 20 does not need the determination process illustrated in FIG. 7 and transmits a mail based on a transmission instruction received from the client terminal 10 by pressing the transmission button. I do.

  In addition, the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 may perform control so that the transmission button cannot be pressed as described above. In this case, for example, each time the destination address is checked on the screen of the transmission confirmation dialog, the client terminal 10 sends the destination address and information indicating that the check is entered to the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24. The sending / dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 refers to the destination address management table 26 to send a control signal for enabling the transmission button to be pressed when detecting a state in which only the dummy address is not checked. Send to. In the transmission confirmation dialog of the client terminal 10, the transmission button cannot be pressed when the control signal is not received. That is, if the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 determines that the dummy address is checked or that there is a destination address that is not checked among the destination addresses other than the dummy address, the transmission button is pressed. Disable pressing.

  When the send button is pressed in the client terminal 10 that has received the control signal, a mail transmission instruction signal is sent to the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24, and the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 sends a mail to the mail transmission unit 22. By sending the instruction, the mail sending unit 22 sends the mail to the network 30. That is, the dummy address check result determination processing unit 24 determines that only the dummy address of the destination address and the dummy address is not checked based on the check result, and further transmits on the transmission confirmation dialog screen. When the button is pressed, the mail transmission unit 22 transmits the mail to the network.

  In the examples described so far, when it is determined to be legitimate (when only the dummy address is not checked), the transmission process is started immediately. However, even when it is determined to be legitimate, Notify the sender that the dummy address was included (indicating that the check was valid) using a dialog, etc. (not shown), and after confirming the sender and instructing transmission (pressing the send button), send the mail to the network You may make it transmit.

  As described above, according to the technology according to the present embodiment, when sending a mail, in the system that requests the sender to confirm the destination address, the technology for making the sender confirm the destination reliably. It becomes possible to provide. In other words, since the sender confirms the destination reliably every time, there is no inadvertent destination check, and the possibility of erroneous mail transmission can be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, a dummy address is added to the destination address to create a transmission confirmation dialog. However, dummy information can be used for other than the destination address. For example, a dummy attachment file can be added in addition to the actual attachment file. The processing content in this case is the same as that in the case where the attached file is replaced with the destination address and the dummy attached file is replaced with the dummy address in the processing described so far. That is, as in the case of the destination address, the actual attachment file name and the dummy attachment file name are displayed on the screen of the client terminal 10 by the transmission confirmation dialog so that they can be checked, and the sender is checked to check the destination address. Mail transmission control can be performed by the same determination logic. The attached file actually attached by the user and the described destination address can be called actual information, and the actual information is not limited to the attached file or the destination address.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, the means for acquiring an email transmitted from a mailer, acquiring one or more actual information from the email, and acquiring dummy information from a dummy information storage unit; Means for displaying a transmission confirmation dialog screen configured to be able to check each of the real information and the dummy information to the user, and obtaining the result of the check made by the user on the transmission confirmation dialog screen A mail transmission management device comprising: a determination processing unit that sends the electronic mail to a network when it is determined that only the dummy information is not checked among the actual information and the dummy information based on the result of Provided.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Client terminal 11 Mailer 12 Transmission confirmation dialog 20 Mail transmission management device 21 Mail erroneous transmission prevention control unit 22 Mail transmission unit 23 Dummy address addition processing unit 24 Dummy address check result determination processing unit 25 Dummy address table 26 Transmission address management table 27 -Display unit 30 network

Claims (6)

Means for obtaining an email sent from a mailer, obtaining one or more destination addresses from the email, and obtaining or generating a dummy address from a dummy address storage;
Means for displaying to the user a transmission confirmation dialog screen configured to check each of the destination address and the dummy address;
A determination processing unit that obtains a result of a check made by a user on the transmission confirmation dialog screen and sends the electronic mail to a network when the result of the check is determined to be valid. Mail transmission management device. The determination processing means includes:
In the result of the check, if only the dummy address is not checked among the destination address and the dummy address, it is determined that the result of the check is valid, and the email is sent to the network,
When the dummy address is checked or there is a destination address that is not checked among destination addresses other than the dummy address, it is determined that the result of the check is not valid, and the e-mail is sent to the network The mail transmission management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein warning information is displayed to a user without being transmitted to the mail. The determination processing means includes:
As a result of the check, when only the dummy address is not checked among the destination address and the dummy address, it is determined that the result of the check is valid, and further, on the transmission confirmation dialog screen When the predetermined button is pressed, the email is sent to the network,
When the dummy address is checked or there is a destination address that is not checked among destination addresses other than the dummy address, it is determined that the result of the check is not valid, and the predetermined button is The mail transmission management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mail transmission management apparatus is configured not to be pressed. Means for obtaining an email sent from a mailer, obtaining one or more destination addresses from the email, and obtaining or generating a dummy address from a dummy address storage;
Means for displaying to the user a transmission confirmation dialog screen configured to check each of the destination address and the dummy address ;
The result of the check made by the user on the transmission confirmation dialog screen is acquired, and when it is determined that the result of the check is not valid , the warning information is displayed to the user without sending the e-mail to the network. A mail transmission management apparatus comprising: a determination processing unit. A mail transmission control method executed by a computer,
Obtaining an email sent from a mailer, obtaining one or more destination addresses from the email, and obtaining or generating a dummy address from a dummy address storage;
Displaying a transmission confirmation dialog screen configured to be able to check each of the destination address and the dummy address to the user;
A determination processing step of acquiring a result of a check made by a user on the transmission confirmation dialog screen and transmitting the e-mail to a network when it is determined that the result of the check is valid. Mail transmission control method.   The program for functioning a computer as each means in the mail transmission management apparatus of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4.

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