JPH02289078A - Document security protecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the safety of a document by designating whether the security protection exists or not at every prepared document. CONSTITUTION:An implementor of a document prepares the document by using his own work stations 12-1 - 12-N, and at the time of saving this prepared document, an identifier ID of the implementor is added as an attribute of the document. Document data is stored in a document data store part 46, and the ID is stored in a document attribute data store part 47 by coordinating it to its document. In the case it is desired to execute security designation of this document, when an operator aligns a cursor with a mark 53 of 'exist' and clicks it by operating a mouse 21, the security designation of this document is executed. Also, in the case a condition of coincidence of the identifier ID is not satisfied, as for that which is designated as a security document, its electronic copying is inhibited. In such a way, the safety of the document can be enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a document security device that can maintain the confidentiality of a specific document among electronically created documents.

"Conventional Technology" With the development of office automation, documents are increasingly being created in electronic form. Such documents may also be freely transmitted from one workstation to another using a local area network, such as Ethernet. This is called e-mail.

``Problem to be solved by the invention'' By the way, some of the documents that are created have contents that should be kept secret. Storage media such as floppy disks on which such documents are created can be stored separately to prevent confidential information from leaking.

However, this requires facilities such as locked lockers, which poses a problem in that storage becomes troublesome. For this reason, especially for frequently used storage media, there are cases where the media is temporarily left in a location other than the storage location, which poses a problem in maintaining confidentiality.

Furthermore, when sending a confidential document by e-mail, even if the recipient is a specific person who must maintain confidentiality, the document may be electronically copied for some reason or sent to someone other than the specific person. There was a risk of being seen by someone else.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a document security device that can more reliably maintain the confidentiality of electronically created documents.

"Means for Solving the Problem" The present invention includes (!) an identifier input means for inputting into an electronically created document an identifier (ID) of an operator who creates or reads the document; (ii) Confidentiality designation means for specifying when this document needs to be kept confidential, and (iii) Content reading instruction for instructing when it is desired to read the contents of the document for which confidentiality has been designated. (iv) comparison means for comparing the identifier of the handler who instructed the content reading means to read the content with the identifier of the handler who created the read document;
V) If the comparison results of the comparison means do not match, the document security device is equipped with a copy prohibition means that prohibits copying of the contents of the document on the assumption that someone without proper authority is attempting to view the document. be equipped.

That is, in the present invention, if the condition of matching identifiers is not satisfied, electronic copying of a document designated as a confidential document is prohibited, thereby achieving the above-mentioned object.

"Example" The present invention will be described in detail with reference to Examples below.

FIG. 2 shows a communication system using the document security device of this embodiment. With this communication system,
A plurality of workstations 12-1 to 12-N, a file service 13,
A mail service 14, a print service 15, and a communication service 16 are each connected.

In the case of this embodiment, workstations 12-1 to 12-
Each of N includes a control unit main body 17, a display 18, a keyboard 19, and a mouse 21 as a pointing device.

The file service 13 is for storing files commonly used on this Ethernet, and the mail service 14 is for managing electronic mail. The print service 15 is for printing out documents from a laser printer, for example. The communication service 16 is for communicating with other local area networks through a line 27. This second
In the figure, a state in which the communication service 16 is connected to a communication service 32 forming another local area network 31 is shown.

E-mail can be sent and received not only between workstations within the same local area network, but also between two local area networks.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of the configuration of a document security device applied to the communication system described above.

This document security device includes a CPU 41, and is connected to the following units through a bus 42 such as a data bus.

(i) RAM 43: Random access memory for storing programs for performing various controls of this document security device and for storing temporary data for work.

(ii) Disk driver 44: A device that connects the magnetic disk 45 and controls data input/output between it and the magnetic disk 45. The storage area of the magnetic disk 45 includes areas such as a document data storage section 46 for storing document data, a document attribute data storage section 47 for storing document attribute data, and a program storage 8B 48 for storing programs to be transferred to the RAM 43. It is configured.

(iii) Keyboard 19: A device for inputting data using key switches, and in this embodiment, a mouse 21 is connected to this.

(iv) Display control device 53: This is a device that controls the display 18 for visually displaying data.

The document security device configured as described above corresponds to each of the workstations 12-1 to 12-N shown in FIG. However, the CPU 41, RAM 43, disk driver 44, and display control device 53 are housed within the control unit main body 17.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of creating a document using the document security device configured as described above.

The document creator creates the document using his/her own workstation 12 (step 3 in FIG. 3). When the created document is saved, the creator's identifier (ID) is added as an attribute of the document (step 2).

The document data is stored in the document data storage section 46 shown in FIG. 1, and the ID is stored in the document attribute data storage section 47 in association with the document.

Note that the workstation 12 of this embodiment requires registration of the operator's ID when the power is turned on.

Then, when the operator inputs the ID, various tasks such as document creation can be started. Therefore, the operation in step (2) is to add the ID registered at the start of operation of the workstation 12 to each document as the ID of the document creator and save the document.

FIG. 4 shows the process of specifying confidentiality for the document created in this way.

When the operator of the device presses the property key (not shown) on the keyboard 19 (step ■; Y in FIG. 4), C
PU41 is the I input by this operator when starting the operation of the device.
D is compared with the ID of the creator of the document currently displayed on the display 18 (step ■). Here, the ID of the document creator is an ID that is input by the person who created the document at the time of starting operation of the workstation and is stored in association with the document.

When the two IDs match (Step ■; Y), a window is opened on the display 18 for displaying the property/saty of the corresponding document, that is, the document specified by the cursor (not shown) (Step ■).

FIG. 5 shows an example of the display contents of this window.

In the window 51, data such as the document creator and creation date and time are displayed for the convenience of the document handler, and the current status of whether or not this document is designated as confidential is also displayed. At the time shown in FIG. 5, the background of the mark 52 for "no" security designation is inverted, and the mark 53 for "yes" remains in the background color. This indicates that no classification has been made. If the operator wishes to designate this document as confidential, the operator operates the mouse 21 to place a cursor (not shown) on the "present" mark 53 and clicks. This means that this document has been designated as confidential. On the other hand, if the security of a document that has been designated as confidential is to be declassified, the user moves the cursor to the "none" mark 52, which is the background color, and clicks. In this way, the operator can freely select whether or not to designate a document as confidential.

When the operator finishes the work such as changing the security designation or confirming the name of the document creator, and performs an operation to close this window 51 (step ■'), the CPU
41 determines whether a change in the security designation has occurred (
Step ■). If the confidentiality designation has been changed (Y), the window displaying the document properties is closed (step ■). Then, if confidentiality is specified, the title of the document is registered in the format of "(Secret) seal ten document name" (step ■)
. In other words, the confidential mark is added to the title of the document that was simply registered as "Document Name 7." From now on, the document's icon (pictogram) will display the document's name as well as the fact that it is classified as confidential.

On the other hand, if the "None" mark 52 is selected, the security designation is canceled.

If it is determined in step (2) that the security designation has not been changed (N), the window displaying the document properties is closed (step (2)), and the work is completed.

FIG. 6 shows a general work flow when viewing a document. As previously discussed, the created document can be emailed to other document security devices or workstations. For example, a document created at workstation 12-1 is sent to another workstation 12-N.

When the operator of this workstation 12-N wishes to view a document sent to him, he operates the mouse 21 to move the cursor to an icon (not shown) for this document on the display 18, and then Click the button. When a desired document is designated in this manner (Step 2 in FIG. 6), the CPU 41 checks the document attribute data storage section 47 for the document and determines whether the document has been designated as "secret". (Step ■) If the document is marked as “confidential” (Y), the e-mail creator's I.
It is determined whether D and the operator's ID match (step ■).

As already explained, in the communication system of this embodiment, before the operator heads to the workstation 12 and starts the first work, the device side requests the input of an identifier ID, and the input ID is used as a document ID. It is now stored as an attribute. Therefore, the determination in step (2) can be made without the need for the operator of the workstation 12-N to input the ID each time. Of course, depending on the configuration of the workstation, the ID of the operator may be requested each time.

Assuming that someone other than the creator of the e-mail is operating the reading of this document, the ID stored as attribute data does not match that of the creator (Step 2; N).

In this case, although the contents of the corresponding document are displayed (step ■), editing operations such as changes cannot be performed. Then, when the operator instructs to "close" the document, step (2); Y), the document itself is erased at this stage (step (2)), and the entire process ends.

In other words, a confidential document sent by e-mail can be read and viewed by anyone other than the creator, but the document will be deleted so that no trace remains. . Needless to say, if you send a confidential document by email, you can show it to the person in charge of the workstation, but in order to prevent the contents from being changed or leaked, It prohibits editing of documents, prohibits them from being sent by e-mail to other places, and even unilaterally deletes documents once they have been read. It may be necessary for the email recipient to read the document again;
In this case, it is possible to deal with this by having the recipient resend the e-mail, so we decided to delete the document in this way.

On the other hand, if the document sent by e-mail has not been designated as "confidential", its contents can be displayed on the display 18 in the same way as normal documents; You can open a window for editing, etc. above, and freely perform editing work such as changing the contents (step ■). And when an instruction is given to close the window in which this document is displayed (
Step ■; Y), save the displayed document or the edited document (step ■), and end the document processing (end).

By the way, even if a document is marked as "confidential", if the operator is the creator of the document, step It is determined that the person is the creator of the document. Therefore, in this case, someone with legitimate authority is attempting to process the document, so proceed to step ■ in the same way as if the document had not been designated as "confidential" and view or edit the document. This makes it possible to save the document after it has been created (steps ■ to ■).

In the above embodiment, the content of a document is sent from one workstation to another workstation connected via a cable. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to maintain confidentiality.

"Effects of the Invention" In this way, in the present invention, it is decided to specify whether or not to maintain confidentiality for each document created, so that if a document that requires high confidentiality is accessed by someone other than the creator, Electronic copying of the contents of a document can be prohibited, and the security of the document can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, of which Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the main part of the circuit configuration of a document security device, and Figure 2 is a diagram in which the document security device is a workstation. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an overview of when a document is created using a document security device; Fig. 4 is a system configuration diagram showing an overview of the communication system when a document is created using a document security device; Flowchart showing the work, No. 5
The figure is a plan view showing an example of a window set for designating or canceling confidentiality, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a general work flow when viewing a document. 12-1-12-N...Workstation,
14...Mail service, 18...Display, 19...Keyboard, 2I...Mouse, 41...C
P.U. 43...RAM. 47...Document attribute data storage section, 51...
...Window, 53...mark. Applicant Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Identifier input means for inputting an identifier of a handler of an electronically created document; Confidentiality designation means for specifying when the document needs to be kept confidential; Content reading instruction means for instructing the reading of the contents of the document for which the retention designation has been made, the identifier of the operator who instructed the reading of the contents by the content reading means, and the identifier of the handler who created the read document. A document security device characterized by comprising a comparison means for comparison, and a copy prohibition means for prohibiting copying of the contents of the document when the comparison results of the comparison means do not match.