WO2006059383A1

WO2006059383A1 - Electronic mail sending method, electronic mail sending program, electronic mail approving program, electronic mail sending device, and electronic mail approving/sending system

Info

Publication number: WO2006059383A1
Application number: PCT/JP2004/017876
Authority: WO
Inventors: Osamu Aoki; Hiroaki Kawano
Original assignee: Intelligent Wave Inc.
Priority date: 2004-12-01
Filing date: 2004-12-01
Publication date: 2006-06-08
Also published as: JPWO2006059383A1

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] Only an electronic mail containing important information and approved by an approval authorized person can be sent so as to prevent information leakage. Especially, an electronic mail system which is adapted to electronic mails such as electronic mails using encryption and Web mails and can be easily introduced by using a general-purpose mailer and a mail server is provided. [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] It is judged whether an electronic mail sent by a sender must be approved or not. If it must be approved, a mail for approval request is transferred to an approver having a sending approval authority. If the approver approves the sending, an approval notification with a password created by the digest such as the mail text is sent to the sender, the sender sends the mail with the password. When the mail is sent, a password is created form the mail text. If the password agrees with the attached password, the mail is judged to be not falsely altered, and the mail can be sent.

Description

Technical field of e-mail transmission method, e-mail transmission program and e-mail approval program, e-mail transmission apparatus and e-mail approval apparatus, and e-mail transmission system

[0001] The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission for preventing information leakage by allowing only an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority to be transmitted for an e-mail that satisfies a predetermined condition such as including important information. The present invention relates to a method, an e-mail transmission program, an e-mail approval program, an e-mail transmission apparatus, an e-mail approval apparatus, and an e-mail transmission system.

Background art

[0002] Corporate power The leakage of important information such as customer information has become a serious social problem, and information leakage countermeasures are an important issue for companies. Information leakage may occur due to unauthorized access by external force, or information may be leaked due to unauthorized activity by corporate internal force. For the former, there are various types of firewalls to prevent entry into computer systems. While security systems are being provided, countermeasures against the latter are also important issues.

[0003] With regard to information leakage due to internal corporate strength, leakage is often caused by the use of e-mail. E-mail is the most convenient means for the internal power of companies to bring information to the outside. In addition to the case where an e-mail is intentionally attached with important information attached, the important information is neglected due to mistaken address designation. Is often sent to a third party.

[0004] As described above, as a means for preventing an erroneous transmission of an e-mail intentionally or negligently, an attribute or an approver of an e-mail to be transmitted is determined according to whether the sender needs to approve or not. set, the invention executes the transmission of e-mail is disclosed approval by an approver triggers (e.g., Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2.) ₀ However, per cent Te, these inventions, the sender Must make the necessary settings for approval, When used in conjunction with a system that filters email based on a pre-set security policy, even email that has been approved by an approver cannot be sent if it violates the security policy There was a problem.

[0005] In response to the above problems, e-mail body force is sent by authenticating with the approver's approval even if it violates the security policy by authenticating with the generated hash value. capable discloses an invention relates to a data transmission system (e.g., see Patent Document 3.) ₀

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-205043

Patent Document 2: JP 2002-63117 A

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-217980

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0007] By using the inventions disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, it is possible to prevent erroneous transmission of an electronic mail caused by the above-described intentional or negligence and to take measures against information leakage. On the other hand, when sending important information by e-mail, there is a problem that a third party must acquire e-mail illegally to prevent leakage of important information. As a countermeasure to this problem, the transmission method of e-mail using encryption key such as PKI is spreading. In a transmission method using a powerful encryption key, the transmission file is usually encrypted by a mailer operating on the terminal device of the sender who sends the e-mail.

[0008] In the inventions disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, in any invention, the terminal device power operated by the sender is sent and approved by a server or the like installed in the in-house network. It is configured to control the transmission to the external network by confirming the approval etc. by the user. However, if the e-mail system using the encryption key such as PKI mentioned above is used together, the e-mail that has been encrypted at the sending terminal will be controlled by the server. In the authentication process using the confirmation by the authorization authority and the hash value, there is a problem that the encryption / decryption of data must be repeated! /. [0009] In addition, when an e-mail is sent without a POP mail using a mail server used in a company by the sender, for example, an e-mail is sent from an account originally established by a web mail or the like. To deal with cases, it is necessary to take some countermeasures for systems other than the mailers and mail servers that are normally used.

[0010] Including the cases as described above, the inventions disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 require a dedicated mailer or network monitoring server, so companies have introduced these technologies. In doing so, it will be necessary to construct a dedicated network system and to customize a general-purpose mailer or mail server, and so installation and maintenance costs will be appropriate.

[0011] The present invention has been made in order to cope with such a problem. For an e-mail that satisfies a predetermined condition such as including important information, only an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority is received. E-mail transmission method to prevent information leakage by enabling transmission, especially in companies such as e-mails sent by e-mail systems using encryption keys such as PKI, and Web mail To provide an e-mail transmission method that can handle e-mails sent without using a mail server that can be used, and can be easily introduced using a general-purpose mailer or mail server It is intended.

Means for solving the problem

[0012] The present invention that solves such a problem is a method for transmitting an e-mail that enables transmission of only an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority for an e-mail that satisfies a predetermined condition. The first computer operated by the e-mail sender determines whether the e-mail for which the transmission instruction has been accepted is an e-mail that requires approval by the approval authority, and the first computer sends A step of determining whether the e-mail that has received the instruction is an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority, and the first computer is determined to require approval by the approval authority, and the approval authority The approval request mail including the contents of the e-mail is sent to the second computer operated by the approval authority, after the e-mail has been approved. And stearyl-up to send as, for receiving the second computer force the approval request e-mail, the approval authority Receiving a confirmation result of the content of the email by a person, and when the second computer approves the transmission of the email, the second computer receives at least one of the content of the email. A step of generating a password indicating that the approval by the approval authority is received from a digest of the department, and a step in which the second computer transmits a transmission approval mail including the password to the first computer; In the step of determining whether the first computer has received the transmission instruction, the first computer includes the password in the email. And the password is generated from a digest of at least part of the content of the email. In if you want to match the password, which is an electronic mail transmission method according to claim that you determined that the e-mail is an e-mail that was approved by the approval authority. In addition, the first computer is an e-mail that has been determined not to require approval by an authorized person, or has been approved by an authorized person but has been approved by an authorized person. And e-mail determined to be sent to a destination specified in the e-mail.

[0013] According to the present invention, an e-mail that is not judged by a mail server or the like after sending the e-mail to the network is determined by determining whether or not to approve the e-mail to be sent. Easily install using a general-purpose mailer or mail server by configuring the computer operated by the sender to acquire and determine the e-mail that has been accepted by the mailer. An e-mail transmission method that can be used.

[0014] The e-mail transferred to the approval authority is given the password created by the e-mail body, etc. if approved, and given by the approver when re-sending after approval. E-mail can be sent to the specified destination only when the password and the text of the e-mail to be sent match. Therefore, it is guaranteed that an e-mail that needs to be approved can be sent only by an e-mail that has been approved by the approval authority and has the same contents as that confirmed by the approval authority. Note that the password used here is derived from at least part of the digest of the email content. The power of the e-mail subject to the digest is included in the e-mail body, attachments, e-mail recipients, and other mail headers such as sender and title May be included.

[0015] The first computer transmits an e-mail when a new e-mail is detected in the transmission tray of the e-mail transmission / reception program or when an e-mail transmission process is executed in the Web browser. Detecting instructions and determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority or determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail approved by an approval authority This is characterized by the fact that

[0016] According to this method, in a computer operated by a sender who sends an e-mail, for an e-mail that needs to be approved, the state before being sent to the mail server by a normal sending method is monitored and the authorization authority is given. By transferring it to the computer operated by the user, it becomes possible to proceed with the approval operation even before the encryption key even in the e-mail system using the encryption key such as PKI.

[0017] Further, instead of determining whether or not the approval is permitted in a mail server or the like normally used for transmission / reception of e-mail in a company, a Web browser is used on a computer operated by a sender who transmits e-mail. By setting the sent e-mail to be subject to approval / rejection, it is possible to monitor information sent by other than the mailer or POP mail that uses the mail server. .

[0018] Further, the present invention provides an e-mail transmission program stored in a computer operated by an e-mail sender, which is necessary for carrying out the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.

Alternatively, it can be understood as an e-mail approval program stored in a computer operated by an e-mail approval authority.

In other words, the e-mail transmission program according to the present invention provides an e-mail sender for enabling transmission of only e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority for e-mail that satisfies a predetermined condition. An e-mail transmission program stored in the first computer to be operated, wherein the first computer determines whether the e-mail that has received a transmission instruction is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority Step and send A step of determining whether the email that received the communication instruction is an email that has been approved by the approval authority, it is determined that approval by the approval authority is required, and approval by the approval authority is received. And sending an approval request mail including the contents of the e-mail to a second computer operated by the approval authority. In the step of determining whether the e-mail is approved by the approval authority, the e-mail is sent to the second computer indicating that the e-mail has been approved by the approval authority. Contains a password generated from a digest of at least part of the content of the email, and the password is less of the content of the email In both cases, the e-mail transmission program determines that the e-mail is an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority if it matches a password generated from a part of the digest. . The first computer is determined not to require approval by the approval authority, or it is determined that approval by the approval authority is required but is approved by the approval authority. The step of transmitting the e-mail to the destination specified in the e-mail may be executed. The first computer detects an e-mail transmission instruction when a new e-mail is detected in the transmission tray of the e-mail transmission / reception program or when an e-mail transmission process is executed in the Web browser. Determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority, or determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority. May be a feature. The e-mail approval program according to the present invention is operated by the e-mail approval authority to enable transmission of only e-mails that have been approved by the approval authority for e-mails satisfying predetermined conditions. An e-mail approval program stored on the computer of the first computer, and the second computer requires approval by the approval authority from the first computer operated by the e-mail sender. Receiving an approval request mail including the content of the email determined to be, a step of receiving a confirmation result of the content of the email by the approval authority, and the confirmation result approves the transmission of the email If it is, the email Generating a password indicating that approval by the approval authority has been obtained from at least a part of the digest of the content of the content, and sending a transmission approval mail including the password for notifying the transmission approval of the email. When the first computer that has received the transmission approval mail receives an instruction to send an e-mail that requires approval by the authorized person, the password is added to the e-mail. And if the password matches a password generated from at least some of the content of the email, the email is approved by the authorizing authority. It is determined that the e-mail is mail, and the e-mail is transmitted to the destination specified in the e-mail. E-mail approval program.

[0021] Further, the present invention provides an e-mail transmission device operated by an e-mail sender and e-mail approval operated by an e-mail approval authority necessary for implementing the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention. It can also be understood as a first computer operated by the device or the e-mail sender and a second computer-powered e-mail transmission system operated by the e-mail approval authority.

That is, the e-mail transmission apparatus according to the present invention is an e-mail transmission apparatus for enabling transmission of only an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority for an e-mail that satisfies a predetermined condition. The first determination means for determining whether the e-mail that has received the transmission instruction is an e-mail that requires approval by the approval authority, and the e-mail that has received the transmission instruction has been approved by the approval authority. The second determination means for determining whether it is an email and the first determination means determine that approval by an approval authority is required, and the second determination means has received approval by the approval authority. And sending means for sending an approval request mail including the contents of the e-mail to a computer operated by the approval authority. ! / The second determination means is generated from a digest of at least part of the contents of the e-mail in the computer indicating that the e-mail has been approved by the approval authority. And the password matches a password generated from a digest of at least part of the email content. The electronic mail transmitting apparatus determines that the electronic mail has been approved by an approval authority. An e-mail that is determined not to require approval by an approval authority or an e-mail that is determined to require approval by an approval authority but is approved by the approval authority A second transmission means for transmitting to the destination specified in the e-mail may be provided. The e-mail transmission instruction accepted by the first determination means or the second determination means is that a new e-mail is detected in the transmission tray of the e-mail transmission / reception program or the e-mail transmission is performed in the web browser. An electronic mail transmission instruction may be detected when the process is executed.

[0023] An e-mail approval device according to the present invention is an e-mail approval device for enabling transmission of only an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority for an e-mail corresponding to a predetermined condition. Receiving means for receiving an approval request mail including the contents of the e-mail that is determined to require approval by the approval authority from the computer operated by the sender of the e-mail; and the approval authority Receiving means for receiving the confirmation result of the content of the e-mail, and if the confirmation result is to approve transmission of the e-mail, the approval is obtained from at least a part of the digest of the e-mail content. Generating means for generating a password indicating approval by an authorized person, and the password for notifying the approval of transmission of the e-mail A transmission means for transmitting a transmission approval mail to the computer, and the computer that has received the transmission approval mail receives the e-mail transmission instruction that requires approval by the approval authority, and then receives the e-mail. If the password contains the password and the password matches a password generated from a digest of at least a portion of the content of the email, the email has been approved by an authorized person An e-mail approving apparatus characterized in that it is determined to be an e-mail, and the e-mail is transmitted to a destination specified in the e-mail.

[0024] An e-mail transmission system according to the present invention provides an e-mail sender for enabling transmission of only e-mails that have been approved by an approval authority for e-mails satisfying predetermined conditions. First computer to operate and authorized person to approve the e-mail A second computer-powered e-mail transmission system operated by the first computer, wherein the first computer determines whether an e-mail that has received a transmission instruction is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority. The first judging means, the second judging means for judging whether the e-mail that has received the transmission instruction is an e-mail approved by the authorizing authority, and the approval by the authorizing authority by the first judging means. For the e-mail that is determined to be required by the approval authority and is determined not to be approved by the approval authority, the contents of the e-mail are transferred to the second computer operated by the approval authority. A transmission means for transmitting an approval request mail including the receiving means, the second computer receiving the approval request mail, and the approval authority. Accepting means for receiving the confirmation result of the content of the e-mail, and if the confirmation result approves the transmission of the e-mail, the approval is received from at least a part of the digest of the e-mail content. A generating means for generating a password indicating approval by an authorized person; and a transmitting means for transmitting a transmission approval mail including the password to the first computer. The second determination means provided includes the password when the email includes the password, and the password matches a password generated from a digest of at least a part of the content of the email. An e-mail transmission system characterized by determining that the e-mail is an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority. It is. The first computer is determined to be approved by the approval authority although it has been determined that the approval is not required by the approval authority, or the approval authority is required. A second transmission means for transmitting the electronic mail to the destination specified in the electronic mail may be provided. The e-mail transmission instruction accepted by the first determination means or the second determination means provided in the first computer is that a new e-mail is detected in the e-mail transmission / reception program transmission tray. In addition, an e-mail transmission instruction may be detected when an e-mail transmission process is executed in a Web browser.

The invention's effect

The present invention approves emails that meet certain conditions, including important information. By making it possible to send only e-mails approved by the authorized person, it is possible to contribute to prevention of information leakage.

[0026] In particular, e-mails sent by e-mail systems using encryption keys such as PKI and Web mails are used without sending mail servers such as POP mails. Since it is possible to respond to e-mails that are received, a wide range of e-mails can be approved. In addition, it is possible to easily install an e-mail system using a general-purpose mailer or mail server simply by installing an approval program on the sender's terminal, thus reducing the cost required for the installation. You can also. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0027] The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, an example using a sender terminal, a confirmer terminal, and a mail server connected to an in-house network will be described. However, the following description is an example of an embodiment of the present invention. Is not limited to a powerful embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an e-mail transmission system according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2 to 8 are first to seventh diagrams showing the processing procedure of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention. FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are flowcharts showing the first and second processing flows of the e-mail transmission program stored in the computer operated by the sender in the present invention, respectively. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the e-mail approval program stored in the computer operated by the approval authority in the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an e-mail transmission system that is effective in the present invention comprises a sender terminal 10 operated by an e-mail sender and an approver terminal 20 operated by an e-mail approval authority. Being! / In addition to the mailer 141, the sender terminal 10 has a mail control program 143 and a judgment rule table 144 in addition to the mailer 241. Each email approval program 242 is installed.

[0030] The sender terminal 10 includes a CPU 11, a RAM 12, and a ROM 13, and in order to execute predetermined processing by an application program stored in the HDD 14, input control, output control, etc. stored in the ROM 13 are performed. Basics for hardware control The CPU 11 performs arithmetic processing while starting the program and causing the RAM 12 to function as a work area for the application program. Similarly, in order for the approval terminal 20 to execute a predetermined process by the application program stored in the HDD 24, various basic programs for hardware control such as input control and output control stored in the ROM 23 are stored. The CPU 21 performs arithmetic processing while starting up and making the RAM 22 function as a work area for application programs.

[0031] When an e-mail sender transmits an e-mail from the sender terminal 10, the mailer 141 is read from the HDD 14 and activated to create an e-mail to be transmitted. In a state where the mailer 141 is activated and an e-mail can be sent, the mail control program 143 is read from the HDD 14 and the transmission of the e-mail from the mailer 141 is monitored. The mail control program 143 may be activated at all times while the mailer 141 is operating, or may be constantly monitored regardless of whether the mailer 141 is activated while the sender terminal 10 is operating. As well as to do.

[0032] The monitoring of the email transmission from the mailer 141 executed by the mail control program 143 is to accept the transmission instruction of the email created by the mailer 141, specifically, to be placed in the transmission tray of the mailer 141. The mail control program 144 determines whether the approval authority needs to approve the mail file for transmission placed in the transmission tray. In order to monitor the situation before being sent to the mail server 30 in the sending tray, the e-mail body and the attached file can be used for the determination of the file before being encrypted by PKI or the like.

[0033] E-mail transmission from the sender terminal 10 is not performed by POP mail using the mailer 141, but the HDD 14 is also activated by reading the browser 142 and accessing a site that can send Web mail. An e-mail may be sent. In this case, the mail control program 143 that has also read the HDD 14 power hooks the operation of the browser 142 and monitors the transmission of the e-mail. In this case as well, the mail control program 143 continues to monitor at least as long as the browser 144 is operating. If the browser 142 operates to detect the transmission of an email, the mail control program 143 Acquire the file and execute the judgment of approval necessity by the approval authority. The mail control program 143 determines whether or not the approval by the approval authority is necessary for the transmission mail file acquired by the transmission tray or the like. Whether or not approval is required is determined in the determination rule table 144 of the HDD 14, and the determination is made based on whether or not the rule is applicable.

[0035] The content of the judgment rule is not particularly limited. It is possible to make a judgment using the text strength key of the outgoing mail, etc., and the mail with the destination address strength of the mail header specified. It's also possible to judge against the address. These rules are not based on a single rule, but may be determined by combining multiple rules.

[0036] In addition, regarding the determination rule for determining the necessity of approval! As described above, it is not necessarily based on the rule registered in advance as described above. Therefore, it is possible to determine that approval is required for transmission of a pattern different from normal using a profile generated from the transmission record of the sender in the past. A method for determining singular behavior using such a profile may be determined by combining the above rules!

[0037] In addition, in determining whether approval is required, different rules may be applied depending on whether the transmission e-mail is addressed outside the company. For example, it is possible to use only important emails for approval within the company, and all emails for approval outside the company. Whether the mail address is internal or external can be determined by the type of mailer if the mailer used is different, and if the same mailer is used, it can be determined by the domain name of the specified mail address. ,.

It should be noted that in the example of FIG. 1, the determination rule table 144 is provided in the sender terminal 10. The storage location of the powerful table is not limited to the sender terminal 10. For example

It can be stored in another computer such as an information leakage monitoring server connected via a network, and the judgment rules for terminals in the network can be centrally managed based on the security policy! .

[0039] The processing procedure up to the e-mail transmission will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. The outline of the e-mail transmission processing procedure is as shown in FIG. Sender (A The approval request email is forwarded to the approver (B) who has the authority to approve the transmission (1). . When the approver approves the transmission, the sender (A) sends an approval notification with a password (2), and the sender (A) sends an email to the recipient (X) using the password ( 3). If approval is not required, mail is sent directly to the recipient (X) (Γ).

[0040] As a result of the determination as to whether or not approval is required as described above, for in-house mail and the like that are not required to be approved, the mail file for sending is returned to the outbox, Sent as normal mail. In other words, as shown in the example of FIG. 3, an e-mail of a sender (Α) who specified the recipient (X) as a destination is transmitted to the recipient (X) (Γ). In the configuration of FIG. 1, the transmitted e-mail passes through the gateway 40 from the mail server 30 and is transmitted to the destination mail server via the Internet.

[0041] On the other hand, for an e-mail that is determined to require approval, the e-mail control program 143 designates the destination of the approval authority as the destination address, and the e-mail described in the e-mail file for transmission An approval request e-mail with the main text created is sent from the main text, attached file, destination and title described in the e-mail header. Regarding the designation of the approval authority's address, for example, a pop-up window that asks which approval authority should be examined on the screen pops up, and the mail control program 143 can specify the approver by selecting the sender. You can also set it! /

[0042] The destination of the authorization authority is not limited to one address, and different addresses may be designated depending on the judgment result. Multiple authorization authorities may be designated by designating multiple addresses for one email. The person may give approval. The address specified as the destination can also be acquired from Active Directory. Similar to the above-described determination rule, it may be configured to acquire another computer connected via the network.

[0043] Figure 4 shows an example of an approval request email that is forwarded to an approver (B) who has authorization to send an email when approval is required for the email sent by the sender (A). For example, the sender (A) who specified the recipient (X) as the destination (A) From the file of the e-mail for sending, the sender (A) and the recipient (X) Information, mail text for sending, and attached mail body The mail text and attached file specified as the approver (B). Sent as an approval request email (1). In the configuration of FIG. 1, the approval request mail is transmitted to the approver terminal 20 via the route of the internal network for internal mail transmission. Internal mail can be transmitted using the same mail server 30 as external mail via the Internet.

In the approver terminal 20, the HDD 24 also reads and activates the mailer 241 and receives an email from the POP server of the mail server 30. The approval request email is also received at the approver terminal 20 in the same way as a normal email, and the approval authority confirms the address and contents of the email that he / she tried to open and send the received approval request email, and decides whether to approve it. To decide.

The transmission approval process in the approver terminal 20 is executed by the mail approval program 242 read from the HDD 24. On the screen of the approver terminal 20, a button for selecting permission or disapproval by the mail approval program 242 is displayed. When the disapproval button is selected, the sender terminal 10 is not permitted to transmit. A notification email is sent.

[0046] The display of the selection button to be used automatically is, for example, if an approval request mail is recorded with a unique identifier in the mail header or the like, and if this identifier is detected by the mail approval program 242, the selection button will pop up automatically. Display can be made. As described above, the specific operation added to the general-purpose mailer may be processed by a program different from the general-purpose mailer, or may be added to the general-purpose mailer as add-in software. When added as add-in software, for example, a selection button for selecting approval is added as one of the menu buttons of the general mailer.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the approver (B) having the authorization authority does not approve the email sent by the sender (A). The e-mail to notify the unauthorized disapproval is addressed to the sender (A), and the body text contains a standard comment that the transmission of the e-mail is not approved, and the address of the e-mail to be sent included in the approval request e-mail , Title, text, etc. In addition to the standard comments, comments about the reasons for disapproval may be attached in the text or attached file. The e-mail notifying permission is sent from the approver (B) to the sender (A) (2).

On the other hand, when the permission button is selected, an approval notification mail for notifying the sender terminal 10 that the transmission is approved is transmitted. Create an email notification for approval This is executed by Gram 242 but specifies the destination address from the sender address included in the email header and body of the approval request email, and the digest (optional) A long word is reduced to a fixed-size, small-size data.) The generated password may be described in the body of the approval notification email, or it may be attached to the approval notification email as an attached file.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which an approver (B) having approval authority approves an electronic mail transmitted by the sender (A) and transmits an approval notification mail. Approval notification emails are addressed to the sender (A), and the body text contains a standard comment to approve the transmission of the email, the destination email address, title, body text, etc. included in the approval request email The password generated from the digest of the approval request email is described as part of the text or attached as an attached file. In addition to the standard comment, it is also possible to add the previous comment in the text or attached file for the reason for approval. The approval notification mail is sent from the approver (B) to the sender (A) (2).

[0050] When the sender terminal 10 receives the approval notification mail, the sender terminal 10 creates a mail for transmission approved by the approval authority using the password included in the approval notification mail. In such a mail for sending, the password written as part of the body of the approval notification email or the password attached to the approval notification email is cut out and attached to the email for sending or for sending Used as part of the email text. The content of the text described in the outgoing mail and the destination to be sent are required to be the same as those approved by the approver, but the content of the main text and the address of the destination to be used are extracted. It is also possible to cut the sent filer of the approval request email sent to the approval authority for approval! /.

[0051] It should be noted that such an approved transmission mail may be created manually by the sender by operating the sender terminal 10, or automatically processed by the mail control program 143. It may be executed. In addition, the approved transmission mail may be created as a new transmission file or as a transfer file for the approval notification mail. FIG. 7 shows an example of the approved transmission mail created by the sender (A) using the approval notification mail received by the approver (B). The received approval notification email includes the recipient (X) that is the destination of the approved sending email and the contents described in the text, and further indicates that the approval has been approved by the approval authority. A nose word generated from the digest of the trusted email is attached. An approved outgoing e-mail is specified with the same address as the one that has been approved, the body of the same content is described, and a nose word generated from the digest is attached.

[0053] When an approved transmission mail is created and the sender performs a transmission instruction operation on the sender terminal 10, the mailer 141 activates an email transmission process. Here, the power of the approved sending mail that received the sending instruction is placed in the sending tray of the mailer 141. Since the sending tray is monitored in the same manner as the first sending process described above, it is sent to the specified destination. Before being sent, a determination is made as to whether approval by the approval authority is necessary.

[0054] However, in the above case, if the password is confirmed to be valid because the password indicating that it has been approved by the approval authority is attached to the email to be sent, Even if it is determined that approval is required from the address or the keyword in the text, it can be sent as it is. Therefore, in the process of determining whether approval by the approval authority by the mail control program 143 is necessary or not, it is a pre-stage for determining the necessity of approval based on criteria such as destination, body keyword, and unique behavior In the above, it is judged whether or not the password indicating that the approval authority has approved is attached to the mail to be sent and whether the attached password is valid.

[0055] The method for determining whether a password indicating approval by an approval authority is attached to the email to be sent is particularly limited, for example, by recording a predetermined identifier indicating the presence of the password in the email header. However, for the method of determining whether the attached password is legitimate, the password is generated from the body of the outgoing e-mail using the same function that is used for generating the password at the approver terminal 20. It is done by comparing with the attached password.

That is, the mail approval program 242 of the approver terminal 20 includes a function for generating a password from a digest such as a mail text and an attached file, but the sender terminal 1 The mail control program 143 of 0 includes a similar function, so that a password is generated by the function from the body of the transmission mail and the like, and the comparison with the attached password is executed. If the sender's approved e-mail address, title, text, etc. are tampered with and sent, the original data of the digest is included in the e-mail approved by the approver terminal 20 Therefore, it is possible to verify that the e-mail for sending has been altered in the approved content. Therefore, if the passwords do not match, the transmission mail is not transmitted, and an error screen is displayed on the display of the sender terminal 10, for example, in order to notify the sender.

[0057] On the other hand, if the passwords match, it is confirmed that the content to be sent has not been tampered with. Approval by the authorized person has been made, and the contents at the time of approval have been altered! / Wow! / Confirmed e-mail for sending! Then, the e-mail for transmission from which the password is deleted by the e-mail control program 143 of the sender terminal 10 is returned to the transmission tray and transmitted to the destination specified by the operation of the mailer 141.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the approved transmission mail created by the sender (A) is transmitted. Approved outgoing mail has the recipient (X) specified as the recipient, the password attached to the approval notification mail, the password is attached, and the password is valid If it is confirmed, it has been approved by the approval authority and it has been determined that the content has not been tampered with since the approval, and the password is deleted and sent to the recipient (X). (3).

[0059] On the other hand, if the password is attached but the sent mail text and attached file, etc. are not the same as the generated password, the sent mail may have been altered in content at the time of approval. Therefore, it is not sent to the recipient (X). The sender (A) is informed that the transmission mail has not been transmitted by an error display or the like.

[0060] As described above, the determination of the transmission mail in the sender terminal 10 is performed by monitoring the transmission file placed in the transmission tray of the mailer 141, and after the determination, the transmission file is returned to the transmission file. The e-mail is transmitted to a predetermined destination. As described above, the mail control program 143 determines the outgoing mail by the mailer 141. It can be executed as an additional process to the normal e-mail transmission / reception process. Similarly, for the approval of the outgoing mail in the approver terminal 20, the general applicator terminal 20 only needs to have a function for generating a password from the mail text and the attached file. Even an email system using a mail server can be installed simply by installing a special program on the client terminal.

[0061] Alternatively, a powerful mail control program and mail approval program may be added to the general-purpose mailer as add-in software. In this case, when the general-purpose mailer is activated, buttons for executing an application for approval and replying the approval result are displayed on the toolbar of the general-purpose mailer. Processing can be executed.

[0062] In addition, when a general-purpose mailer dedicated to e-mail transmission / reception is not used, for example, even when e-mail is transmitted by Web mail, monitoring is performed by hooking the operation of the Web browser. When the transmission process is executed, the same operation can be realized by acquiring the mail.

Subsequently, the processing flow of the e-mail transmission program stored in the computer operated by the sender using the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The processing flow of the e-mail approval program stored in the computer will be described.

[0064] The e-mail transmission program stored in the computer operated by the sender is used to determine whether the e-mail to be sent has been approved by the approval authority. There are two embodiments depending on the context, and the present invention may be based on any embodiment. The flowchart in FIG. 9 is a first processing flow in which it is first determined whether or not approval has been received from the approval authority. The flowchart in Fig. 10 is a second processing flow in which it is first determined whether approval by an approval authority is required.

[0065] In the first processing flow, when an email transmission instruction is detected in a mailer or a web browser (S01), a file for transmission of the email is acquired, and the email body is acquired. It is confirmed whether a password generated from a digest such as is attached (S02). If a password is attached, the password is compared with the password generated from the digest such as the body of the e-mail to determine whether the password is valid (S03). .

[0066] If the password is valid, it is determined that the e-mail can be sent, the password is deleted from the sending file (S04), and the e-mail is sent to the designated destination. (S05), the process ends. On the other hand, if the password is not valid, it is determined that the e-mail cannot be sent, an error is displayed on the terminal (S06), and the process is terminated.

[0067] If the password is not attached to the transmission file, it is not an approved email, so the keywords such as the specified destination and the body of the email do not meet the predetermined rules, or the transmission instruction is It is determined whether or not approval by the approval authority is required for transmission based on whether or not the unique behavior of the terminal is applicable (S07).

[0068] For an electronic mail that does not require approval, the electronic mail is transmitted to a designated destination (S05), and the process ends. If approval is required, an approver selected by the sender or an approver designated in advance in the program is selected (S08), and an approval request e-mail addressed to the selected approver is sent. (S09), and the process ends.

[0069] In the second processing flow, when an email transmission instruction is detected by a mailer or a web browser (Sl l), a file for sending the email is acquired, and the specified destination, email text, etc. are acquired. Based on whether the keyword does not correspond to a predetermined rule or whether the transmission instruction does not correspond to the specific behavior of the user or terminal, it is determined whether or not the approval of the approval authority is required for transmission (S 12). . Approval is not required! / For e-mail, the e-mail is sent to the designated destination (S16), and the process is terminated.

[0070] If approval is required, it is confirmed whether or not a password generated from a digest such as a mail text is attached (S13). If the password is attached, the attached password is compared with the password generated from the digest such as the body of the email to determine whether the password is valid. (S14).

[0071] If the password is valid, it is determined that the email can be sent, The password is deleted from the transmission file (S15), an e-mail is sent to the designated destination (S16), and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if the password is not valid, it is determined that the e-mail cannot be sent, an error is displayed on the terminal (S17), and the process is terminated.

[0072] If the password is not attached to the file for transmission, the approver specified by the sender or selected in advance by the sender is selected to receive approval by the approval authority (S18). An approval request e-mail addressed to the approver is sent (S19), and the process ends.

The processing flow for e-mail approval in the computer operated by the approval authority is as shown in the flowchart of FIG. In the mailer or Web browser, the approval request mail transferred from the sender is received (S21). When the approval request mail is opened, a button for selecting approval / disapproval is displayed on the display (S22), and it is detected that the selection of any button has been accepted (S23).

[0074] If the selected button approves the transmission, a word is generated from the digest of the destination, title, text, etc. of the mail approved for transmission (S24). It also creates an approval notification email to be sent to the sender who requested the approval, and attaches the generated password as a part of the body text or an attached file (S25). The approval notification mail with the password attached is transmitted to the sender who requested the approval (S26). If the selected button does not approve the transmission, a notification mail indicating that the transmission has been disallowed is created and transmitted to the sender who requested the approval (S27).

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 2 is a first diagram showing a processing procedure of an e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a second diagram showing a processing procedure of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a third diagram showing a processing procedure of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a fourth diagram showing the processing procedure of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a fifth diagram showing the processing procedure of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sixth diagram showing the processing procedure of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention. [8] FIG. 8 is a seventh diagram showing a processing procedure of the e-mail transmission method according to the present invention.圆 9] In the present invention, it is a flowchart showing a first processing flow of an e-mail transmission program stored in a computer operated by a sender.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a second processing flow of the e-mail transmission program stored in the computer operated by the sender in the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an e-mail approval program stored in a computer operated by an approval authority in the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Sender terminal

11 CPU

12 RAM

13 ROM

14 HDD

141 Mailer

142 Browser

143 Mail control program

144 Judgment Norail Tape Nore

20 Approver terminal

21 CPU

22 RAM

23 ROM

24 HDD

241 Mailer

242 email approval program

30 Menoresano

40 gateway

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] An email transmission method for enabling transmission of only emails that have been approved by an approval authority for emails that meet a predetermined condition,

The first computer operated by the sender of the e-mail determines whether the e-mail that has received the transmission instruction is an e-mail that requires approval by the approval authority, and the first computer sends Determining whether the email that has received the instructions is an email that has been approved by an authorized person;

The second computer that operates the e-mail that the first computer is determined to require approval by the approval authority and is determined to be obscene by the approval by the approval authority. Sending an approval request email containing the contents of the email,

The second computer receiving the approval request mail and receiving a confirmation result of the content of the e-mail by the approval authority; and

If the confirmation result approves the transmission of the e-mail, the second computer has received approval from the approval authority from at least a part of the content of the e-mail. Generating a password indicating, and the second computer transmitting a transmission approval mail including the password to the first computer, and

In the step of determining whether the e-mail that has received the transmission instruction is an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority, the first computer includes the password in the e-mail. And determining that the e-mail is an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority if the nose matches a no-word generated from a digest of at least a portion of the e-mail content. E-mail transmission method characterized.

[2] The first computer is determined to require no approval by the approval authority, or is determined to require approval by the approval authority but is approved by the approval authority. A step of sending the e-mail determined to be sent to the destination specified in the e-mail. The e-mail transmission method according to claim 1.

[3] The first computer transmits an e-mail when a new e-mail is detected in the transmission tray of the e-mail transmission / reception program or when an e-mail transmission process is executed in the web browser. Detecting instructions and determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority or determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail approved by an approval authority To do

The e-mail transmission method according to claim 1 or 2.

[4] The first computer operated by the sender of the e-mail to enable the sending of only the e-mail that has been approved by the approval authority for the e-mail that meets the prescribed conditions. An e-mail transmission program stored in the first computer, wherein the first computer determines whether the e-mail that has received a transmission instruction is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority; and

Determining whether the e-mail accepted for transmission is an e-mail approved by an approval authority;

For e-mails that are determined to require approval by the approval authority and that are not approved by the approval authority, the contents of the e-mail are included in the second computer operated by the approval authority. Transmitting an approval request mail, and determining whether the e-mail that has been sent and accepted the transmission instruction is an e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority. The second computer indicating approval by the authorized person includes a password generated from at least a part of the content of the e-mail! /, And the password is the e-mail. The e-mail is approved by the approval authority if it matches the password generated from the digest of at least part of the contents of To determine that the email was received

An e-mail transmission program characterized by

[5] An electronic mail that is determined not to require approval by an approval authority on the first computer. Or an e-mail that has been determined to require approval by the approval authority but is approved by the approval authority, is sent to the destination specified in the e-mail. thing

The e-mail transmission program according to claim 4, wherein:

[6] Sending an e-mail when a new e-mail is detected in the sending tray of the e-mail sending / receiving program in the first computer or when an e-mail sending process is executed in the Web browser Detecting instructions and determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority or determining whether the e-mail is an e-mail approved by an approval authority To do

The e-mail transmission program according to claim 4 or 5, wherein

[7] Stored in the second computer operated by the e-mail approval authority to enable sending only e-mails approved by the approval authority for e-mails that meet the specified conditions. E-mail approval program

The second computer receives, from the first computer operated by the e-mail sender, an approval request e-mail including the contents of the e-mail determined to require approval by the approval authority in the first computer. Steps,

A step of accepting the confirmation result of the content of the email by the authorized person, and if the confirmation result approves the transmission of the email, a digest of at least a part of the content of the email Generating a password indicating approval from the approval authority from

Sending a transmission approval mail including the password for notifying the transmission approval of the e-mail to the first computer, and

When the first computer that has received the transmission approval mail receives an e-mail transmission instruction that requires approval by the approval authority, the e-mail includes the password, and the password is the e-mail. If it matches the password generated from the digest of at least a part of the content, it is determined that the e-mail is an e-mail that has been approved by the approval authority, and the address specified in the e-mail is sent. Sending the e-mail

E-mail approval program characterized by

[8] An e-mail transmission device for enabling transmission of only e-mails that have been approved by an approval authority for e-mails satisfying predetermined conditions,

A first determination means for determining whether an e-mail that has received a transmission instruction is an e-mail that requires approval by an approval authority;

A second determination means for determining whether the email for which the transmission instruction has been accepted is an email that has been approved by an approval authority;

For an electronic mail that has been determined by the first determination means to require approval by the approval authority and that has not been approved by the approval authority by the second determination means, the approval authority Transmission means for transmitting an approval request mail including the contents of the e-mail to a computer to be operated! /,

The second determination means includes a password generated from a digest of at least a part of the contents of the e-mail in the computer indicating that the e-mail has been approved by the approval authority. If the password matches a password generated from a digest of at least a part of the content of the e-mail, it is determined that the e-mail is an e-mail approved by an approval authority. To do

An e-mail transmission device characterized by the above.

[9] E-mail that is determined not to require approval by the approval authority, or e-mail that is determined to require approval by the approval authority but is approved by the approval authority 9. The e-mail transmission device according to claim 8, further comprising: a second transmission unit that transmits the e-mail to a destination specified in the e-mail.

[10] The e-mail transmission instruction accepted by the first determination means or the second determination means is that a new e-mail is detected in the transmission tray of the e-mail transmission / reception program or the web browser Detecting an e-mail transmission instruction when e-mail transmission processing is executed

10. The e-mail transmission device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein:

[11] An e-mail approval device for enabling transmission of only e-mail that has been approved by an approval authority for e-mail that satisfies a predetermined condition,

Receiving means for receiving from the computer operated by the sender of the e-mail an approval request e-mail including the contents of the e-mail that is determined to require approval by the approval authority by the computer;

Accepting means for receiving the confirmation result of the content of the email by the approval authority, and when the confirmation result approves the transmission of the email, at least a part of the content of the email Generating means for generating a password indicating that the approval is received from the digest by the approval authority;

Transmission means for transmitting a transmission approval mail including the password for notifying the transmission approval of the e-mail to the computer,

When the computer that has received the transmission approval mail receives an instruction to send an e-mail that requires the approval of the approval authority, the e-mail includes the password, and the password is the e-mail of the e-mail. If the digest power of at least part of the content also matches the generated password, it is determined that the e-mail is an e-mail approved by an approval authority, and the e-mail is sent to the destination specified in the e-mail. Sending an email

E-mail approval device characterized by.

[12] The first computer operated by the sender of the e-mail and the e-mail to enable transmission of only the e-mail that has been approved by the approval authority for the e-mail that satisfies the predetermined condition. A second computer-powered e-mail transmission system operated by an email approval authority,

The first computer is

It is determined by the first determination means that approval by an approval authority is required, and the Sends an approval request mail including the contents of the e-mail to the second computer operated by the approval authority for the e-mail that is determined not to be approved by the approval authority by the second determination means. A transmission means, and

The second computer is

Receiving means for receiving the approval request mail; receiving means for receiving a confirmation result of the content of the e-mail by the approval authority;

If the confirmation result approves the transmission of the e-mail, generate a password indicating approval from the approval authority from at least a part of the content of the e-mail Means,

A transmission means for transmitting a transmission approval mail including the password to the first computer,

The second determination means provided in the first computer includes a password that includes the password in the email and the password is generated from a digest of at least a part of the content of the email. If they match, it is determined that the email is an email that has been approved by an authorized person.

E-mail transmission system characterized by

[13] The first computer is determined not to require approval by the approval authority, or is determined to require approval by the approval authority but is approved by the approval authority! / A second sending means for sending the e-mail determined to be sent to the destination specified in the e-mail;

13. The e-mail transmission system according to claim 12.

[14] An e-mail transmission instruction accepted by the first determination means or the second determination means provided in the first computer is newly added to the transmission tray of the e-mail transmission / reception program. 14. The electronic mail transmission instruction according to claim 12 or 13, wherein an electronic mail transmission instruction is detected when a simple electronic mail is detected or an e-mail transmission / transmission process is executed in a web browser. Email sending system.