JP2002342167A - Device for managing entity information - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: Provided is an entity information management device that easily and efficiently realizes management of information resources in which an acquisition request from an unspecified number of entities is generated. 1-7. Acquisition request information and requester authentication / verification information including acquisition target identification information, requester identification information, and acquisition approval information from an entity that requests acquisition of information resources, and 1-08. .Acquire owner verification information by specifying the entity that owns the information resource by the acquisition target identification information,
1-09. Using the owner verification information corresponding to the secret information of the entity that owns the information resource, the acquisition approval information is the owner secret corresponding to the owner verification information for the acquisition target identification information and the requester identification information. Verify that it was generated by the operation that acted on the information, 1-10.Authenticated whether the entity of the acquisition request was the entity indicated by the requester identification information, and 1-11. Is returned to the transmission source entity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an open distributed system in which an unspecified number of entities, such as the Internet, participate and maintain and manage information resources owned by a certain entity. The present invention relates to an information resource management device that performs appropriate access control for an acquisition request for an information resource. In particular, in a situation in which an acquisition request from an unspecified number of entities occurs, an entity information management apparatus capable of efficiently performing access control that permits only an acquisition request approved by the entity that owns the information resource About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of distributed information processing systems,
In order to simplify and improve the management of information resources owned by each entity participating in the system and the transmission of these information resources between entities, the information resources owned by each entity are centrally held and managed. When there is a request for acquisition of these information resources from another entity, the validity of the request is determined, and only when the request is deemed to be valid, a mechanism or server device that discloses in response to the request. The need is growing. A typical example of such an access control mechanism is ITU-T
X.500 directory, etc., which has been standardized.

Conventionally, an access control mechanism in such an information system includes an entity attempting access (accessor), an information resource to be protected, and an access authority described by a set of permitted access types. It was done based on information. The access authority information is logically represented by an access matrix. In the access matrix, a row corresponds to an accessor, a column corresponds to an information resource to be protected, and an element of s row and t column includes an accessor s.
Is a matrix in which the types of access to the information resource t (access authority) permitted for are described.

However, in many cases, the access matrix becomes sparse even though it becomes a very large matrix. That is, many insignificant portions in which the access authority is not described appear. Therefore, in an actual information system, access authority information is often managed in the form of an access control list in which a significant part is extracted from an access control matrix. The access control list is a list in which, for each resource to be protected, a pair of an accessor who is permitted to access the resource and a permitted access right are arranged so that only those having a special right can change the resource. Stored in a protected area. In an access control mechanism using an access control list, when a certain access request occurs,
After identifying the accessor, the access control list of the resource to be accessed is searched to specify the access authority allowed to the accessor, and to determine whether to permit the access based on the access right. As an improved method, there is a method of access control based on roles. In this method, a plurality of accessors who are permitted to have the same access right are grouped into a unit called a role, and the access control list is described using the role identifier instead of the accessor identifier. Separately, it is possible to simplify the access control list and increase the efficiency of the management for those who need to manage the relationship between the accessor and the role. The access control list is widely used, and many information systems such as the UNIX (registered trademark) file system and the X.500 directory implement an access control mechanism based on the access control list.

As a method of describing access authority, a method of using capabilities is well known.
A capability is a pair of an identifier of a resource to be protected and an access right to the resource, and the arrangement is called a capability list. Like the access control list, both capabilities and capability lists are essentially based on access queues, and describe and manage access authority information expressed in the relationship between accessors, protected resources to be accessed, and access authority. Then, based on this, it is determined whether or not access is possible.

[0006]

In the management of information resources on an open distributed system in which an unspecified number of entities such as the Internet participate, a potentially unspecified number of entities capable of accessing the information resources. Among them, there is a demand to disclose information resources only to a specific entity designated by the owner, and to permit and restrict the disclosure to the same entity.
Information resources that require such information resource management include, for example, electronic documents created by entities,
As an example, a public key certificate or an attribute certificate (for example, information proving the qualification or authority of the entity) owned by the entity, and information on the state of the public key certificate such as revocation / validity, etc. may be mentioned. In order to respond to this request, the information resource management mechanism dynamically responds to an information resource acquisition request from an entity that cannot be specified in advance by the information resource management mechanism by the entity that owns the information resource. It is necessary to have a function of performing access control that permits only those authorized to the user.

However, in such a situation, the following problem occurs in the conventional information resource management mechanism using the access authority information as described above. First, the access authority information associates the access authority with the pair of the resource to be accessed and the accessor in advance. In such a situation, access authority information cannot be described and defined in advance. Therefore, when it becomes necessary to newly grant an access right to an entity, the entity is first registered in the information resource management mechanism, and the information resource management mechanism identifies the requesting entity and identifies it. After that, complicated processing for describing access authority information for giving access authority to the entity is required. In addition, when newly approving or canceling a request for access to an information resource,
Each time, it is necessary to appropriately rewrite and update the access authority information managed by the information management resource mechanism.

As described above, in the conventional information resource management mechanism employing the access control based on the access right information, the access right information managed by the mechanism becomes enormous, and furthermore, the registration of accessible entities and Since the management to deal with erasure and the frequent update of access authority information for them becomes complicated and complicated, the construction cost and maintenance management cost of the information resource management mechanism become extremely high. I have a problem. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in an open distributed system in which an unspecified number of entities such as the Internet participate, an acquisition request from an unspecified number of entities for an information resource. It is an object of the present invention to provide an entity information management mechanism capable of efficiently performing control such that only an acquisition request approved by an entity that owns the information resource is permitted in a case where the information resource occurs.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an information resource owned by an entity is managed, and when an acquisition request for the information resource is issued, the information resource is owned. In an entity information management device that permits only an acquisition request that has been approved by an entity, an “information resource holding unit” that holds an “information resource” owned by the entity, and an entity that is the owner of the “information resource” is secret "Owner verification information obtaining means" for obtaining "owner verification information" corresponding to "owner confidential information" held therein, and the acquisition transmitted from the entity requesting the acquisition of "information resource""Acquisition target identification information" indicating the target "information resource", "requester identification information" indicating the entity requesting the acquisition, and "acquisition target identification information" The “acquisition request” is composed of “requester identification information” and “acquisition approval information” that indicates approval for an acquisition request generated by an operation in which “owner secret information” corresponding to “owner verification information” is applied. Acquisition request information ”received by the“ acquisition request information receiving means ”and“ acquisition request information ”received by the“ acquisition request information receiving means ”, and indicated by“ acquisition target identification information ”included in the“ acquisition request information ” Identify the entity that owns the "information resource" to be acquired, acquire "owner verification information" of the entity by "owner verification information acquisition means", and use "owner verification information" to convert it to "acquisition request information". The “acquisition approval information” included in the “acquisition request information” acts on the “acquisition target identification information” and “requester identification information” with the “owner secret information” corresponding to the “owner verification information” To the calculation To verify that the one that was generated Ri "acquisition request information verifying section"
And "requester authentication means" for authenticating whether the source entity of "acquisition request information" is the entity indicated by "requester identification information" corresponding to "acquisition request information", and "acquisition request information". When the verification by the "verification unit" and the authentication by the "requester authentication unit" succeed, the "information resource" corresponding to the "acquisition request information" is changed to the "acquisition request information".
"Information resource returning means" for returning to the transmission source entity.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the entity information management device according to the first aspect, the "acquisition request information"
Further includes “acquisition request validity period information” indicating the validity period of “acquisition approval information”, and the “acquisition request information verification means” acquires the “acquisition request information” received by the “acquisition request information receiving means”. Then, the entity that owns the “information resource” indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” included in the “acquisition request information” is specified, and the “owner verification information” of the entity is identified by the “owner verification information acquisition means”. Acquired,
Using "owner verification information", "acquisition approval information" included in "acquisition request information" is included in "acquisition request information""acquisition target identification information", "requester identification information" and "acquisition request validity period Information and the owner verification information, and the date and time when the "acquisition request information" was received is obtained from the operation obtained by applying the "owner secret information" corresponding to the "owner verification information" to the "acquisition request information". "Acquisition request validity period information" included in
It is characterized by verifying that it is within the validity period indicated by.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the entity information management device according to the first aspect, the "owner verification information" is information including a "verification key" in a public key cryptosystem, and the "owner verification information" The “secret information” is a “signing key” corresponding to the “owner verification information”, and the “acquisition approval information” is a “owner's owner” for information including “acquisition target identification information” and “requester identification information”. It is characterized by being information including an electronic signature by "secret information". The invention of claim 4 is
The entity information management device according to claim 2,
The “owner verification information” is information including a “verification key” in a public key cryptosystem, and the “owner secret information”
Is the "signing key" corresponding to the "owner verification information",
The “acquisition approval information” is information including an electronic signature by “owner secret information” for information including “acquisition target identification information”, “requester identification information”, and “acquisition request validity period information”. Features.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the entity information management device according to the first aspect, the "information resource" held by the "information resource holding means" is an "attribute certificate" and the "ownership" Verification information "is" information resource holding means "
"Public key certificate" corresponding to the "Attribute certificate" held in
The “acquisition approval information” is “owner secret information” for information including “acquisition target identification information” and “requester identification information”.
Characterized in that the information includes an electronic signature according to

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the entity information management device according to the second aspect, the "information resource" held by the "information resource holding means" is an "attribute certificate", and the "owned property" Verification information "is" information resource holding means "
The “public key certificate” corresponding to the “attribute certificate” held in the “public key certificate” is the “signing key” corresponding to the “public key” included in the “public key certificate”. And the "acquisition approval information" is "acquisition target identification information".
And information including an electronic signature of “owner secret information” for information including “requester identification information” and “acquisition request validity period information”.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a public key certificate, which is an information resource owned by an entity, is managed, and when there is a request to acquire the public key certificate, approval by the entity having the public key certificate is issued. In an entity information management device that permits only a given acquisition request, a request is made to acquire an "information resource holding unit" for holding a "public key certificate", which is an information resource owned by the entity, and to acquire a "public key certificate""Acquisition target identification information", which indicates the "public key certificate" to be acquired, transmitted from the entity performing the acquisition,
"Requester identification information" indicating the entity that requests acquisition, and "Public key" included in "Public key certificate" for information including "Acquisition target identification information" and "Requester identification information" An “acquisition request information receiving unit” that receives “acquisition request information” including “acquisition approval information” indicating approval for an acquisition request including an electronic signature by a “signing key”;
"Acquisition request information" received by "Acquisition request information receiving means"
And retrieves the “public key certificate” indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” included in the “acquisition request information” from the “information resource holding unit”, and reads the “public key certificate” included in the “public key certificate”. "Acquisition approval information" included in "Acquisition request information" corresponds to "Public key" for information including "Acquisition target identification information" and "Requester identification information" included in "Acquisition request information" An "acquisition request information verification means" for verifying that the information includes an electronic signature using a "signing key";
A "requester authentication unit" for authenticating whether the transmission source entity of the "acquisition request information" is the entity indicated by the "requester identification information" corresponding to the "acquisition request information", and a "acquisition request information verification unit" If the verification by ") and the authentication by" requester authentication means "are successful, return the" public key certificate "corresponding to the" acquisition request information "to the entity that transmitted the" acquisition request information ". Replying means ".

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the entity information management device according to the seventh aspect, the "acquisition request information"
Further includes “acquisition request validity period information” indicating the validity period of the “acquisition approval information”, and the “acquisition request information verification unit” acquires the “acquisition request information” received by the “acquisition request information receiving unit”. Then, the “public key certificate” pointed out by the “acquisition target identification information” included in the “acquisition request information” is read out from the “information resource holding unit”, and the “public key certificate” is read.
“Acquisition approval information” included in “Acquisition request information” using “Public key” included in “Acquisition target identification information”, “Requester identification information” included in “Acquisition request information”, and “Acquisition request valid” "Acquisition request information" includes information that includes an electronic signature with a "signing key" corresponding to a "public key" for information including "period information" and "acquisition request information" It is characterized by verifying that it is within the period indicated by "request valid period information".

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the entity information management apparatus according to the seventh or eighth aspect, further comprising "public key certificate status acquisition means" for acquiring the status of the "public key certificate". The "information resource reply means"
When the authentication by the “acquisition request information verification unit” and the “requester authentication unit” is successful, the information on the state of the “public key certificate” corresponding to the “acquisition request information” is set in the “public key certificate state acquisition unit”. , And information about the state is returned to the entity that transmitted the “acquisition request information”.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the entity information management device according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the "information resource reply means" is an "information resource" corresponding to "acquisition request information". Is returned, only the source entity of the "acquisition request information" decrypts the "resource",
It is characterized by returning information encrypted so that it can be decrypted. According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the entity information management apparatus according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, further comprising: a "signing key holding unit for secretly holding a" signing key "unique to the entity information management apparatus. The "information resource reply means" holds the information including the "information resource" in the "signing key holding means" when returning the "information resource" corresponding to the "acquisition request information". It is characterized by adding an electronic signature using a "signing key" and returning it to the entity that transmitted "acquisition request information".

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment (Explanation of the Principle of the Invention) Referring to FIG. 1, the operation principle of an entity information management apparatus according to the present invention will be described. An "entity information management device" 1 according to the present invention manages information resources owned by an entity, and when an acquisition request for the information resource is issued, only an entity that has been approved by the entity that owns the information resource. This is a device that is permitted, and includes "information resource holding means" 10, "owner verification information obtaining means" 11, "acquisition request information receiving means" 12, "acquisition request information verification means" 14, and "requester authentication". Means "15,
"Information resource reply means" 13.

The "information resource holding means" 10 is provided with one or more "information resources" owned by one or more entities managed by the "entity information management device" 1.
This is storage means for holding 16. The “information resource” 16 is associated with the identification information of the entity that owns the “information resource” 16. The “owner verification information acquisition unit” 11 is configured to execute “owner verification information” corresponding to “owner secret information” secretly held by the entity that is the owner of the “information resource” 16.
Is a means for obtaining

The "acquisition request information receiving means" 12 is means for receiving "acquisition request information" transmitted from an entity which requests acquisition of the "information resource". The “acquisition request information” is information indicating an acquisition request for the “information resource” 16 managed by the “entity information management device” 1, and “acquisition target identification information” indicating the “information resource” to be acquired. And "requester identification information" indicating an entity requesting acquisition and "acquisition approval information" indicating approval for the acquisition request. "Acquisition request information verification means" 14
Is a means for verifying the validity of the "acquisition request information" received by the "acquisition request information receiving means" 12.

The "acquisition request information verification means" 14 acquires "acquisition request information" from the "acquisition request information receiving means" 12, and is indicated by the "acquisition target identification information" included in the "acquisition request information". Identify the entity that owns the "information resource", obtain "owner verification information" of the entity by "owner verification information obtaining means" 11, and use "owner verification information" as "acquisition request information". The “acquisition approval information” included in the “acquisition request information” acts on the “acquisition target identification information” and the “requester identification information” with the “owner secret information” corresponding to the “owner verification information”. Verify that it is generated by the calculation performed.

The "requester authentication means" 15 confirms whether the source entity of the "acquisition request information" is the same as the entity indicated by the "requester identification information" corresponding to the "acquisition request information". It is a means to perform authentication.
"Information resource reply means" 13 is "acquisition request information verification means"
If the verification of the “acquisition request information” by 14 and the authentication of the transmission source entity of the “acquisition request information” by the “requester authentication unit” 15 succeed, the “information resource read out from the“ information resource holding unit ”10 Is returned to the source entity. As described above, the “entity information management device” 1 according to the present invention is configured such that, when the respective components interact, when the acquisition request to the “information resource” 16 is received, the approval by the entity that owns the information resource is approved. Implement access control that permits only the given ones.

Hereinafter, the operation of the entity information management apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to a specific example. (System Configuration of First Embodiment) FIG. 2 shows the system configuration of the first embodiment to which the method of the present invention is applied and the functional configuration of each device, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration of information used in the system of the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, an "information resource" 201 owned by a certain user A is referred to as an "entity information management device".
2, the user A approves the acquisition of the “information resource” 201 to the user B, and then the user B acquires the “information resource” 201 from the “entity information management device” 2 Take the example. Note that the users A and B may be the same person. The system of the first embodiment includes a user A
The “owner terminal device” 3 owned and used by the user B, the “requester terminal device” 4 owned and used by the user B, and the “information resource” 201 owned by the user A are held and managed in advance. Every
A server device that confirms the validity of the “acquisition request information” 100 from the user B when it is received, and returns the “information resource” 201 to the user B when it is determined to be valid. Entity information management device "2.

(Detailed Description of System Components of First Embodiment) Hereinafter, each of the system components will be described in detail. (Entity Information Management Device 2) The “entity information management device” 2 previously holds and manages “information resources” 201 owned by the user A, and receives “acquisition request information” 100 from the user B. At this time, it is checked whether the “acquisition request information” 100 is valid by the user A who is the owner of the “information resource” 201 to be acquired. This is a server device that returns the “information resource” 201 to the user B, and is configured based on the entity information management device according to the present invention.

The "entity information management device" 2 includes "information resource holding means" 20 and "owner verification information obtaining means" 21.
, "Acquisition request information receiving means" 22, "information resource reply means" 23, "acquisition request information verification means" 24, "requester authentication means" 25, and "owner verification information holding means" 26. , "Control means" 27. "Information resource holding means"
Reference numeral 20 denotes a storage unit that holds “information resources” 201 to be managed. The “information resource” 201 is managed in association with the identification information of the entity that owns the “information resource” 201, or the “information resource” 201 is included in the “information resource”.
It contains the identification information of the entity that owns 1. The "information resource holding means" 20 can manage a plurality of information resources owned by a plurality of entities.

The “owner verification information acquiring means” 21 converts “owner verification information” 202 corresponding to “owner secret information” 301 held by the owner A of the “information resource” 201 in secret.
This is a unit obtained from the “owner verification information holding unit” 26. The “owner verification information holding unit” 26 is a storage unit that holds the “owner verification information” 202, but need not be installed inside the “entity information management device” 2; It may be installed in another external device that is connected by a network or the like. The configuration method of the “owner secret information” 301 and the “owner verification information” 202 will be described later.

The “acquisition request information receiving means” 22 is a user B
This is a means for receiving the “acquisition request information” 100 transmitted from the. “Acquisition request information” 100 is information representing an acquisition request for an “information resource” 201 managed by the present apparatus,
“Acquisition target identification information” 103 indicating the “information resource” 201 to be acquired, “requester identification information” 104 indicating the entity requesting the acquisition, that is, user B, and approval of the acquisition request by user A And "acquisition approval information" 105. The "acquisition request information receiving means" 22 also receives "requester authentication information" 101 and "requester verification information" 102 transmitted from the user B together with the "acquisition request information" 100. "Requester authentication information" 101 is "Acquisition request information" 1
This information is generated by an operation in which “requester secret information” 401 held by the user B secretly acts on 00. The “requester verification information” 102 is information corresponding to the “requester confidential information” 401 and includes “requester terminal device” 4
The same information as the "requester verification information" 402 held in the "requester verification information holding means" 43 of the "requester authentication information" 101 is generated by an operation using the "requester secret information" 401. This is information for verifying that the operation has been performed. The configuration method of the “requester authentication information” 101 and the “requester secret information” 401 will be described later.

The "acquisition request information verification means" 24 is a means for verifying the validity of the "acquisition request information" 100 received by the "acquisition request information receiving means" 22. The “acquisition request information verification unit” 24 acquires the “acquisition request information” 100, and the entity that owns the “information resource” 201 indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” 103 included in the “acquisition request information” 100,
That is, by using the “owner verification information acquiring means” 21 using the “owner verification information” 202 held in the “owner verification information holding means” 26 corresponding to the user A, the “owner verification information” The “acquisition approval information” 105 included in the “acquisition request information” 100 and the “acquisition target identification information” 103 and “requester identification information” 104 included in the “acquisition request information” 100 It is verified that the information is generated by an operation in which “owner secret information” 301 corresponding to “owner verification information” 202 is applied. For the specific method of this verification, see "Owner confidential information" 301 and "Owner verification information" 202
It will be described later together with the configuration method.

The "requester authentication means" 25 includes "acquisition request information" 100, "requester authentication information" 101, and "requester verification information".
With 102, is a means for performing authentication to confirm whether the transmission source of the "acquisition request information" 100 is the entity indicated by the "requester identification information" 104 included in the "acquisition request information" 100, It verifies whether the "requester verification information" 102 corresponds to the "requester identification information" 104 included in the "acquisition request information" 100, and further, the "requester authentication information" 101 In response to “Requester verification information” 102
It is verified whether the information is generated by the operation of the “requester confidential information” 401 corresponding to the request. If both are successful, the authentication is successful. A specific method of this authentication will be described later together with a method of configuring “requester authentication information” 101, “requester verification information” 102, and “requester secret information” 401.

The "information resource reply means" 23 verifies the validity of the "acquisition request information" 100 by the "acquisition request information verification means" 24 and the "acquisition request information" by the "requester authentication means" 25.
Upon successful authentication of 100 source entities,
"Information resource" 20 read from "Information resource holding means" 20
This is a means for returning 1 to the “requester terminal device” 4 used by the user B as the transmission source. The "control means" 27 is a control means mainly composed of a microcomputer for controlling the whole. (Owner terminal device 3) The "owner terminal device" 3 is a terminal device owned and used by the user A, and includes "owner secret information holding means" 30, "authorization information generating means" 31, and ""Approval target information acquisition means" 32, "Approval information transmission means" 33,
And "control means" 34.

The "owner secret information holding means" 30 is a storage means for securely storing the "owner secret information" 301 without leakage. The “owner secret information” 301 is information that is secretly owned by the user A. The “owner owner information” of the user A acquired by the “owner verification information acquiring unit” 21 of the “entity information management device” 2 Verification information 202. The configuration method of the “owner secret information” 301 and the “owner verification information” 202 will be described later. The “owner secret information holding means” 30 is not provided with the “owner terminal device” 3, but is constituted by a device having tamper resistance to an IC card or the like, and is connected to the “owner terminal device” 3 as appropriate. , May be used.

"Approval target information acquisition means" 32 is a user A
The “acquisition target identification information” 103 indicating the “information resource” 201 to be acquired and the “requester identification information” 104 indicating the entity to be approved, ie, the user B, corresponding to the acquisition request approved by It is a means to acquire. This includes a method of acquiring information designated by a direct operation of the user A, or acquiring necessary information from another device in cooperation with another device. The “authorization information generation means” 31 is a means for generating “acquisition approval information” 105 indicating that the user A approves the acquisition request, and “acquisition target identification information” "103" and "requester identification information" 104, "owner secret information" 30 obtained from "owner secret information holding means" 30.
“Acquisition approval information” 105 is generated by the operation with 1 applied. A specific method of this generation method will be described later together with a configuration method of “owner secret information” 301 and “owner verification information” 202.

The "authorization information generating means" 31 is not provided in the "owner terminal device" 3, but is constituted by a device having tamper resistance, such as an IC card. It may be connected to and used.
The “approval information transmitting means” 33 is a means for transmitting the “acquisition approval information” 105 generated by the “approval information generating means” 31 to the “requester terminal device” 4 used by the user B, "34" is control means mainly composed of a microcomputer for controlling the whole.

(Requester terminal 4) "Requester terminal"
Reference numeral 4 denotes a terminal device owned and used by the user B, and includes an “approval information receiving means” 40 and a “requester approval information generating means” 41.
"Requester authentication information holding means" 42, "requester verification information holding means" 43, "acquisition request information transmitting means" 44, "information resource receiving means" 45, and "acquisition target information acquiring means" 46
And "control means" 47. The “approval information receiving means” 40 is a means for receiving the “acquisition approval information” 105 transmitted from the “owner terminal device” 3. The “acquisition target information acquisition means” 46 includes “acquisition target identification information” 103 indicating the “information resource” 201 to which the user B requests acquisition, and “acquisition request source, ie,“ requester identification information ”indicating the user B.
104. This can be done by (1) obtaining information specified by the direct operation of the user B, (2) obtaining necessary information from another device in cooperation with another device, or (3) obtaining an "owner terminal". Device 3 to Acquisition Approval Information 105
There is a realization method such as acquiring the “acquisition target identification information” 103 and the “requester identification information” 104 transmitted together.

The "requester confidential information holding means" 42 is a storage means for securely storing "requester confidential information" 401 which is secretly owned by the user B without leaking. The "requester confidential information holding means" 42 is not provided in the "requester terminal device" 4, but is constituted by a device having tamper resistance such as an IC card, and is connected to the "owner terminal device" 4 as appropriate. , May be used. The “requester verification information holding unit” 43 is a storage unit that stores “requester verification information” 402 corresponding to “requester secret information” 401 owned by the user B. The configuration method of the “requester verification information” 402 and the “requester secret information” 401 will be described later.

The "requester authentication information generating means" 41, when requesting the "entity information management device" 2 to acquire the "information resource" 201, "acquisition target identification information" indicating the "information resource" 201 “Acquisition approval information” corresponding to a set of “requester identification information” 104 indicating 103 and user B, and “acquisition target identification information” 103 and “requester identification information” 104 received by “approval information receiving means” 40 This is means for generating “requester authentication information” 101 by an operation in which “requester secret information” 401 is applied to “acquisition request information” 100 composed of “105”. The configuration and generation method of the “requester authentication information” 101 will be described later together with the “requester verification information” 402 and the configuration method of the “requester secret information” 401. "Requester authentication information generation means" 41
Also, the “requester terminal device” 4 may be provided with a tamper-resistant device, such as an IC card, and may be connected to the “requester terminal device 4” and used as needed.

The “acquisition request information transmitting means” 44 converts the “acquisition request information” 100 into the “requester authentication information” 101 generated by the “requester authentication information generating means” 41 and the “requester verification information holding means”. "Requester verification information" 402 read from 43
(Ie, “requester verification information” 102) together with the “entity information management device” 2.

The "information resource receiving means" 45 is a means for receiving the "information resource" 201 returned when the acquisition is permitted as a result of the validity confirmation by the "entity information management device" 2. The "control means" 47 is a control means mainly composed of a microcomputer for controlling the whole.

(Description of Operation in First Embodiment) Hereinafter, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. (Step 1-01) In the "entity information management device" 2, the "information resource" 201 owned by the user A is assigned to the "information resource holding means" 20, and the "owner secret" owned by the user A is secretly owned. "Owner verification information" 2 corresponding to "information" 301
02 is stored in the "owner verification information holding means" 26. (Step 1-2) When the user A approves the acquisition request from the user B to the “information resource” 201, the user A approves the acquisition using the “owner terminal device” 3. “Information resource” 201 and the entity to acquire, ie, user B
To give approval for acquisition. First, the “owner terminal device” 3 uses the “authorization target information acquisition unit” 32 to transmit “acquisition target identification information” 103 indicating the “information resource” 201 for which the acquisition is approved, and the entity to be acquired, that is, the user B. The “requester identification information” 104 to be pointed out is acquired. (Step 1-03) The “owner terminal device” 3 uses the “authorization information generating means” 31 to obtain the “acquisition target identification information” 103 and the “requester identification information” 104 obtained by the “authorization target information obtaining means” 32. And "Owner confidential information storage means" 30
An operation is performed to operate the “owner secret information” 301 acquired from the “acquisition approval information” 105. (Step 1-04) The “owner terminal device” 3 sends the “acquisition approval information” 105 generated by the “authorization information generating unit” 31 to the “requester” Terminal device 4 ". At this time, if necessary, the “acquisition target identification information” 103 and the “requester identification information” 104 acquired by the “authorization target information acquisition means” 32 may be transmitted together.

(Step 1-05) When acquiring the “information resource” 201, the user B makes a request for the acquisition using the “requester terminal device 4”. First, the “requester terminal device” 4 transmits “acquisition target identification information” 103 indicating the “information resource” 201 requesting the acquisition, and “requester identification information” 104 indicating the acquisition request source, that is, the user B. The “acquisition approval information” corresponding to the set of “acquisition target identification information” 103 and “requester identification information” 104 acquired by the “acquisition target information acquiring unit” 46 and received by the “approval information receiving unit” 40 Get 105. (Step 1-06) Next, the "requester terminal device" 4 uses the "requester authentication information generating means" 41 to obtain the "acquisition target identification information" 103, "requester identification information" 104, and " The “acquisition request information” 100 consisting of “acquisition approval information” 105 and the “requester secret information” 401 obtained from the “requester secret information holding means” 42 are operated, and the “requester authentication information” is obtained. "101 is generated. (Step 1-07) Finally, the “requester terminal device” 4 stores “requester verification information holding means” 43 in the “acquisition request information” 100 and “requester authentication information” 101 acquired and generated up to the previous step. Together with the "requester verification information" 402 (that is, the "requester verification information" 102) read out from the "entity information management device" by the "acquisition request information transmitting means" 44.
Send to 2.

(Step 1-08) Having received the “acquisition request information” 100 in the “acquisition request information receiving means” 22, the “entity information management device” 2 uses the “acquisition request information verification means” 24 to Verify the validity of the information "100". First, the “entity information management device” 2 owns the “information resource” 201 indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” 103 included in the “acquisition request information” 100 acquired from the “acquisition request information receiving means” 22 Identify the entity,
The "owner verification information" 202 of the entity is obtained by the "owner verification information obtaining means" 21. (Step 1-09) Next, "acquisition request information verification means" 24
As a result, the “acquisition approval information” 105 included in the received “acquisition request information” 100 is earlier than the “acquisition target identification information” 103 and the “requester identification information” 104 included in the “acquisition request information” 100. It is verified that the data is generated by an operation in which the “owner secret information” 301 corresponding to the “owner verification information” 202 obtained in the step is applied. (Step 1-10) If the verification of the validity of the “acquisition request information” 100 in the previous step is successful, the “entity information management device” 2 determines that the source entity of the received “acquisition request information” 100 is “acquisition request”. It authenticates whether it is the same as the entity indicated by the "requester identification information" 104 included in the "information" 100. The "requester authentication means" 25 first uses the "acquisition request information" 100, the "requester authentication information" 101 and the "requester verification information" 102 received together with the "acquisition request information" 100, Verifier information) 102 verifies whether it corresponds to the "requester identification information" 104 included in the "acquisition request information" 100,
Verify whether the "requester authentication information" 101 is generated by the operation of the "requester secret information" 401 corresponding to the "requester verification information" 102, and if both are successful, The source entity of the "acquisition request information" 100 is
It is determined whether the entity is the same as the entity indicated by the "requester identification information" 104 included in the "acquisition request information" 100.

(Step 1-11) The “entity information management device” 2 verifies the validity of the “acquisition request information” 100 by the “acquisition request information verification means” 24 and the “requester authentication means” 25 If the authentication of the requesting entity of "acquisition request information" 100 is successful, the "information resource reply means" 23
, The “information resource” 201 read from the “information resource holding unit” 20 is returned to the “requester terminal device” 4. The “requester terminal device” 4 uses the “information resource receiving means” 45
“Information resource” 201 is acquired.

(Details of Information Composition Method and Verification Method in First Embodiment) Next, "owner secret information" 301, "owner verification information" 202, "requester secret information" 401, and "requester secret information" Verification information "402, a method of generating" acquisition approval information "105 in step 1-03, a method of generating" requester authentication information "101 in step 1-06, and a method of generating The verification method of the “acquisition request information” 100 and the authentication method of the transmission source entity in step 1-10 will be described.

Here, as a typical realization method, NT
An electronic signature method such as an E-Sign signature method by T (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), an RSA (Rivest Shamir Adleman) signature method, and an X.509 (standardized by ITU-T) An implementation method using a public key certificate defined in a standard format of an electronic certificate) will be described. The symbols used in the description are as follows.・ Req ・ ・ ・ Acquisition request information 100 ・ IDt ・ ・ ・ Acquisition target identification information 103 ・ IDb ・ ・ ・ Requester identification information 104 ・ Auth ・ ・ ・ Acquisition approval information 105 ・ Ch ・ ・ ・ Requester authentication information 101 ・ Sa ... Owner secret information 301 ・ Va ・ ・ ・ Owner verification information 202 ・ Sb ・ ・ ・ Requester secret information 401 ・ Vb ・ ・ ・ Requester verification information 402, 102 ・ Sk-a, Pk-a ...・ Signing key Sk-a and its corresponding verification key Pk-a in the digital signature scheme ・ Cert-a ・ ・ ・ Public key certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority for verification key Pk-a ・ ID-a ・・ ・ Cert-a identifier (for example, a set of the identifier and serial number of the issuer of Cert-a) ・ Sk-b, Pk-b ・ ・ ・ Signing key Sk-b and its corresponding verification key in the digital signature scheme Pk-b ・ Cert-b ・ ・ ・ Public key certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority for verification key Pk-b ・ ID-b ・ ・ ・ Identifier of Cert-b (for example, Cert-b issuer A set of identification name and serial number) ・ x || y ・ ・ ・ x Concatenation with y ・ x = y ・ ・ ・ Comparison of x and y ・ x: = y ・ ・ ・ Substitution of y to x ・ Sk-a (x) ・ ・ ・ Sign of Sk-a for x ・ Pk -a (x, y) ... signature verification of x, y by Pk-a -Pk-a (x, y) = true (when y = Sk-a (x)) -Pk-a (x, y) = false (other than the above) Sk-b (x) ... Signature of Sk-b for x Pk-b (x, y) ... Signature verification of x, y by Pk-b- Pk-b (x, y) = true (when y = Sk-b (x))-Pk-b (x, y) = false (other than the above) First, Sk-a is used as the owner secret information 301. Cert-a as owner verification information 202 and Sk-b as requester secret information 401
And Cert-b as the requester verification information 402 and 102, and an identifier (= ID-b) of Cert-b as the requester identification information 104, respectively.・ Sa: = Sk-a ・ Va: = Cert-a ・ Sb: = Sk-b ・ Vb: = Cert-b ・ IDb: = ID-b Information obtained by linking the user identification information 104 and the acquisition approval information 105 can be used. Req: = IDt || IDb || Auth At this time, as a method for generating the “acquisition approval information” 105 in step 1-03, a digital signature based on “owner secret information” 301 is adopted, and “acquisition approval information” 105 Can be constructed as the result of the following operation:・ Auth: = Sk-a (IDt || IDb)

As a method of generating “requester authentication information” 101 in step 1-06, “requester authentication information” 101
As a generation method of the request, a digital signature based on “requester secret information” 401 is adopted, and “requester authentication information” 101 can be configured as a result of the following operation. Ch: = Sk-b (Req) In such a case, the verification of the “acquisition request information” 100 in step 1-09 is performed by checking the “acquisition target identification information” 103 and the “request Person identification information '' 104
Using the public key Pk-a included in the “acquisition approval information” 105 and the “owner verification information” 202, the following operation can be performed. Pk-a ((IDt || IDb), Auth) = true By this operation, the "acquisition approval information" 105 was generated by the user A who is the owner of the "information resource" 201 to be acquired. That is, it can be verified that the user A has certainly been approved.

The authentication of the transmission source entity in step 1-10 includes “requester authentication information” 101, “acquisition request information” 100, and “requester identification information” 104 included in the “acquisition request information” 100. By using the public key Pk-b included in the “requester verification information” 102, the following operation can be performed.・ Pk-b (Req, Ch) = true and ・ ID-b = IDb By the first operation, the “acquisition request information” 100 was certainly generated by the user B, that is, Can be verified that the acquisition is required. Also,
By the second calculation, it can be verified that the “acquisition approval information” 105 is given to the user B. By verifying both of them, it is possible to verify that the acquisition of the user A has been approved from the user A to the user B.

Although only the configuration based on the digital signature scheme has been described here, the configuration method, generation method, and verification method of each piece of information used in the present invention are not limited to these. In addition, a method based on a common key cryptosystem, a method based on a passphrase and a hash function, and a method using both of them are possible. In the present embodiment, the “entity information management device” 2 and the “owner terminal device” 3 are configured as different devices, but they may be realized on the same device. In addition, both ICs
It may be realized on a tamper-resistant and portable device such as a card. In this case, the IC card can be appropriately connected to the “requester terminal device” 4 via a communication network or directly, and an acquisition request for the “information resource” 201 from the “requester terminal device” 4 can be accepted. . Further, “entity information management device” 2
In addition to the “owner terminal device” 3 and the “requester terminal device” 4, it may be realized on the same device.

It is also possible to set an expiration date for the approval by the user A, and to limit the acquisition of information resources by the user B in terms of time. Specifically, “acquisition request validity period information” indicating the period during which the acquisition is approved is added to “acquisition request information” 100, and the “acquisition request information verification unit” 24 of the “entity information management device” 2 further adds At the time of verification, the “acquisition approval information” 105 included in the “acquisition request information” 100 is replaced with the “acquisition target identification information” 103, the “requester identification information” 104, and the “acquisition request information” included in the “acquisition request information” 100. The validity period information is verified to be generated by an operation in which “owner secret information” 301 corresponding to “owner verification information” 202 is applied, and further, “acquisition request information” 100 It is sufficient to verify that the date and time of receiving the “acquisition request information” 100 are within the period indicated by the “acquisition request valid period information” included in the “acquisition request information” 100.

Also, for the user B, an "information resource" 201
In order to prevent leakage to a third party over the communication when replying, reply to User B by encrypting the "information resource" 201 so that only User B can decrypt it. You may. Specifically, upon receiving the “acquisition request information” 100 from the “requester terminal device” 5, a public key corresponding to a secret key in the public key cryptosystem of the user B is acquired, and the public key is A method of encrypting and transmitting the "information resource" 201, or when receiving the "acquisition request information" 100 from the "requester terminal device" 5, the "entity information management device" 2 and the "requester terminal device" SSL between 5
(Secure Socket Layer) to form an encrypted communication path,
A method of transmitting the “information resource” 201 using the communication channel is exemplified.

Further, for the user B, “information resources” 201
Is returned, the user B sends the "information resource" 201
A user who has given a digital signature to the “information resource” 201 using a signature key based on a public key cryptosystem that the “entity information management device” 2 has in secret so that it can be confirmed that it has not been tampered with. You may reply to B. At this time, by attaching a public key certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority to the verification key corresponding to the signature key of the “entity information management device” 2, the digital signature by the “requester terminal device 5” is obtained. Can be easily verified.

The attribute certificate owned by the user A can be managed as the “information resource” 201. The attribute certificate is information for certifying the qualification and authority of the entity. The attribute certificate is issued for the public key certificate of the entity. The attribute certificate includes the identification information of the public key certificate and the attribute information of the entity. included. Therefore, the attribute certificate is referred to as “information resource” 201 and the “owner verification information” 202
Is used as the public key certificate associated with the attribute certificate, the entity information management 201 and the owner verification information 202 can be efficiently managed without separately managing the association between the entity information management and the owner verification information 202. The device 2 can be configured.

Second Embodiment (Acquisition of Public Key Certificate) (System Configuration of Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 shows the system configuration of the second embodiment to which the method of the present invention is applied and the function of each device. FIG. 6 shows the structure of the information used in the system of the second embodiment to which the method of the present invention is similarly applied.
In the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the "information resource" owned by a certain user A is held in the "entity information management device" 5, and the user A On the other hand, the case where the acquisition of the “information resource” is approved, and then the user B acquires the “information resource” from the “entity information management device” 5, provided that the “information resource” The difference is that the public key certificate is owned by the party A. The system of the second embodiment includes an “owner terminal device” 6 owned and used by the user A, a “requester terminal device” 7 owned and used by the user B, and a “owner terminal device” owned by the user A. The “public key certificate” 501 is held and managed in advance, and when the “acquisition request information” 110 is received from the user B, its validity is verified using the “public key certificate” 501 and “Entity information management device” 5 that is a server device that returns “public key certificate” 501 to user B when it is determined that there is
It is composed of

(Detailed Description of System Components of Second Embodiment) Each component of the system of the second embodiment will be described below. (Entity Information Management Device 5) The “entity information management device” 5 is a “public key certificate” 501 owned by the user A.
Is stored and managed in advance, and when the “acquisition request information” 110 is received from the user B, the user who is the owner of the “public key certificate” 501 to which the “acquisition request information” 110 is to be acquired A
Is a server device that confirms whether the certificate is legitimate, and returns a “public key certificate” 501 to the user B when the certificate is determined to be legitimate. It is constituted based on.

The "entity information management device" 5 includes an "information resource holding means" 50 and an "acquisition request information receiving means" 52.
"Information resource reply means" 53, "acquisition request information verification means" 54, "requester authentication means" 55, "control means" 51
And "Information resource holding means" 50
Is storage means for holding a "public key certificate" 501, which is an information resource to be managed. The "information resource holding means" 50 can manage a plurality of public key certificates owned by a plurality of entities. "Acquisition request information receiving means" 52
Is a means for receiving the “acquisition request information” 110 transmitted from the user B. The “acquisition request information” 110 is a “public key certificate” 501 managed by the “entity information management device” 5
"Acquisition target identification information" 113 indicating the "public key certificate" 501 to be obtained, and "requester identification information" indicating the entity requesting the acquisition, that is, user B. "114 and User A
"Acquisition approval information" indicating approval for the acquisition request by
Consists of 115. As “acquisition target identification information” 113,
A combination of the identifier of the certificate authority that has issued the “public key certificate” 501 and the serial number of the “public key certificate” 501 can be used. The "acquisition request information receiving means" 52 also receives "requester authentication information" 111 and "requester verification information" 112 transmitted from the user B together with the "acquisition request information" 110. The “requester verification information” 112 is information corresponding to the “requester secret information” 701, and the “requester terminal device”
7 is the same information as the "requester verification information" 702 held in the "requester verification information holding means" 73, and the "requester authentication information" 111 This is information for verifying that it was created. The “requester authentication information” 111, the “requester verification information” 112, and the “requester secret information” 701 are “requester authentication information” 101, “requester verification information” 102 in the first embodiment, and It can be configured in the same manner as the “requester secret information” 401.

The "acquisition request information verification means" 54 is a means for verifying the validity of the "acquisition request information" 110 received by the "acquisition request information receiving means" 52. The “acquisition request information verification unit” 54 acquires the “acquisition request information” 110, and converts the “public key certificate” 501 pointed to by the “acquisition target identification information” 113 included in the “acquisition request information” 110 to “ "Acquisition approval information" 115 included in "acquisition request information" 110 obtained from "information resource holding means" 50 and "public key certificate" 501, "1
13 and “requester identification information” 114 are verified to be digital signatures based on “owner secret information” 601 which is a signature key corresponding to the verification key included in “public key certificate” 501.

The "requester authentication means" 55 includes "acquisition request information" 110, "requester authentication information" 111, and "requester verification information".
Means for authenticating whether the transmission source of the “acquisition request information” 110 is the same as the entity indicated by the “requester identification information” 114 included in the “acquisition request information” 110 using It verifies whether the “requester verification information” 112 corresponds to the “requester identification information” 114 included in the “acquisition request information” 110, and further, the “requester authentication information” 111 In response to “Requester verification information” 112
It is verified whether the data is generated by the operation of the “requester secret information” 701 corresponding to the request. If both are successful, the authentication is successful. As a specific method of the authentication, for example, the same method as the authentication method by the “requester authentication unit” 25 in the first embodiment can be adopted.

The "information resource reply means" 53 verifies the validity of the "acquisition request information" 110 by the "acquisition request information verification means" 54 and the "acquisition request information" by the "requester authentication means" 55.
Upon successful authentication of 110 source entities,
This is a unit for returning the “public key certificate” 501 read from the “information resource holding unit” 50 to the “requester terminal device” 7 used by the transmission source user B. The "control means" 51 is a control means mainly composed of a microcomputer for controlling the whole.

(Owner terminal device 6) "Owner terminal device"
Reference numeral 6 denotes a terminal device owned and used by the user A. The “owner secret information holding unit” 60 and the “authorization information generating unit” 61
, "Approval target information acquisition means" 62, "Approval information transmission means" 63, and "Control means" 64. The "owner secret information holding means" 60 is the "public key certification" of the user A, which is information that the user A holds in secret and is held in the "information resource holding means" 50 of the "entity information management device" 5. "Owner secret information" 601 which is a signature key corresponding to
Is securely stored without leaking.
"Owner secret information holding means" 60 is "Owner terminal device" 6
Even if it is not provided with, for example, it is constituted by a device having tamper resistance such as an IC card, and the "owner terminal device"
6 and may be used.

"Approval target information acquisition means" 62
Corresponding to the acquisition request approved by, "acquisition target identification information" 113 indicating the "public key certificate" 501 to be acquired,
This is a means for acquiring the entity to be approved, that is, “requester identification information” 114 indicating the user B.
This can be realized in the same manner as the method of realizing the "authorization target information obtaining means" 32 in the first embodiment.
The “authorization information generation means” 61 is a means for generating “acquisition approval information” 115 indicating that the user A approves the acquisition request. The digital signature of the “owner secret information” 601 obtained from the “owner secret information holding means” 60 for “requester identification information” 114 and “acquisition approval information” 115
Generate as The "authorization information generating means" 61 is also provided with a tamper-resistant device such as an IC card, for example, without being provided in the "owner terminal device" 6, and is connected to the "owner terminal device" 6 as appropriate. , May be used. "Approval information transmission means" 63 is "Approval information generation means".
Means for transmitting the “acquisition approval information” 115 generated by 61 to the “requester terminal device” 7 used by the user B,
The "control means" 64 is a control means mainly composed of a microcomputer for controlling the whole.

(Requester terminal device 7) "Requester terminal device"
Reference numeral 7 denotes a terminal device owned and used by the user B, and includes an "authorization information receiving means" 70 and a "requester authentication information generating means" 71.
, "Requester secret information holding means" 72, "requester verification information holding means" 73, "acquisition request information transmitting means" 74,
"Information resource receiving means" 75 and "acquisition target information acquiring means"
76 and “control means” 77.

The "approval information receiving means" 70 is a means for receiving the "acquisition approval information" 115 transmitted from the "owner terminal device" 6. "Acquisition target information acquisition means" 76
This is means for acquiring “acquisition target identification information” 113 indicating the “public key certificate” 501 that requests acquisition, and “requester identification information” 114 indicating the acquisition requesting entity, ie, user B. This can be realized in the same manner as the method of realizing the “acquisition target information obtaining means” 46 in the first embodiment.

The "requester confidential information holding means" 72 is a storage means for securely storing the "requester confidential information" 701 possessed by the user B secretly without leakage. The "requester secret information holding means" 72 is not provided in the "requester terminal device" 7, but is constituted by a device having tamper resistance such as an IC card, and is connected to the "owner terminal device" 7 as appropriate. , May be used. The “requester verification information holding unit” 73 is a “requester secret information” 701 owned by the user B.
Can be configured in the same manner as the “requester verification information” 402 and the “requester secret information” 401 in the first embodiment, respectively.

The "requester authentication information generating means" 71 sends the "public key certificate" 5 to the "entity information management device" 5.
When requesting acquisition of 01, “acquisition target identification information” 113 pointing to “public key certificate” 501, “requester identification information” 114 pointing to user B, and “approval information receiving means” 70 The “requester secret information” 701 is made to act on the “acquisition request information” 110 composed of the “acquisition approval information” 115 corresponding to the set of "Requester Authentication Information" 111
Is a means for generating The “requester authentication information” 111 can be configured in the same manner as the “requester authentication information” 101 in the first embodiment. The "requester authentication information generating means" 71 is also provided with a tamper-resistant device such as an IC card even if it is not provided in the "requester terminal device" 7. It may be connected and used.

The “acquisition request information transmitting means” 74 converts the “acquisition request information” 110 from the “requester authentication information” 111 generated by the “requester authentication information generating means” 71 and the “requester verification information holding means” 73. This is a means for transmitting to the “entity information management device” 5 together with the read “requester verification information” 702 (that is, the “requester verification information” 112). The “information resource receiving unit” 75 is a unit that receives the “public key certificate” 501 returned when acquisition is permitted as a result of the validity confirmation by the “entity information management device” 5. Also,
"Control means" 77 is control means mainly composed of a microcomputer for controlling the whole.

(Description of Operation in Second Embodiment) The operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. (Step 2-01) In the "entity information management device" 5, the "public key certificate" 501 owned by the user A is stored in the "information resource holding means" 50. (Step 2-02) When the user A approves the request for obtaining the “public key certificate” 501 by the user B, the user A uses the “owner terminal device” 6 to obtain the request. By specifying the “public key certificate” 501 to be approved and the entity to be obtained, that is, the user B, approval is obtained. First,
The “owner terminal device” 6 is composed of “authorization target information acquisition means” 62
The “acquisition target identification information” 113 indicating the “public key certificate” 501 that approves the acquisition, and the “requester identification information” 11 indicating the entity to be acquired, that is, the user B.
To get 4. (Step 2-03) The "owner terminal device" 6 converts the "acquisition target identification information" 113 and the "requester identification information" 114 into the "authorization target information acquisition means" 6 by the "authorization information generation means" 61.
2 and a “owner secret information” 601 that is a signature key corresponding to the “public key certificate” 501 owned by the user A from the “owner secret information holding unit” 60, and A digital signature based on “owner secret information” 601 corresponding to “target identification information” 113 and “requester identification information” 114 is generated, and this is referred to as “acquisition approval information” 115. (Step 2-04) The “owner terminal device” 6 sends the “acquisition approval information” 115 generated by the “authorization information generation unit” 61 to the “requester” Terminal device 7 ". At this time, if necessary, the “acquisition target identification information” 113 and the “requester identification information” 114 acquired by the “authorization target information acquisition means” 62 may be transmitted together.

(Step 2-05) When the user B obtains the “public key certificate” 501, the user B sets the “requester terminal device” 7
Is used to request the acquisition. First, the “requester terminal device” 7 obtains “acquisition target identification information” 113 indicating the “public key certificate” 501 requesting the acquisition, and “requester identification information” indicating the acquisition request source entity, ie, the user B. 114 and “acquisition target information acquisition unit” 76, and received by the “approval information reception unit” 70, corresponding to the set of the “acquisition target identification information” 113 and the “requester identification information” 114. Acquisition approval information "115 is acquired. (Step 2-06) Next, the "requester terminal device" 7 uses the "requester authentication information generating means" 71 to obtain the "acquisition target identification information" 113 and the "requester identification information" 114 obtained in the previous step. The “acquisition request information” 110 composed of the “acquisition approval information” 115 and the “requester secret information” 701 obtained from the “requester secret information holding means” 72 are operated, and the “requester authentication” is performed. Information "111 is generated. (Step 2-07) Finally, the “requester terminal device” 7 stores the “requester verification information holding means” in the “acquisition request information” 110 and the “requester authentication information” 111 acquired and generated up to the previous step. Together with the “requester verification information” 702 (that is, the “requester verification information” 112) read from 73, the “acquisition request information transmitting means” 74 performs the “entity information management device”.
Send to 5.

(Step 2-08) When the “acquisition request information receiving means” 52 receives the “acquisition request information” 110, the “entity information management device” 5 sends the “acquisition request information verification means” 54 Verify the validity of "110." First, the “entity information management device” 5 generates the “public key certificate” 501 indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” 113 included in the “acquisition request information” 110 acquired from the “acquisition request information receiving unit” 52. Obtained from "information resource holding means" 50. (Step 2-09) Next, "Acquisition request information verification means" 54
Thereby, the “acquisition approval information” 115 included in the received “acquisition request information” 110 is compared with the “acquisition target identification information” 113 and the “requester identification information” 114 included in the “acquisition request information” 110, It verifies that the signature key corresponding to the “public key certificate” 501 obtained in the previous step is a digital signature based on “owner secret information” 601. (Step 2-10) If the verification of the “acquisition request information” 110 in the previous step is successful, the “entity information management device” 5 determines that the source entity of the received “acquisition request information” 110 is the “acquisition request information”. It authenticates whether it is the same as the entity indicated by the “requester identification information” 114 included in 110. First, the “requester authentication means” 55 uses “acquisition request information” 110 and “requester authentication information” 111 and “requester verification information” 112 received together with Verifier information 112 is verified to correspond to the "requester identification information" 114 included in the "acquisition request information" 110,
Verify whether the "requester authentication information" 111 is generated by the operation of the "requester secret information" 701 corresponding to the "requester verification information" 112, and if both are successful, The source entity of the “acquisition request information” 110 is
“Requester identification information” 114 included in “Acquisition request information” 110
Is determined to be the same as the entity pointed by.

(Step 2-11) The “entity information management device” 5 verifies the validity of the “acquisition request information” 110 by the “acquisition request information verification means” 54 and the “requester authentication means” 55 When the authentication of the requesting entity of the "acquisition request information" 110 is successful, the "information resource reply means"
Through 53, a “public key certificate” 501 is returned to the “requester terminal device” 7. The “requester terminal device” 7 acquires the “public key certificate” 501 by the “information resource receiving means” 75.

As described above, according to the present invention, when managing a public key certificate as an “information resource”, the public key certificate Since this can be used, this can be performed more efficiently than when other information resources are managed. In addition, other information related to the “public key certificate” 501, which is the information resource to be managed, can be managed simultaneously with the “public key certificate” 501 to perform access control. For example, a public key certificate may be revoked when it is revealed that the corresponding signature key has been leaked.
Such information on the revocation status of the public key certificate is very important information from the side of using the public key certificate. Information on the revocation status of the “public key certificate” 501 can be managed simultaneously with the “public key certificate” 501 to perform access control.

Specifically, first, in the “entity information management device” 5, “public key certificate status acquisition means” for acquiring the revocation status of the “public key certificate” 501 in addition to the components described above. Have prepared. As a method of realizing the “public key certificate status acquisition means”, for example, a revocation list (C
RL) on a regular basis, and the “public key certificate” 501
One that confirms whether or not it is posted on the RL can be considered. After that, if there is a request to obtain the “public key certificate” 501 and its validity is confirmed, the “public key certificate” 501 is sent from the “information resource reply means” 53 to the “requester terminal device” 7. When replying, the revocation status of the "public key certificate" 501 may be obtained from the "public key certificate status acquisition means", and the revocation status may be controlled to be returned together with the "public key certificate" 501. . It is also possible to configure an “entity information management device” that returns only the revoked state without returning the “public key certificate” 501.

The entity information management device according to the present invention
It can be composed of a computer having a U, a memory, and the like, a user terminal used by a user serving as an access subject, and a recording medium. The recording medium is a machine-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk device, and a semiconductor memory.The control program recorded here is read by a computer, controls the operation of the computer, and is stored on the computer. Components in the embodiment described above,
That is, an owner verification information acquisition unit, an acquisition request information reception unit, an information resource return unit, an acquisition request verification unit, a requester authentication unit, an information resource holding unit, and the like are configured to realize each processing.

[0073]

According to the entity information management device of the first aspect, by permitting the acquisition request to which the valid approval information generated by the entity owning the information resource is added, information from an unspecified number of entities is obtained. Access control for a resource acquisition request can be performed. further,
At this time, the entity information management device only manages the verification information corresponding to the secret information of the entity that owns the information resource, and also registers the new acquisition requesting entity in its own device. There is no need to maintain and manage huge access authority information as in the case of access control based on the system. For this reason, in an open distributed system in which an unspecified number of entities participate, such as the Internet, entity information management that manages an information resource such that an acquisition request from an unspecified number of entities occurs for an information resource. The device can be realized easily and efficiently. According to the entity information management device of the second aspect, the validity period is further provided in the approval state of the acquisition request, and by verifying the validity period, the acquisition request that has been approved once but has expired is rejected. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the change of the approval state such as cancellation of the approval for the acquisition request.

According to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, a signature key in a public key cryptosystem is used as secret information of an entity that owns an information resource, and an electronic signature using the signature key is used for approval information of an acquisition request. Using
For verification of the approval information, a verification key corresponding to the signature key or a public key certificate including the verification key is used. for that reason,
It is possible to verify the approval information without disclosing the above secret information at all, and to minimize the risk of forgery of the approval information due to leakage of the secret information, and further, the failure of the access control mechanism due to these illegal acts. Can be.

According to the fifth and sixth embodiments, the validity of the attribute certificate acquisition request is further verified by using the public key certificate corresponding to the attribute certificate.
In the first place, an attribute certificate is often used at the same time as the corresponding public key certificate, and is often managed at the same time. Attribute certificate management and access control can be performed without the need to prepare such information. According to the seventh and eighth embodiments, the validity of the public key certificate acquisition request is further verified using the public key certificate. Therefore, an entity information management device that manages a public key certificate as a protected object can manage the public key certificate and control access without having to prepare additional information in addition to the public key certificate to be managed. It can be carried out.

According to the ninth aspect, the validity of the acquisition request for the information on the state of the public key certificate is determined by using the same information as the verification of the validity of the acquisition request for the public key certificate. And realized by the same mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to more economically configure a device that manages information on the state of the public key certificate as a protection target. According to the entity information management device of claim 10, when the information resource to be obtained is further returned,
The information is encrypted so that it cannot be decrypted by a third party other than the acquisition request source. This can prevent information resources from leaking to a third party other than the legitimate acquisition requester.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, when the information resource to be obtained is returned, an electronic signature by the entity information managing apparatus is added to the information. Therefore, it is possible to detect forgery or falsification of the returned information resource. This is particularly effective when the information resource to be acquired is originally not provided with an electronic signature or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the operation principle of an entity information management device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of information used in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation flow in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of information used in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation flow according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,2,5 entity information management device 10,20,50 information resource holding means 11,21 owner verification information acquisition means 12,22,52 acquisition request information reception means 13,23,53 information resource return means 14,24, 54 Acquisition request information verification means 15,25,55 Requester authentication means 26 Owner verification information holding means 27,57 Control means 3,6 Owner terminal device 30,60 Owner secret information holding means 31,61 Authorization information generation means 32,62 Approval target information acquisition means 33,63 Approval information transmission means 34,64 Control means 4,7 Requester terminal device 40,70 Approval information reception means 41,71 Requester authentication information generation means 42,72 Requester secret information Holding means 43,73 Requester verification information holding means 44,74 Acquisition request information transmitting means 45,75 Information resource receiving means 46,76 Acquisition target information acquiring means 47,77 Control means 100,110 Acquisition request information 101,111 Requester authentication information 102,112,402,702 Request Verification information 103,113 Acquisition target identification information 104,114 Requester identification information 105,115 Acquisition approval information 201 information resource 202 owner verification information 301,601 owner secret information 401,701 requester secret information 501 public key certificate

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An entity information management apparatus which manages an information resource owned by an entity and, when an acquisition request for the information resource is issued, permits only an acquisition request given approval by the entity owning the information resource. "Information resource holding means" that holds the "information resource" owned by the entity, and "Owner verification" corresponding to the "owner secret information" secretly held by the entity that is the owner of the "information resource""Owner verification information acquisition means" for acquiring "information", "acquisition target identification information" transmitted from the entity that requests acquisition of "information resources" and indicating the "information resource" to be acquired, and an acquisition request "Requester identification information" indicating the entity to perform, and "acquisition target identification information" and "requester identification information" corresponding to "owner verification information""Acquisition request information receiving means" for receiving "acquisition request information" including "acquisition approval information" indicating approval for an acquisition request generated by an operation performed by applying "owner secret information";"Acquisition request information" received by "Means"
The entity that owns the “information resource” indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” included in the “acquisition request information” is specified, and the “owner verification information” of the entity is obtained as “owner verification information acquisition”. “Acquisition Approval Information” included in “Acquisition Request Information” and “Acquisition Approval Information” included in “Acquisition Request Information” using “Owner Verification Information”. "Acquisition request information verification means" for verifying that the information is generated by an operation obtained by applying "owner secret information" corresponding to "owner verification information", and "acquisition request information""Requester authentication means" for authenticating whether the transmission source entity is the entity indicated by "Requester identification information" corresponding to "Acquisition request information", verification by "Acquisition request information verification means", and " If the Motomesha authentication by the authentication means "and was successful," acquisition request information "
And an "information resource returning means" for returning an "information resource" corresponding to the "acquisition request information" to the transmission source entity. 2. The entity information management device according to claim 1, wherein the “acquisition request information” further includes “acquisition request validity period information” indicating a validity period of the “acquisition approval information”. The information verification unit acquires the “acquisition request information” received by the “acquisition request information receiving unit” and owns the “information resource” indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” included in the “acquisition request information” Identify the entity,
The “owner verification information” of the entity is acquired by “owner verification information acquisition means”, and “acquisition approval information” included in “acquisition request information” is changed to “acquisition request information” using “owner verification information”. Generated by an operation in which “owner secret information” corresponding to “owner verification information” is applied to “acquisition target identification information”, “requester identification information”, and “acquisition request validity period information” included in Entity that verifies that the request has been received and that the date and time when the "acquisition request information" was received is within the period indicated by "acquisition request valid period information" included in the "acquisition request information" Information management device. 3. The entity information management device according to claim 1, wherein the “owner verification information” is information including a “verification key” in a public key cryptosystem, and the “owner secret information”
Is the "signing key" corresponding to the "owner verification information",
The “owner secret information” is a “signing key” corresponding to the “owner verification information”, and the “acquisition approval information” is information including “acquisition target identification information” and “requester identification information”. An entity information management apparatus characterized in that the information includes an electronic signature based on "owner confidential information" with respect to the information. 4. The entity information management device according to claim 2, wherein the “owner verification information” is information including a “verification key” in a public key cryptosystem, and the “secret information” is:
The “acquisition approval information” is “signature key” corresponding to “owner verification information”, and the “acquisition approval information” corresponds to information including “acquisition target identification information”, “requester identification information”, and “acquisition request validity period information”. An entity information management device characterized in that the information includes an electronic signature based on “owner secret information”. 5. The entity information management device according to claim 1, wherein the “information resource” held by the “information resource holding unit”.
Is an "attribute certificate", and the "owner verification information" is a "public key certificate" corresponding to the "attribute certificate" held by the "information resource holding means". The “information” is a “signing key” corresponding to the “public key” included in the “public key certificate”, and the “acquisition approval information” includes “acquisition target identification information” and “requester identification information” An entity information management device, characterized in that the information includes an electronic signature of the information by "owner secret information". 6. The entity information management device according to claim 2, wherein the “information resource” held by the “information resource holding unit”.
Is an "attribute certificate" and the "owner verification information"
Is the "attribute certificate" held by the "information resource holding means"
The “owner secret information” is a “signing key” corresponding to the “public key” included in the “public key certificate”, and the “acquisition approval information” Is entity information management, characterized in that the information includes an electronic signature of “owner secret information” for information including “acquisition target identification information”, “requester identification information”, and “acquisition request validity period information”. apparatus. 7. An acquisition request that manages a public key certificate, which is an information resource owned by an entity, and is given an approval by the entity that owns the public key certificate when there is an acquisition request for the public key certificate. In the entity information management device that permits only the “information resource holding means” that holds the “public key certificate”, which is the information resource owned by the entity, and the entity that requests the acquisition of the “public key certificate” In addition, "acquisition target identification information" indicating the "public key certificate" of the acquisition target, "requester identification information" indicating the entity requesting the acquisition, "acquisition target identification information" and "requester identification information""Acquisition approval information" indicating approval for an acquisition request including an electronic signature with a "signing key" corresponding to the "public key" included in the "public key certificate" for information containing It consists a "" and receives the acquisition request information "," acquisition request information receiving unit ", has been received in the" acquisition request information receiving means, "" acquisition request information "
And retrieves the “public key certificate” indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” included in the “acquisition request information” from the “information resource holding unit”, and reads the “public key certificate” included in the “public key certificate”. "Acquisition approval information" included in "Acquisition request information" corresponds to "Public key" for information including "Acquisition target identification information" and "Requester identification information" included in "Acquisition request information""Acquisition request information verification means" for verifying that the information includes an electronic signature using a "signing key";"The requester authentication means" to authenticate whether the entity is indicated by "", and if the verification by the "acquisition request information verification means" and the authentication by the "requester authentication means" succeed, the "acquisition request information"
And an "information resource returning means" for returning a "public key certificate" corresponding to "." To the entity which transmitted the "acquisition request information". 8. The entity information management device according to claim 7, wherein the “acquisition request information” further includes “acquisition request validity period information” indicating a validity period of the “acquisition approval information”; The information verification unit acquires the “acquisition request information” received by the “acquisition request information receiving unit”, and acquires the “public key certificate” indicated by the “acquisition target identification information” included in the “acquisition request information”. “Acquisition approval information” included in “Acquisition request information” read from “Information resource holding unit” and “Public key” included in “Public key certificate” The information including the electronic signature by the “signing key” corresponding to the “public key” for the information including the “identification information”, “requester identification information”, and “acquisition request validity period information”, and “acquisition request information” The date and time when Entity information management apparatus, characterized in that to verify that is included in the obtained request information "is within the period indicated by the" acquisition request valid period information ". 9. The entity information management device according to claim 7, further comprising a “public key certificate status acquisition unit” for acquiring a status of a “public key certificate”, wherein the “information resource reply” is provided. Means, when the authentication by the "acquisition request information verification means" and the "requester authentication means" succeeds, information on the state of the "public key certificate" corresponding to the "acquisition request information" An entity information management device, which is obtained by a "writing state obtaining means" and returns information relating to the state to an entity that has transmitted the "acquisition request information". 10. The entity information management device according to claim 1, wherein the “information resource reply unit” returns the “information resource” corresponding to the “acquisition request information”. An entity information management apparatus, which returns information obtained by encrypting an "information resource" so that only the transmission source entity of the "acquisition request information" can decrypt and decrypt the information resource. 11. The entity information management device according to claim 1, further comprising: a “signing key” unique to the entity information management device.
Has a “signing key holding unit” that secretly holds the “information resource”. When the “information resource returning unit” returns the “information resource” corresponding to the “acquisition request information”, "Signing key" held in "signing key holding means"
An entity information management device, which applies an electronic signature according to the above and returns a digital signature to the entity that transmitted the "acquisition request information".