JP2005157966A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor for inhibiting preserved data from being correctly generated/decoded even in the case that contents of the data are read. <P>SOLUTION: The information processor 20 with a function of recording prescribed data is provided with a data dividing/combining part 23 for dividing the data into a plurality of pieces of the data, and records the a plurality of pieces of the data in a plurality of storage media including at least a removable medium 30 and a main storage device 24. Also, the data dividing/combining part 23 combines the data read from the removable medium 30 and the main storage device 24, respectively. Also, the information processor 20 is provided with an authentication part 25 for authenticating an authentication key stored in the removable medium 30 and a ciphering/deciphering processing part 22 for ciphering the data to be recorded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a function capable of recording predetermined data.

  Conventionally, a removable medium with a security function storing an authentication code such as a password has been proposed. When this removable media is installed in the target system, the authentication code is read by the removable media drive in the system, and if the authentication code belongs to a valid user, data can be read from and written to the removable media. It is. As such a conventional removable medium with a security function, an apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. The device described in Patent Document 1 is such that a single removable medium with a security function can be shared by a plurality of users by providing the removable medium with a part of authentication information.

JP 2002-15511 A

  However, the system described in Patent Document 1 implements a security system using a removable medium as a security key and provides a function for preventing data tampering. However, the system receives data entering the internal storage device from outside the system. When data is read or the recording device itself is stolen, there is a problem that data in the recording device stored in the system cannot be protected.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus that cannot correctly generate / decrypt stored data even when the contents of the data are read.

  In order to solve the above problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention provides a data division that divides the data into a plurality of data in an information processing apparatus having a function of recording predetermined data as described in claim 1. Means, data recording means for recording the plurality of data in a plurality of storage media including at least a portable storage medium, and data combining means for combining data read from the plurality of storage media, respectively. To do. According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the data is divided into a plurality of data and the plurality of data is recorded on a plurality of storage media including at least a portable storage medium, the contents of the data are read. In this case, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that cannot correctly reproduce / decode stored data.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 2, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, the information processing apparatus further includes authentication means for authenticating an authentication key stored in the portable storage medium. It is characterized by providing. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the divided data can be stored only in a legitimate portable storage medium.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 3, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information processing apparatus further encrypts data to be recorded on the storage medium. It is characterized by providing. According to the invention described in claim 3, since the data is encrypted and stored, the security strength of the data can be further increased.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the data recording unit is a system activation information included in the data. Is recorded on the portable storage medium. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus in which the entire system cannot be started unless there is a portable storage medium.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 5, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the data recording unit stores the personal information included in the data. It is recorded on a portable storage medium. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since personal information is recorded on the portable storage medium, only authorized users can use the personal information. In addition, even when there is no portable storage medium, the system can be activated with general-purpose information without user confidential information. Moreover, the function which a system provides to a user can be restrict | limited.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, wherein in the information processing apparatus having a function of recording predetermined data, a data dividing unit that divides the data into a plurality of data; Data recording means for recording data in a plurality of storage media, and data combining means for combining data read from the plurality of storage media, respectively. According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the data is divided into a plurality of data and the plurality of data is recorded on a plurality of storage media including at least a portable storage medium, the contents of the data are read. In this case, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that cannot correctly reproduce / decode stored data.

  Further, according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the data dividing unit is configured to generate the data according to the content of the data. Is divided. According to the invention described in claim 7, since the data is divided according to the contents of the data such as confidential data and the capacity of the data, for example, the security strength, the capacity of the storage medium and the like can be adapted to the user environment. Can do.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 8, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the data dividing unit converts the data into data management area data. The data area is divided into data. According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that is difficult to decode data.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 9, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 8, the data recording unit records data of the data management information in the portable storage medium. To do. According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that cannot decode data in the data area without referring to the contents of the portable storage medium. In addition, the storage capacity of the portable storage medium can be small.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 10, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 8, the data recording means stores a part of the data management information in the portable storage medium. And According to the invention described in claim 10, the storage capacity in the portable storage medium can be further reduced.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 11, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 8, the data recording means stores part of the data in the data management information and part of the data in the data area. It is recorded on the portable storage medium. According to the invention described in claim 11, since the data in the data area is also divided, it is advantageous in terms of data integrity.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that cannot correctly decode the contents of data even when the contents of the data are read.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to examples.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the system 10 includes an information processing device 20 and a removable medium 30. The information processing apparatus 20 includes a data access unit 21, an encryption / decryption processing unit 22, a data division / integration unit 23, a main storage device 24, an authentication unit 25, a removable media drive device 26, and a host device 27.

The information processing apparatus 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, for example.
The information processing apparatus 20 includes, for example, a personal computer, a printer, and a multifunction machine having a FAX function.

  The removable medium 30 corresponds to a portable storage medium, and includes a removable storage device 31 and an authentication key storage unit 32. The removable medium 30 may be either a contact type or a non-contact type. Examples of the removable medium 30 include a compact flash (registered trademark) and a compact hard disk. When the authentication unit 25 determines that the authentication key of the removable medium 30 belongs to a valid user, the data access unit 21 permits data access to the main storage device 24 of the host device 27.

  The encryption / decryption processing unit 22 performs, for example, encryption processing on data input using an encryption key based on a common key cryptosystem such as DES (Data Encryption Standard) or a public key cryptosystem such as RSA, or reads data The code processing is performed on. The encryption / decryption processing unit 22 may be in the subsequent stage of the data dividing / combining unit 23. When data is encrypted and stored, a notice is given to the operating system on the host device 27 side so that a dialog box for selecting whether to encrypt the data to be stored is displayed on a predetermined display device. It may be. In this case, the user can arbitrarily select whether or not to encrypt the data to be stored according to this dialog box.

  The data dividing / combining unit 23 divides the input data encrypted by the encryption / decryption processing unit 22 into a plurality of data, and combines the data read from the main storage device 24 and the data read from the removable storage device 31 to Restore to data. The data dividing / combining unit 23 may be configured to divide input data according to the contents of data such as confidential data and data capacity. The data dividing / combining unit 23 may be configured to divide the input data into data management area data and data area data. The data units to be distributed in the data division / integration unit 23 are divided and extracted in units of sectors, clusters, or arbitrary data, for example. The unit for division extraction can be set and changed at the time of initialization. The data dividing / combining unit 23 corresponds to the data dividing means and the data combining means in the claims.

  The main storage device 24 includes, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), and data is written to and read from the hard disk by the HDD. The authentication unit 25 authenticates whether the user is a valid user based on the authentication key stored in the authentication key storage unit 32 of the removable medium 30. The authentication unit 25 generates an authentication key using a fixed or random number for each removable medium, and stores the generated authentication key in the authentication key storage unit 32 in the removable medium 30.

  The removable storage device 31 stores the data divided by the data dividing / combining unit 23. For example, the removable storage device 31 records system activation information and personal information included in the input data in the removable storage device 31. The authentication key storage unit 32 stores an authentication key necessary for user authentication. This authentication key may be configured to be deleted when the data of the removable medium 30 is copied to another medium. The HDD of the main storage device 24 and the removable media drive device 26 are data recording means for recording a plurality of data on a plurality of storage media including at least a portable storage medium, the authentication unit 25 is an authentication means, and an encryption / decryption processing unit Reference numeral 22 corresponds to encryption means.

  Next, the divided recording process performed by the data dividing / combining unit 23 and the recording unit will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which a part of data in the data management area is stored in the removable medium 30. FIG. 2A shows all data before division, and FIG. 2B shows the removable medium. It is a figure which shows the data to store. As shown in FIG. 2A, the data storage area has a data area (FAT area: File Allocation Table) and a FAT area corresponding to each data area.

  The data dividing / combining unit 23 divides the input data into a plurality of data, and the removable media drive device 26 removes a part of the data in the FAT area from the removable media 30 as shown in FIG. Record in the storage device 31. Further, the HDD of the main storage device 24 records the remaining part of the data in the FAT area and the data in the data area on the hard disk.

  As described above, by dividing and storing the data in the main storage device 24 and the removable medium 30, the FAT structure on the main storage device 24 side can be used if all the data in the divided FAT area is required for the function of the file system. An information processing apparatus that is difficult to decode can be provided. However, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the storage capacity of the removable storage device 31 of the removable medium 30 can be small, but the data in the data area itself is not separately stored, which is disadvantageous in terms of data integrity. This problem is solved as follows.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which all data in the data management area is stored in the removable medium. FIG. 3A shows all data before division, and FIG. 3B shows the data stored in the removable medium. It is a figure which shows data. As shown in FIG. 3A, the data storage area has a data area and a data management area (FAT area). The data dividing / combining unit 23 divides the input data into a plurality of data, and the removable media driving device 26 removes all of the data in the FAT area from the removable storage 30 as shown in FIG. Record in device 31. The HDD of the main storage device 24 records data area data on the hard disk.

  As described above, the data is divided and stored in the main storage device 24 and the removable medium 30, so that there is no data in the FAT area on the main storage device 24 side due to the function of the file system. It becomes impossible to decipher the structure. However, the divided storage as described above requires a small storage capacity on the removable medium 30 side, but the data itself in the data area of the main storage device 24 is not separately stored, which is disadvantageous in terms of data integrity. It becomes. This problem is solved as follows.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of storing a part of data in the data management area and a part of the data in the data area in the removable medium 30. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing all data before division. FIG. 5B is a diagram showing data stored in the removable medium 30. As shown in FIG. 4A, the data storage area has a data area and a FAT area that serves as a data management area. The data dividing / combining unit 23 divides the input data into a plurality of data, and the removable media driving device 26, as shown in FIG. Is recorded in the removable storage device 31 of the removable medium 30. The HDD of the main storage device 24 records the remaining portion of the data in the FAT area and the remaining portion of the data in the data area in the main storage device 24.

  As described above, by dividing and storing the data in the main storage device 24 and the removable medium 30, it becomes difficult to decode the FAT structure on the main storage device 24 side in terms of the function of the file system. Even if the FAT structure is decoded, the data itself in the data area of the main storage device 24 is divided, so that the data cannot be decoded. Therefore, although the storage capacity on the removable medium 30 side is required, the data area itself is divided and stored, which is advantageous in terms of data integrity.

  If the system determines that the data is considered to be confidential, the data dividing unit / integrating unit 23 stores all data in the data area on the removable medium 30 side and the main storage device 24 side on the removable side. Information on the FAT area of the data stored on the medium 30 side may be stored.

  Next, the flow of the divided data storage process will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the divided data storage process in the first embodiment. In step S11, the data access unit 21 determines whether or not the removable medium 30 is connected. If the removable medium 30 is not connected, the data access unit 21 terminates the process. If the removable medium 30 is connected, the data access unit 21 determines that the removable medium 30 is connected. In step S13, the authentication unit 25 determines whether the authentication key in the authentication key storage unit 32 of the removable medium 30 is that of a legitimate user. The data access unit 21 permits the input of data from the host device 27, the encryption / decryption processing unit 22 performs encryption processing on the input data, and in step S14, the data division / storage unit 23 In step S15, the HDD of the main storage device 24 is divided into internal disks. To record a portion of the data, the removable media drive 26 records the remaining data divided into the removable storage device 31, the process ends.

  Next, data combination processing will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the data combining process in the first embodiment. In step S21, the data access unit 21 determines whether or not the removable valve medium 30 is connected. If the removable medium 30 is not connected, the process is terminated. If the removable medium 30 is connected, the process proceeds to step S22. move on. In step S22, the authentication unit 25 determines whether or not the authentication code in the authentication key storage unit 32 of the removable medium 30 belongs to a valid user. If the authentication code is not that of a valid user, the process ends. If the authentication code belongs to a valid user, the process proceeds to step S23.

  In step S23, the HDD of the main storage device 24 reads the requested data from the hard disk, the removable media drive device 26 reads the requested data from the removable storage device 31, and the data dividing / combining unit 23 24 and the data in the removable medium 30 are combined. The encryption / decryption processing unit 22 decrypts the data combined by the data dividing / combining unit 23 and outputs the decrypted data to the data access unit 21. The data access unit 21 outputs the data combined with the host device 27.

  According to the first embodiment, the data is divided into a plurality of data, and the plurality of data is recorded on a plurality of storage media including at least a portable storage medium. However, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that cannot correctly reproduce and decode stored data.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, system activation information is divided and stored in a plurality of storage media. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the divided data storage process according to the second embodiment.

  In step S31, the data access unit 21 determines whether or not the removable medium 30 is connected. If the removable medium 30 is not connected, the data access unit 21 terminates the processing. If the removable medium 30 is connected, the data access unit 21 determines that the removable medium 30 is connected. In step S33, the authentication unit 25 determines whether the authentication key in the authentication key storage unit 32 of the removable medium 30 is that of a valid user. The data access unit 21 permits input of system activation information from the host device 27, and the encryption / decryption processing unit 22 performs encryption processing on the system activation information. In step S34, the data division / storage unit 23 divides the system startup information in a predetermined format. In step S35, the HDD of the main storage device 24 records a part of the system startup information divided into hard disks. The removable media drive device 26 records the activation information of the remaining system divided into the removable storage device 31, and ends the processing.

  Next, system activation processing will be described. FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart of the system activation process in the second embodiment. In step S41, the data access unit 21 determines whether or not the removable medium 30 is connected. If the removable medium 30 is not connected, the data access unit 21 proceeds to step S45, and the host device 27 ends the process as a boot error. . If the removable medium 30 is connected in step S41, the process proceeds to step S42.

  In step S42, the authentication unit 25 determines whether the authentication code in the authentication key storage unit 32 of the removable medium 30 is that of a valid user. If the authentication code is not that of a valid user, the process proceeds to step S45. Proceeding, the host device 27 ends the process as a boot error. If it is determined in step S42 that the authentication code belongs to a valid user, the process proceeds to step S43.

  In step S43, the host device 27 determines whether the file system is mounted. That is, the HDD of the main storage device 24 reads a part of the requested system activation information from the hard disk, and the removable media drive device 26 reads the requested part of the system activation information from the removable medium 30. The data dividing / combining unit 23 combines system activation information from the main storage device 24 and the removable media drive device 26. The encryption / decryption processing unit 22 decrypts the activation information of the system combined by the data division / combination unit 23 and outputs the decrypted information to the data access unit 21, and the data access unit 21 outputs the activation information of the host device 27 system.

  The host device 27 mounts the file system based on the system activation information. Here, if the file system cannot be mounted because all the system activation information is not prepared, the host device 27 proceeds to step 45 and ends the process as a boot error. In step 43, when the file system is mounted, the host device 27 ends the process as boot completion in step 44.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that cannot start up the entire system unless there is a portable storage medium.

  Next, a third embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a system 110 according to the third embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the system 110 includes an information processing apparatus 20 and a removable medium 130. The host device 27 is configured to be able to start up the system with a limited function even when the removable medium 130 is not attached to the information processing device 20. The removable media 130 has a removable media storage device 131. The removable storage device 131 has a data storage area 131a and an authentication key area 131b. The data storage area 131a stores data area data and data management area data. An authentication key is stored in the authentication key area 131b.

  Next, system startup processing in the third embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 is an operation flowchart of the system startup process in the third embodiment. It is assumed that system startup information is divided and recorded in the main storage device 24 and the removable medium 130 as in the second embodiment.

  In step S51, the data access unit 21 determines whether or not the removable medium 130 is connected. If not, the data access unit 21 proceeds to step S56. If it is connected, the process proceeds to step S52. It is determined whether or not the authentication key in the authentication key area 131b of the removable medium 130 is that of a legitimate user. If it is not that of a legitimate user, the process proceeds to step S56, and if it is that of a legitimate user, step S53. Proceed to In step S53, when the data dividing / combining unit 23 combines the activation information of all systems, the data access unit 21 passes the activation information of the coupled system to the host device 27, and the host device 27 stores the file system. Mounting is completed in step S54, and the system is started in step S55. If it is determined in step S53 that the file system cannot be mounted because the host device 27 does not have all system activation information, the process proceeds to step S56.

  In step S56, the host device 27 refers to a predetermined memory when the removable medium 130 is not connected, the authentication code is not from a valid user, or the file system is not correctly mounted, and the boot permission setting is made. If the boot permission setting is not made, the process ends as a boot error in step S59. If the boot permission setting is made in step 56, the boot is completed in step S57. In step S58, the system is activated without mounting a security area such as user information.

  For example, when the information processing apparatus 20 is a multifunction device having a copy function, a print function, and a FAX function, when it is determined that the removable medium 130 connected to the multifunction device is not a legitimate user, the copy function and the print function The system is activated in a state where the function can be used and the FAX function using user information cannot be used. Accordingly, for example, personal information used in the FAX function is not seen, so that security can be enhanced.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, even when the removable medium 130 does not exist, the function can be limited and the system can be started, so that it can be used for a plurality of unspecified users. It becomes possible.

  Note that when the presence of the removable medium is detected, the processing described in each of the above embodiments may be performed on the data automatically processed in the system.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications, within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims, It can be changed. In each of the above embodiments, an example using a hard disk and a removable medium has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various systems having a plurality of storage media. For example, the present invention can be applied even when a plurality of storage media are connected via a network.

1 is a block diagram of a system according to a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example which stores a part of data of a data management area in a removable medium, The figure (a) shows all the data before a division | segmentation, The figure (b) shows the data stored in a removable medium. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example which stores all the data of a data management area | region in a removable medium, The figure (a) is a figure which shows all the data before a division | segmentation, The figure (b) is a figure which shows the data stored in a removable medium It is. It is a figure which shows the example which stores a part of data of a data management area | region and a part of data of a data area | region in a removable medium, The figure (a) is a figure which shows all the data before a division | segmentation, The figure (b) is the figure. It is a figure which shows the data stored in a removable medium. It is a flowchart of the division | segmentation storage process of the data in 1st Example. It is a flowchart of a data combination process in the first embodiment. It is a flowchart of the division | segmentation storage process of the data in 2nd Example. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the starting process of the system in 2nd Example. It is a block diagram of the system concerning a 3rd example. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the starting process of the system in 3rd Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,110 System 20 Information processing apparatus 21 Data access part 22 Encryption / decryption process part 23 Data division | segmentation / combination part 24 Main memory unit 25 Authentication part 26 Removable media drive device 27 Host device 30, 130 Removable media 31, 131 Removable storage device 32 Authentication key storage

Claims (11)

In an information processing apparatus having a function of recording predetermined data,
Data dividing means for dividing the data into a plurality of data;
Data recording means for recording the plurality of data in a plurality of storage media including at least a portable storage medium;
An information processing apparatus comprising: data combining means for combining data read from each of the plurality of storage media. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an authentication unit that authenticates an authentication key stored in the portable storage medium. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an encryption unit configured to encrypt data to be recorded on the storage medium. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data recording unit records system activation information included in the data on the portable storage medium. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data recording unit records personal information included in the data on the portable storage medium. In an information processing apparatus having a function of recording predetermined data,
Data dividing means for dividing the data into a plurality of data;
Data recording means for recording the plurality of data in a plurality of storage media;
An information processing apparatus comprising: data combining means for combining data read from each of the plurality of storage media. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the data dividing unit divides the data according to a content of the data. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the data dividing unit divides the data into data in a data management area and data in a data area. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the data recording unit records data of the data management information on the portable storage medium. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the data recording unit stores a part of the data management information in the portable storage medium. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the data recording unit records a part of the data of the data management information and a part of the data in the data area on the portable storage medium.

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