JP2011180865A - Authorization system, device, and method - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a system for temporarily granting authority for an action that requires authentication, and that can easily and correctly grant the authority.
An authorization system for granting an actor an authority for a predetermined action stores an authentication information acquisition device for acquiring authentication information for identifying the actor, and stores the authentication information and the authority information for each actor. When the authentication information acquisition device and the authentication information acquisition device acquire the authentication information of two or more actors substantially simultaneously, the respective actors are respectively determined from the acquired authentication information and the authentication information stored in the information storage device. An grant processing device that identifies and rewrites the authority information of the identified actor other than the highest authority actor based on the highest authority represented by the authority information of the identified actor. And whether or not a predetermined action by an actor can be executed is determined based on authority information stored in the information storage device.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a system or the like that temporarily grants authority for an action that requires authentication, and more particularly, to an authority grant system or the like that can perform the authorization easily and correctly.

  In general, actions that can be performed on devices, systems, facilities, and the like are often different from user to user. For example, in a printing system, a general user can only print in black and white, an advanced user can print in color, and a user as an administrator can change the settings. There is.

  When the authority levels are different in this way, the authority level may be temporarily increased in order to cause a user with a low authority level who does not have the authority of the action to temporarily perform the action. Also, there may be a case where authority is temporarily granted to a guest who does not normally have authority.

  In the case where such temporary authorization is required, conventionally, a method of lending authentication information for an authorized user to authenticate the authorization to the authorized user, or an authorization granted by the authorization administrator For example, the authentication information necessary for the user was temporarily issued to users and guests and deleted after the fact.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151620 discloses that a user in the vicinity of the apparatus is specified and the user is printed in relation to the authority to execute printing.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes that an image processing apparatus has a management user and a maintenance user, and gives a password including an access right to general user information of a certain item to the maintenance user.

JP 2007-199240 A JP 2005-202539 A

  However, in the above-described method in which an authorized person temporarily lends authentication information, there is a possibility that processing after lending may not be performed correctly, and there is a possibility that the security level will be constantly reduced. In addition, in the above-mentioned method in which the administrator grants authority and then deletes it, it is left to the person's actions to generate or lose authority, so mistakes such as giving wrong authority or forgetting to delete occur. There is a risk of doing. Thus, in the past, there have been many cases where temporary authorization has not been performed very strictly and there are problems.

  The contents of Patent Document 1 do not relate to temporary authorization, and the method of Patent Document 2 also has the same problem because the user determines the item to which the access right is given.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system that temporarily grants authority for an action that requires authentication, and that can easily and correctly grant the authority.

  In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides an authentication information acquisition apparatus in which an authorization system for granting an actor an authority for a predetermined action acquires authentication information for identifying the actor. And, for each of the actors, when the authentication information and the authority information representing the authority are stored, and when the authentication information acquisition device acquires the authentication information of two or more of the actors substantially simultaneously, Each of the actors is identified from the acquired authentication information and the authentication information stored in the information storage device, and the highest of the authorities represented by the authority information stored in the information storage device of the identified actor A grant processing device that rewrites the authority information stored in the information storage device of the identified actor other than the highest authority actor based on the authority, and the information storage device Said by the actors on the basis of the authority information stored executability of a predetermined action is determined, it is possible.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, a preferable aspect thereof is characterized in that the authentication information acquisition device includes a camera, and the authentication information is information based on an image photographed by the camera.

  In another aspect of the invention, the authentication information acquisition apparatus is an apparatus for acquiring biometric information for biometric authentication, and the authentication information is the biometric information.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, a preferable aspect thereof is characterized in that the grant processing device returns the authority information to a state before the rewriting at a predetermined timing after the rewriting of the authority information.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, one aspect is characterized in that the rewriting of authority information by the grant processing device is rewriting to authority information representing the highest authority.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, a preferable aspect is characterized in that the information storage device stores history information of rewriting of the authority information.

  In order to achieve the above object, another aspect of the present invention provides an authentication information acquisition unit in which an authority granting device that grants an authority to a predetermined action acquires authentication information for identifying the actor And a database that stores the authentication information and authority information representing the authority for each of the actors, and the authentication information acquisition device acquires the authentication information of two or more of the actors substantially simultaneously. , Identifying each actor from the acquired authentication information and the authentication information stored in the database, to the highest authority among the authorities represented by the authority information stored in the database of the identified actor And grant processing means for rewriting the authority information stored in the database of the identified actor other than the highest-right actor. Executability of the predetermined actions by the actors is determined based on the authority information stored in the database, is that.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an authorization method in an authorization system for granting an actor an authority for a predetermined action, wherein the authorization system identifies the actor. An authentication information acquisition device for acquiring authentication information for the user, an information storage device for storing the authentication information and authority information representing the authority for each of the actors, and a control device, wherein the control device includes the authentication information When the acquisition device acquires the authentication information of two or more actors substantially simultaneously, each of the actors is identified from the acquired authentication information and the authentication information stored in the information storage device, and the identified Based on the highest authority among the authorities represented by the authority information stored in the information storage device of the actor, the information of the identified actor other than the actor with the highest authority is displayed. Rewrite authority information stored in the storage device, the executability of the predetermined actions by the actors on the basis of the authorization information stored in the information storage device is determined, is that.

  Further objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the embodiments of the invention described below.

1 is a configuration diagram according to an embodiment of a system to which the present invention is applied. FIG. It is the figure which illustrated the information stored in user information DB31. It is the flowchart which illustrated the procedure of the authorization process.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, such an embodiment does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. In the drawings, the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals or reference symbols.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram according to an embodiment of a system to which the present invention is applied. The image forming apparatus 2 and the server 3 shown in FIG. 1 are provided with an authorization system to which the present invention is applied, and the image forming apparatus 2 is provided with an authorization apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

  The image forming apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment refers to the user information 31 stored in the server 3 to identify two or more users (actors) that have come to the vicinity of the apparatus almost at the same time. When the guest visits by grasping the authority level to the device and rewriting the user information 31 on the basis of the authority level of the user with the highest authority level to grant temporary authority to other users For example, provisional authorization is easily and correctly executed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 2 is connected to a plurality of host computers 1 and servers 3 via a LAN 4 (local area network).

  The host computer 1 is a host device of the image forming apparatus 2 that instructs the image forming apparatus 2 to print, and is configured by a personal computer or the like. Although not shown, the host computer 1 has the same hardware configuration as a general computer, and includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, a display device, an input device, and the like.

  The host computer 1 is provided with a driver responsible for the print instruction function. When a print request is received from a user, print job data including various print conditions is generated and transmitted to the image forming apparatus 2. To do. The driver includes a program that instructs processing, a control device (such as the CPU) that executes processing according to the program, and the like.

  Next, the server 3 is a so-called server system that stores data or the like that is commonly used in each device connected via the LAN 4, and is configured by a general computer system. In relation to the image forming apparatus 2, as shown in FIG. 1, a user information DB 31 and a history information DB 32 are provided.

  The user information DB 31 relates to a user of that ID, such as authentication information for authenticating that the user is a user of the user ID, using a user ID that is information for identifying a user of a device connected to the LAN 4 as a key item. It is a database that stores various information. The information includes authority information, and the information represents the authority level of each user for each device connected to the LAN 4.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating information stored in the user information DB 31. In this example, as described above, “authentication information” is associated with each “user ID”. For example, a user with a user ID “A” is based on the authentication information “xxx”. Identified as the user. As this identification information, it is possible to provide a plurality of types of information, but for use from the image forming apparatus 2, information indicating the features of the user's face (for example, a face pattern image), password, biometric Contains information (such as fingerprint information).

  In this example, “authority information” is stored as described above, and the portion illustrated in FIG. 2 is a portion in which the authority information about the image forming apparatus 2 is stored. Here, the authority information “administrator” indicates that the highest level authority is given to the user, and the user having the authority (the user “A” in the example shown in FIG. 2) All actions that can be performed on the device 2 can be performed. The authority information “advanced” indicates that the user has the next highest level authority, and the user having the authority (the user “B” in the example shown in FIG. 2) General functions and advanced functions of the forming apparatus 2 can be used. The authority information “general” indicates that the authority of the general user level is given to the user, and the users having the authority (users “C” and “D” in the example shown in FIG. 2) The general functions of the image forming apparatus 2 can be used. Furthermore, the authority information “−” means that there is no authority for the image forming apparatus 2, and the user of the authority information (the user “X” in the example shown in FIG. 2) is usually a so-called guest or the like. Used for those who do not use the image forming apparatus 2.

  Such authority information is referred to when an action from the user to the image forming apparatus 2 is performed, and it is determined whether or not the action is permitted based on the information. In addition, in the temporary authorization process described later, the authorization information is rewritten.

  The history information DB 32 is a database that stores a temporal record of a temporary authorization process described later. Specifically, the “user ID” of the user who has been granted the right, “authority information” indicating the granted authority (level), the date and time of grant, the date and time when the granted authority was deleted, and the source of the grant Information such as the “user ID” of the user who has become is recorded. By recording the information, it becomes possible to investigate the cause and take measures in the event of a trouble more appropriately and improve the security.

  The user information DB 31 and the history information DB 32 may be stored in the image forming apparatus 2. Further, only the history information DB 32 may be stored in the image forming apparatus 2.

  Next, the image forming apparatus 2 is a so-called multifunction machine as an example, and has functions as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier, and a scanner. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 2 includes a communication I / F unit 21, a controller unit 22, a print execution unit 23, a scanning unit 24, a user I / F unit 25, and a user detection unit 26.

  The communication I / F unit 21 is a part that controls communication with the host computer 1, the server 3, and the like via the LAN 4, and the above-described print job data is delivered to the controller unit 22 through this.

  The controller unit 22 interprets the print job data, generates image data to be transferred to the print execution unit 23, and controls various parts of the image forming apparatus 2. In addition, the controller unit 22 executes a temporary right granting process when the user comes close to the device. This process is a feature of the image forming apparatus 2, and the specific contents thereof will be described later. Although not shown, the controller unit 22 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, an ASIC, and the like as hardware. The temporary right granting process is executed by the CPU operating in accordance with a program stored in the ROM.

  The print execution unit 23 is a part that executes print processing on the print medium in accordance with the processed image data transferred from the controller unit 22.

  The scanner unit 24 is an image reading unit used when the image forming apparatus 2 is used as a scanner or a copying machine.

  The user I / F unit 25 is a part that controls an interface with the user of the image forming apparatus 2, and includes a display unit configured with a liquid crystal panel, various operation buttons, a display lamp, an audio output unit, and the like. .

  Next, the user detection unit 26 is a part for detecting a user who has visited the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 2, and specifically includes a camera and its control unit. The camera is set with a wide-angle field of view so that a person who comes to the periphery of the image processing apparatus 2 can always be photographed. The control unit appropriately transmits image data captured by the camera to the controller unit 22.

  As the user detection unit 26, a card reader can be used as an alternative to the camera. In this case, the collecting person passes the predetermined card through the card reader, and thereby the collecting person is detected, and the read information is sent to the controller unit 22. As another alternative, the user I / F unit 25 may be used. In this case, the recovery person is detected by inputting the password using the operation button described above, and the input password is transmitted to the controller unit 22.

  As another alternative, a device for biometric authentication, for example, a device for reading a fingerprint can be used. In this case, the read fingerprint information is sent to the controller unit 22. Further, these devices may be used in combination.

  In the configuration described above, the controller unit 22, the user detection unit 26, and the part that stores the user information DB 31 of the server 3 correspond to an authorization system to which the present invention is applied. Further, the controller unit 22 and the user detection unit 26 correspond to an authorization device to which the present invention is applied.

  As described above, the system according to the present embodiment having such a configuration is characterized by a temporary authorization process for the image forming apparatus 2, and the specific processing contents will be described below.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the authorization process. FIG. 3 describes a series of authority granting and authority deleting processes that are performed when a user visits the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 2, and will be described below with reference to FIG.

  When a user visits the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 2, the user enters the range where the camera of the user detection unit 26 captures the image, and the captured image is transmitted to the controller unit 22. The controller unit 22 applies a conventional image recognition method to the received image data, checks whether a human face exists in the image, and if a human face exists, the user is detected. to decide.

  And the controller part 22 acquires the authentication information of the user (step S1). Specifically, the image data of the detected face is processed by a conventional analysis method to generate information (for example, a face pattern image) indicating the feature of the face, and this is used as authentication information. In this process, when a plurality of users are detected in the image sent from the camera, the authentication information is acquired for each detected user.

  When the above-described card reader, password input, or biometric authentication device is used as the user detection unit 26, the information read by each device and the input information become authentication information. Then, after the first user's authentication information is acquired, if other authentication information is obtained within a predetermined short time, it is determined that a plurality of users are visiting at approximately the same time, and the authentication information is also get.

  Next, the controller unit 22 accesses the user information DB 31 and identifies the user who has acquired the authentication information (step S2). Specifically, it is checked whether or not the “authentication information” in the user information DB 31 matches the acquired information. If there is a match, the user is included in the “authentication information”. The user of the corresponding “user ID” is identified. This identification process is performed for each acquired authentication information, and if all the authentication information (for all the visitors) can be identified (Yes in step S2), the process proceeds to step S4.

  On the other hand, if there is a user who cannot be identified (No in step S2), a new registration process in the user information DB 31 is executed for the user (step S3). Specifically, the controller unit 22 has a temporary value as the “user ID”, the value of the acquired authentication information as the “authentication information”, and the value without authority as the “authorization information” (−). A new record having is generated in the user information DB 31. In the example of FIG. 2, a record whose “user ID” is “X” corresponds to that. The temporary “user ID” of the record may be added afterwards by the administrator of the user information DB 31, or the record may be deleted at a predetermined timing. If there are a plurality of users who cannot be identified, the new registration is performed for all of them.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S4, and the controller unit 22 acquires authority information for the identified user (Yes in S2) and the user (S3) identified by the new registration. Specifically, the value of “authority information” corresponding to each user in the user information DB 31 is acquired.

  The controller unit 22 that has acquired the authority information executes an authority grant process and a recording process thereof (step S5). Specifically, the acquired authority information having the highest authority is selected, and the authority to be given to the other user identified this time is determined based on the authority (level) of the authority information.

  There are several methods for determining the authority. One of them decides to give the selected highest authority to the other user. As another method, it is determined to give the other user one level of authority that is one level lower than the selected highest authority. Furthermore, as another method, it is determined to give the lowest authority to the other user. Further, as another method, it is determined that the lowest authority is given to the user newly registered this time and the highest authority selected above is given to the user who is not registered. Note that when only one user is detected, the authorization process is not performed. Further, no authority is given to the selected user having the highest authority.

  When the authority to be granted is determined in this way, the controller unit 22 accesses the user information DB 31 and rewrites the “authority information” of the user to be given to information representing the authority to be given. In addition, the controller unit 22 records the current authorization in the history information DB 32 described above. Specifically, the user ID of the user having the highest authority selected above, the user ID of the user who has been granted authority based on the user, the date and time of grant, the authority information of the granted authority, etc. are recorded. The

  In this way, the authorization process and the recording process are performed. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, for example, when a user with a user ID “B” and a user with a user ID “C” visit the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 2, the user with “B” The authority “advanced” is granted, and the authority information of the user “C” is rewritten to “advanced” (a in FIG. 2). As another example, when a user with a user ID “B” and a user with a user ID “X” visit, the lowest level “general” authority is given to the newly registered user “X”. , The authority information of the user “X” is rewritten to “general” (b in FIG. 2).

  As described above, after the user information DB 31 is rewritten, until the predetermined timing is reached (No in step S6), the user's action on the image forming apparatus 2 is based on the rewritten “authority information”. Whether it is possible or not is determined. Therefore, a user who has been granted authority can be permitted and executed within the scope of the granted authority, including actions that cannot be normally performed. For example, a user with “general” authority is given an “advanced” authority, and this can be done by giving the authority where copying in color is not normally possible.

  Thereafter, when the predetermined timing is reached (Yes in step S6), the controller 22 executes the process of deleting the granted authority and the recording process thereof (step S7) because the authorization is temporary. Here, the predetermined timing can be a timing when the user detected by the camera is out of the shooting range of the camera. More specifically, the deletion process is performed for each user who has been given authority at a timing when no face is detected in the shooting range.

  In addition, in the case of an alternative that does not use the above-described camera (such as biometric authentication), the timing may be a timing when a predetermined time (for example, 3 minutes) has elapsed after the acquisition of the authentication information. .

  In the deletion process, the controller unit 22 accesses the user information DB 31 and rewrites the “authority information” of the user to the original information. Then, the controller unit 22 adds the deletion process record to the history information DB 32. Specifically, the fact that the granted authority is deleted and the date and time are added to the authority information recorded for the user last time.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, for example, the authority information of the user “C” to whom the authority “advanced” is granted is returned to “general” at the predetermined timing, and “X” to which the authority “general” is granted. The authority information of the user “” is rewritten to “−”.

  With the above, a series of right granting and deletion processes is completed, and the process is for temporary right granting. Therefore, after the deletion process, each user can perform the image forming apparatus 2 within the range of normal authority. You can take action.

  The embodiment described above relates to the granting of authority to the image forming apparatus, but the present invention can also be applied to other apparatuses and facilities. For example, it can be used for permission to enter the company. In this case, a user detection unit 26, a controller unit 22 (part relating to a temporary authorization process), a user information DB 31, and a history information DB 32 that are the same as those in the above embodiment are provided. Thus, when an employee of the company and a visitor are identified almost simultaneously when the company is introduced, the visitor is given the entry authority and a predetermined authority within the company. Then, the assigned visitor authority is deleted by the same processing procedure as in the above embodiment. In this case, the timing of authority deletion can be the timing when the visitor leaves the company or after the elapse of a predetermined time (for example, 3 hours) after the authority is granted.

  As another example, it can be used for security area security. In this case, the authority given is an authority that can be in the area, and an alarm is generated if an unauthorized person exists there. Also in this case, a user detection unit 26 having a camera similar to that in the above embodiment, a controller unit 22 (part relating to temporary authorization processing), a user information DB 31 and a history information DB 32 are provided. In the same processing procedure, the authority is given to the person who is detected almost simultaneously with the person who has the authority to enter the area. Thereafter, the visitor's authority given by the same processing procedure as in the above embodiment is deleted, but the timing of deletion is the timing when the person who originally has the authority is no longer detected by the camera. Therefore, when applied to a security area, the above alarm is not issued when entering the area with an authorized person, and the alarm is only issued when the authority is granted. Be emitted.

  As described above, in the present embodiment and the application example described above, it is only necessary to accompany an authorized person in an environment where whether or not a predetermined action is determined based on recorded authority information, or Temporary authorization can be realized by rewriting the authority information only by providing authentication information at approximately the same time as the person who has the. Therefore, even a person who is not an administrator can easily grant temporary authority, which is convenient when there is a visitor or when he / she acts on his / her behalf.

  In addition, authorization is performed after authentication of the person giving the authorization, and is further performed by the device based on the authority information of each person recorded in advance. It can be performed.

  In addition, since a predetermined level of authority is granted according to a predetermined authority granting method, appropriate authority is granted.

  Furthermore, after the authorization is granted, the authorization information is restored to its original state at a predetermined timing, so that temporary authorization can be executed reliably, forgetting to erase the granted authority can be prevented, and security can be reduced. Absent.

  Moreover, since the fact of temporary authorization is recorded as history information, post-analysis is easy and fraud is prevented, so that the security level can be improved.

  The protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but covers the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host computer, 2 Image forming apparatus, 3 Server (information storage apparatus), 4 LAN, 21 Communication I / F part, 22 Controller part (Authentication information acquisition apparatus, grant processing apparatus, authentication information acquisition means, grant processing means, control Device), 23 print execution unit, 24 scanning unit, 25 user I / F unit, 26 user detection unit (authentication information acquisition device, authentication information acquisition means), 31 user information DB, 32 history information DB

Claims (8)

An authorization system that grants an actor the authority for a predetermined action,
An authentication information acquisition device for acquiring authentication information for identifying the actor;
For each actor, an information storage device for storing the authentication information and authority information representing the authority
When the authentication information acquisition device acquires authentication information of two or more actors substantially simultaneously, each of the actors is identified from the acquired authentication information and the authentication information stored in the information storage device, Based on the highest authority among the authorities represented by the authority information stored in the information storage device of the identified actor, the information storage device of the identified actor other than the highest authority actor An authorization processing device for rewriting authority information stored in
The authority granting system is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the predetermined action can be executed by the actor based on the authority information stored in the information storage device. In claim 1,
The authorization system according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information acquisition device includes a camera, and the authentication information is information based on an image photographed by the camera. In claim 1,
The authorization system, wherein the authentication information acquisition device is a device for acquiring biometric information for biometric authentication, and the authentication information is the biometric information. In any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3,
The authorization processing system returns the authority information to a state before the rewriting at a predetermined timing after the authority information is rewritten. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4,
Rewriting authority information by the grant processing device is rewriting to authority information representing the highest authority. In any one of Claims 1 to 5,
The information storage device stores history information of rewriting of the authority information. An authority granting device that grants authority for a predetermined action to an actor,
Authentication information acquisition means for acquiring authentication information for identifying the actor;
A database that stores the authentication information and authority information that represents the authority is provided for each of the actors, and when the authentication information acquisition apparatus acquires the authentication information of two or more of the actors substantially simultaneously, Each of the actors is identified from the acquired authentication information and the authentication information stored in the database, and based on the highest authority among the authorities represented by the authority information stored in the database of the identified actor And grant processing means for rewriting the authority information stored in the database of the identified actor other than the highest authority actor,
The authority granting device is characterized in that whether or not the predetermined action can be executed by the actor is determined based on the authority information stored in the database. An authority granting method in an authorization system for granting an actor an authority for a predetermined action,
The authorization system includes an authentication information acquisition apparatus that acquires authentication information for identifying the actor, an information storage apparatus that stores the authentication information and authority information representing the authority for each of the actors, and a control Equipped with equipment,
When the authentication information acquisition device acquires the authentication information of two or more actors at substantially the same time, the control device is configured to obtain each actor from the acquired authentication information and the authentication information stored in the information storage device. , And based on the highest authority among the authorities represented by the authority information stored in the information storage device of the identified actor, the actors other than the actor with the highest authority are identified. , Rewrite the authority information stored in the information storage device,
The authority granting method, wherein whether or not the predetermined action can be executed by the actor is determined based on the authority information stored in the information storage device.

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