Information processing system

• US 8,032,756 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Inami, Hiroko
• Primary Examiner(s): PEARSON, DAVID J
• Application Number:
  US11/513,376
• Publication Number:
  US 20070266234A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,860 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity

Abstract

A signature support system includes a local machine, a remote machine, a document management server, and a signature server. The remote machine uses terminal services of the local machine to access the document management server, and correlates document data with a document ID serving as identification information for the document data, to register the document data in the document management server. Similarly, the signature server is accessed, and caused to generate a pair of a signature key and a verification key, and the keys are correlated with biological information read by a biological information reader, and are registered in the signature server. The signature server generates signature data for the document data that is correlated with the document ID received from a user, and is registered in the document management server, by using the signature key correlated with the biological information read by the biological information reader, and registered in the signature server.

Claims

1. A signature support system which supports inclusion of a signature in document data, comprising:

a remote machine;

a local machine which provides terminal services to the remote machine;

a document management server which provides document management services to the local machine; and

a signature server which provides key services and signature services to the local machine,

wherein the document management server includes;

document data storing means which stores document data;

document management authenticating means which authenticates the local machine by using document management server authentication information; and

document management control means which correlates the document data with a document ID serving as identification information of the document data, to store the document data in the document data storing means, in accordance with an instruction from the local machine authenticated by the document management authenticating means, transmits the document data correlated with the document ID received from the signature server and stored in the document data storing means, in accordance with an instruction from the signature server, receives a signature ID as identification information of signature data for the document data from the signature server, and correlates the signature ID with the document data, to store the signature ID in the document data storing means;

the signature server includes;

signature data storing means which stores the signature data;

key storing means which stores a signature key and a verification key;

signature authenticating means which authenticates the local machine by using signature server authentication information;

key control means which generates a pair of a signature key and a verification key in accordance with a key generation request received from the local machine authenticated by the signature authenticating means, and correlates the pair of keys with biometric authentication information, obtained at the remote machine, of a person who is involved with a document to be registered in the document management server and who is not a user of the remote machine, included in the key generation request, to store the keys in the key storing means and to make the keys searchable; and

signature control means which accesses the document management server to read the document data having the document ID received from the local machine, from the document management server, in accordance with a signature generation request received from the local machine authenticated by the signature authenticating means, obtains by searching, as a key, the biometric information, obtained at the remote machine, of the person who is involved with the document to be registered in the document management server and who is not the user of the remote machine, included in the signature generation request, and stored in the key storing means, generates signature data for the document data by using the signature key, correlates the signature data with a signature ID of the signature data, to store the signature data in the signature data storing means, and notifies the document management server of the signature ID;

the local machine includes;

local authenticating means which authenticates the user of the remote machine by using local machine authentication information;

terminal service providing means which provides the terminal services to the remote machine operated by the user of the remote machine authenticated by the local authenticating means;

document management server access control means which accesses the document management server by using preregistered document management server authentication information in accordance with an instruction from the remote machine using the terminal services; and

signature server access control means which accesses the signature server by using preregistered signature server authentication information in accordance with an instruction from the local machine using the terminal services,

the remote machine includes;

local machine authentication information input means which receives input of local machine authentication information of the user of the remote machine;

biometric information reading means which reads the biometric information of the person who is involved with the document to be registered in the document management server and who is different from the user of the remote machine; and

local machine access control means which accesses the local machine by using the local machine authentication information received by the local machine authentication information input means, to receive the terminal services of the local machine;

wherein the document management server access control means of the local machine registers the document data together with the document ID of the document data in the document management server in accordance with an instruction received from the remote machine via the terminal services; and

wherein further the signature server access control means of the local machine generates a key generation request that includes the biometric information of the person who is involved with the document to be registered in the document management server and who is different from the user of the remote machine in accordance with an instruction, including the biometric information obtained at the remote machine, received from the remote machine via the terminal services, transmits the key generation request thus generated to the signature server, generates the signature generation request that includes biometric information of the person who is involved with the document to be registered in the document management server and who is different from the user of the remote machine, in accordance with an instruction including the biometric information obtained at the remote machine, received from the remote machine via the terminal services, transmits the signature generation request thus generated to the signature server, and receives the signature ID of the signature data generated by the signature server from the signature server.

2. A signature support system according to claim 1, wherein the biometric information comprises finger vein information.

3. A signature support system according to claim 1, wherein the local machine authentication information input means further reads the local machine authentication information from a predetermined storage medium.

4. A signature support system according to claim 2, wherein the local machine authentication information input means further reads the local machine authentication information from a predetermined storage medium.

5. A method which supports inclusion of a signature in document data by a signature support system including a remote machine, a local machine which provides terminal services to the remote machine, a document management server which provides document management services to the local machine, and a signature server which provides key services and signature services to the local machine,

the method comprising:

a document management step in which the remote machine receives the document management services provided by the document management server, by using the terminal services of the local machine;

a key generation step in which the remote machine receives the key services provided by the signature server by using the terminal services of the local machine; and

a signature generation step in which the remote machine receives the signature services provided by the signature server, by using the terminal services of the local machine,

wherein the document management step includes;

a step in which the remote machine accesses the local machine by using local machine authentication information input from the outside and, in response, the local machine starts providing the terminal services to the remote machine;

a step in which the local machine accesses the document management server by using preregistered document management server authentication information and, in response, the document management server starts providing the document management services to the local machine; and

a step in which the remote machine correlates the document data with a document ID serving as identification information of the document data to register the document data in the document management server by using the document management services of the document management server via the terminal services of the local machine;

the key generation step includes;

a step in which the remote machine accesses the local machine by using the local machine authentication information input from the outside and, in response, the local machine starts providing the terminal services to the remote machine;

a step in which the local machine accesses the signature server by using preregistered signature server authentication information and, in response, the signature server starts providing the key services to the local machine; and

a step in which the remote machine uses the key services of the signature server via the terminal services of the local machine, causing the signature server to generate a pair of a signature key and a verification key, and correlating the pair of keys with biometric information associated with a person who is not a user of the terminal read from a biometric information reader, to register the pair of the signature key and the verification key in the signature server; and

the signature generation step includes;

a step in which the remote machine accesses the local machine by using the local machine authentication information input from the outside and, in response, the local machine starts providing the terminal services to the remote machine;

a step in which the local machine accesses the signature server by using the preregistered signature server authentication information and, in response, the signature server starts providing the signature services to the local machine; and

a step in which the remote machine uses the signature services of the signature server via the terminal services of the local machine causing the signature server to generate signature data for the document data correlated with a document ID received from a user and registered in the document management server, by using the signature key correlated with the biometric information read from the biometric information reader, and registered in the signature server.