JP2000207357A - Security-mounted agent system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a more secure and efficient security mounting method for an agent system. SOLUTION: The agent system, in which an authentication server 2 which authenticates an agent, a client which asks the server 2 to authenticate and an application server which sends the agent to a network are connected to a network, permits the agent to execute within the authenticated results and a prescribed operating range. On a staying agent list prepared by a client, the security level corresponding to the agent and the program name which permit the execution are described. In addition, the enciphered identifier of the agent is authenticated by means of an authenticating module 23 in the authentication server 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a security mounting agent system, and more particularly to a security level table describing access restrictions, that is, a table describing a security level corresponding to each agent and a program permitted to be executed. Belongs to the agent system that authenticates the mobile agent and permits execution.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in recent years, distributed systems and agent technologies utilizing networks have been rapidly developed, and security management has become an important keyword. As a method of implementing security, a method of performing authentication by using a digital signature or a login using a password has been proposed.

Further, a method of eliminating the trouble of inputting a login name and a password and preventing unauthorized access to a server even if another person can remember a password or the like is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-177554 (""). Client server system, server access authentication method, storage medium storing server access authentication program, and light emitting device thereof ”). According to this publication, as shown in FIG. 4, the user needs to obtain the storage medium 40 issued by the storage medium issuing device 150 of the server in advance. The identification information A stored in the storage medium 40 is information obtained by encrypting the period, the number of times, the time, the authentication program, and the like, in addition to the user password and the server address, in which the server access is permitted. Using this storage medium 40,
A user who is a client activates access permission request means. Then, it connects to the server on the network by the server address read from the storage medium 40, compares the identification information A issued by the access authentication control means 170 provided in the server with the transmitted identification information, and It authenticates access.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technology, once authenticated, unintended access permission, for example, depending on the environment (such as the OS), access to all local files is restricted. This creates a situation where permission is granted, which is not a safe method.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a more secure and efficient security implementation method for an agent system.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an authentication server for authenticating an agent, a client for requesting the authentication server for the authentication, and an application server for sending out the agent. Is connected to a network, and the agent is permitted to execute the authentication result and the predetermined operation range.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, in an agent system constructed using devices such as personal computers and workstations connected to a network, flexible security is implemented for agents moving on the network. It shows the method. A feature of the present invention resides in that an access restriction to an arbitrary local resource (a resource such as a directory or a file) is described, and an arbitrary (several stages) security level can be set by combining them.
This makes it possible to perform different access restrictions on different agents that have requested services.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of the system, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show modules added to implement the system. When the agent 4 moves, the client 1 has a reception desk 11 for confirming the identity of the agent 4 (authentication request to the authentication server, reception of the authentication result, creation of the staying agent list), and a security level table describing fine access restrictions. 12 (Table 1) and a stay agent list 13 (Table 2) dynamically created by the reception desk are prepared.

[0009]

[Table 1]

[0010]

[Table 2] The execution of the agent can be executed only through the agent execution environment implemented in the client, and an execution environment for executing within the permitted operation range by referring to the staying agent list 13 and the security level table 12 is provided. .

The authentication server 2 also includes a security level registration list 22 (Table 3) describing the correspondence between the agent and the security level, which is registered in advance by the client 1, and the agent 4 received from the client 1 (from the digital signature and the password). ) Authentication processing module 23 that performs authentication, authentication reception from client 1, processing request to authentication processing module 23, processing result of authentication processing module 23, and security level registration list 22
, A corresponding security level is determined, and a reception window 21 for notifying the client 1 is prepared.

[0012]

[Table 3] The authentication server may be prepared independently of the client 1 as shown in FIG. 1, or may be implemented as one of the functions of the client 1. In addition, it is assumed that some kind of encryption processing is also performed in exchanging messages between the client 1 and the authentication server 2.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is applied to an automatic software update.
An example in which the present invention is applied to an agent system will be described. In this embodiment, it is assumed that a software vendor builds an automatic software update agent system in order to provide an automatic update service to a user who has a maintenance contract. In other words, in this agent system, the agent circulates through the contracted user machines and automatically performs software update work.

The device configuration is exactly the same as that of FIG.
It consists of. The client 1 has a module configuration shown in FIG. The authentication server 2 has a module configuration shown in FIG.

The client 1 has a reception desk 11, a security level table 12, and a staying agent list 13 for controlling access to the agent.
In the client 1, software called AP1 (interface for describing an application program) is installed.
It is assumed that an AP1 update service maintenance contract has been concluded with the P1 development vendor. At this time,
The agent coming from the application server of the AP1 development vendor has a dedicated electronic signature, and in order to restrict access to the agent with the signature,
A security level (Table 4) is set in the client 1, and the client 1 registers a security level registration list (Table 5) in the authentication server 2 to request the authentication server 2 to authenticate the agent when visiting the agent. .

[0016]

[Table 4]

[0017]

[Table 5] The authentication server 2 has a reception window 21, a security level registration list 22, and an authentication module 23 in order to implement a function of performing agent authentication.

The application server 3 of the AP1 development vendor has an agent 4 and, as soon as the version upgrade of the AP1 is ready, automatically updates the machine of the maintenance contract user connected to the network. It has a function to send out the agent 4 that patrols the contract client.

The configuration of the embodiment has been described in detail above.
The client and the server are devices well known to those skilled in the art, such as a personal computer and a workstation, and are not directly related to the present invention, so that the detailed configuration is omitted. The details of the execution environment other than the program of each agent and the security implementation and the authentication method are not directly related to the present invention, and therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted.

It is assumed that the agent 4 that has moved from the application server 3 to the client 1 for updating the AP 1 has arrived at the reception counter 11 of the client 1. Then, the reception counter 11 notifies the authentication server 2
The digital signature of the agent 4 is sent together with the digital signature of the client 1, and a request for authentication is made. The authentication server 2 confirms that the request is from the client 1, authenticates the agent 4, and when the authentication is correctly performed, the security level corresponding to the agent 4 is obtained from the security level registration list 22 of the client 1 (Table 5). Then, a digital signature indicating that the notification is from the authentication server 2 is attached and the electronic signature is returned to the reception counter 11. At the reception counter 11, based on the notification received from the authentication server 2 and the information of the agent 4 itself,
A staying agent list of the agent 4 shown in Table 6 is created, and the agent 4 is notified of execution permission.
The agent 4 updates using the resources shown in Table 4. (Reads the version of AP1 stored in / Program / AP1 and the information such as OS and CPU stored in / System, downloads the latest version of corresponding AP1 to / Temp, and executes the update program. (Normal or abnormal) termination and download (normal or abnormal) termination are left as messages.) The agent 4 that has completed execution notifies the reception desk 11 of the termination and moves to the next client destination. The reception desk 11 receiving the end notification,
The information on the agent 4 (Table 6) is deleted from the staying agent list 13.

[0021]

[Table 6]

[0022]

The effect of the present invention described above is that each client can set different access restrictions (security levels) for various agents.
The security level sets the resources that can be accessed by each client and the detailed access restrictions for each resource.
Grouping and setting the level at any number of levels enables more secure and flexible security implementation. or,
According to the present invention, since security does not depend on an authentication method, it is possible to cope with a wider variety of agents.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an agent system to which a security implementation method of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a client for confirming the identity of an agent.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an authentication server.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example of a conventional client server system that performs access authentication.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Client 2 Authentication server 3 Application server 4 Agent 11 Reception desk 12 Security level table 13 Staying agent list 21 Reception desk 22 Security level registration list 23 Authentication processing module

Claims (5)

[Claims] An agent system in which an authentication server for authenticating an agent, a client for requesting the authentication server for the authentication, and an application server for sending an agent are connected to a network, wherein the authentication result and a predetermined An agent system, wherein the agent is allowed to execute within an operation range. 2. The client stores a reception desk for confirming the identity of an agent who has moved, a security level storage unit for storing a security level table describing access restrictions, and a stay agent list created by the reception desk. 2. The agent system according to claim 1, further comprising: a stay agent list storage unit that performs execution under an agent execution environment implemented in the client. 3. An authentication server, comprising: a security level registration list storage unit, an authentication processing module for performing authentication of an agent received from a client, and receiving an authentication request from the client and notifying the client of the authentication result. The reception module according to claim 1, further comprising a contact point, wherein the reception module obtains a security level based on a processing result of the security registration list and the authentication processing module, and notifies the client of the obtained security level. Agent system. 4. The agent system according to claim 3, wherein the authentication processing module decrypts a cryptographic identifier of the agent. 5. The agent system according to claim 2, wherein the staying agent list describes a security level corresponding to the agent name and a list of program names permitted to be executed.