Information processing system and program

Abstract

To make it possible to make log information of a device regarding a usual processing instruction which is not for failure investigation secret from a person performing failure investigation, while enabling the person to investigate the log information of the device regarding a processing instruction for failure investigation.SOLUTION: A printer driver 12 includes specific information indicating that a printing job 100a is for failure investigation in a value of a job ID included in a description 102a in the printing job 100a for failure investigation. A secret tool 28 makes a log record corresponding to each printing job secret, when taking out log information 140 in a log accumulation part 26. At this time, the secret tool 28 investigates the job ID of the printing job which is an object of the log record, and thereby determines whether or not the printing job is for failure investigation. If the printing job is for failure investigation, the secret tool 28 encrypts the log record, and if not, the secret tool 28 subjects the log record to unrestorable masking.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to investigate the cause of a failure, the manufacturer or maintenance service provider of the device may extract and analyze the log information stored in the device. In such a case, confidential information contained in the log information is concealed so that confidential information for the user of the device contained in the log information is not disclosed to the service provider without due consideration. Furthermore, in order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union, concealment may be performed when extracting log information from the device. Such concealment techniques are described in, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0003] The device described in Patent Document 1 replaces private information, which is information included in log information and should be kept private, with another piece of information, namely, provisionally named information, and stores the replaced information.When outputting the stored log information, the provisionally named information in the log information is restored to its original form and is output to a person who has the authority to view the private information.

[0004] The information processing device described in Patent Document 2 manages the masked portions of log information, in which at least a portion of the information is masked, by linking them to attributes, and when a request for unmasking (decryption) is received, determines whether or not to unmask the information based on the attributes of the text corresponding to confidential information. Then, based on the result of the determination, the information processing device does not unmask attribute items that are not necessary for defect analysis from the beginning, and displays them on the display unit while keeping them masked. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-065364 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2017-097703 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Special processing instructions for troubleshooting may be input to the device and executed, and the log information generated by the device as a result of the execution may be analyzed. In the case of a device connected to a network, it is not rare for the device to receive and execute processing instructions from several devices on the network around the time it receives the processing instructions for troubleshooting. In this case, what is important for the analysis is the log information related to the processing executed by the device in response to the processing instructions for troubleshooting.

[0007] It is easy for the system that sent the special processing instruction to the device to identify which of the logs related to the processing instructions issued by that system correspond to the processing instructions for fault investigation. On the other hand, it is difficult for the device to identify which of the log information recorded by the device is for fault investigation. Therefore, when investigating a fault, it is possible to conceal a group of log information recorded in the device so that it can be restored, and then extract the concealed log information from the device and restore and analyze it using an analysis system on the provider's side. With this method, the log information can be kept secret from only two parties, the device user and the provider. However, with this method, the contents of the device's log information regarding normal processing instructions, not processing instructions for fault investigation, will be disclosed to the provider.

[0008] To provide an apparatus for enabling a person conducting a fault investigation to investigate device log information regarding processing instructions for fault investigation, while keeping device log information regarding normal processing instructions not for fault investigation confidential even from the person conducting the fault investigation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The invention of claim 1 is an information processing system comprising a first system that transmits a processing instruction to an apparatus, and a second system that performs concealment on log information relating to a processing related to the processing instruction when retrieving the log information from the apparatus to an external device, wherein the first system comprises a first processor, and when the first processor receives an instruction to perform a fault investigation, the first processor transmits a processing instruction to the apparatus, the processing instruction including identification information indicating that the processing instruction is for fault investigation, and the second system comprises a second processor, and the second processor identifies log information corresponding to the processing instruction including the identification information from the log information stored in the apparatus, performs restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performs non-restorable concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputs a group of concealed log information.

[0010] The invention of claim 2 is the information processing system described in claim 1, characterized in that the specific information is included in unique identification information that the first processor assigns to the processing instruction.

[0011] The invention of claim 3 is the information processing system described in claim 2, wherein the reversible concealment of the identified log information is a process of encrypting the log information using key information generated from the identification information including the identified information.

[0012] The invention of claim 4 is an information processing system comprising a processor, which identifies log information corresponding to a processing instruction including identification information indicating that the processing instruction is for fault investigation, from log information stored in a device that executes a processing instruction from a first system, performs restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performs non-restorable concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputs a group of concealed log information.

[0013] The invention of claim 5 is a program for causing a computer to execute a process of identifying log information corresponding to a processing instruction including identification information indicating that the processing instruction is for fault investigation, from log information stored in a device that executes a processing instruction from a first system, performing restorable concealment on the identified log information, performing non-restorable concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputting a group of concealed log information. Effect of the Invention

[0014] According to the invention of claim 1, 4 or 5, the device log information regarding processing instructions for fault investigation can be investigated by a person conducting the fault investigation, while the device log information regarding normal processing instructions not for fault investigation can be kept confidential even from that person.

[0015] According to the invention of claim 2, it is possible to include specific information in a processing instruction without adding a new item representing the specific information to the processing instruction.

[0016] According to the invention as defined in claim 3, the log information can be encrypted using the same key information in the first system and the second system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a PC. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a multifunction peripheral. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of concealment of log information in a system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure of a printer driver. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure of a masking tool. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a modified example of the processing procedure of the anonymization tool. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] <System configuration> The configuration of an information processing system is illustrated with reference to Fig. 1. The information processing system illustrated in Fig. 1 is composed of a PC 10 and a multifunction device 20. The multifunction device 20 is an example of a device, and the PC 10 is an example of a first system that transmits processing instructions to the device.

[0019] The PC 10 is a personal computer operated by a user. The user creates documents using applications installed in the PC 10, downloads documents, and instructs printing of the documents. The PC 10 includes a printer driver 12, a log accumulation unit 14, and a masking tool 16 as functional modules related to the present embodiment.

[0020] Printer driver 12 converts document data that the user instructs to print into a print job. The print job is data that represents the images of each page of the document to be printed in a data format that MFP 20 can handle. The print job is an example of a processing instruction transmitted from the first system to a device. The print job is transmitted to MFP 20. Printer driver 12 also generates log information that records the executed processing (e.g., generation of a print job) and events that occurred during the processing. The generated log information is accumulated in log accumulation unit 14.

[0021] The anonymization tool 16 performs an anonymization process on the log information accumulated in the log accumulation unit 14 when the log information is taken out of the PC 10. The anonymization process is a process for preventing the contents of the log information from being read by a third party. The anonymization tool 16 can perform two types of anonymization processes, that is, a restorable anonymization process and a non-restorable anonymization process.

[0022] A reversible concealment process is a type of concealment process that allows the original data, i.e., data before concealment, to be restored from the concealment result data. Encryption is an example of a reversible concealment process. A non-reversible concealment process is a type of concealment process that allows the original data, i.e., data before concealment, to be restored from the concealment result data. An example of a non-reversible concealment process is hashing. Another example of a non-reversible concealment process is a process that converts a value or a character string included in the original information into a predetermined character string (e.g., a null value or a null character string).

[0023] The concealment tool 16 performs a concealment process that allows restoration of log information about a print job for fault investigation, and performs a concealment process that does not allow restoration of log information about other normal print jobs.

[0024] The multifunction device 20 is a device having a function of performing various information processing on images that have been scanned, input via a network, or as a printer, scanner, or copier. This embodiment relates to the handling of log information when the multifunction device 20 processes a print job sent from the printer driver 12 of the PC 10 and prints on paper.

[0025] The multifunction device 20 includes a job management unit 22, a log processing unit 24, a log accumulation unit 26, and a concealment tool 28 as functional modules related to this embodiment.

[0026] The job management unit 22 receives instructions to execute jobs for various functions provided by the multifunction device 20, such as a print job, a scan job, a copy job, etc., and controls the execution of the jobs. For example, the job management unit 22 manages the execution of a print job received from the PC 10.

[0027] The log processing unit 24 generates log information about the processes executed by the multifunction device 20, such as various jobs like print jobs, and events that occur in the multifunction device 20 (e.g., paper jams, out of paper), and accumulates (i.e., stores) the generated log information in the log storage unit 26. For example, when the job management unit 22 executes a print job, the log processing unit 24 generates log information including information on one or more predetermined items about the print job.

[0028] The anonymization tool 28 performs the same anonymization process on the log information stored in the log storage unit 26 as the anonymization tool 16 installed on the PC 10. The anonymization tool 28 is an example of a second system that anonymizes the log information when the log information related to the processing instruction is taken out of the device to the outside.

[0029] <Hardware Configuration of the PC> The PC 10 has a circuit configuration in which, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a processor 1002, a memory (main storage device) 1004 such as a random access memory (RAM), a controller that controls an auxiliary storage device 1006 which is a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory, an SSD (solid state drive), or an HDD (hard disk drive), an interface with various input / output devices 1008, a network interface 1010 that controls connections to networks such as a local area network, etc. are connected via a data transmission path such as a bus 1012. The processor 1002 is an arithmetic device that executes programs and may include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), etc. A program that describes the processing contents of each functional module of the PC 10 described above and also described below is installed on the PC 10 via a network or the like and stored in the auxiliary storage device 1006. By the program stored in the auxiliary storage device 1006 being executed by the processor 1002 using the memory 1004, the functions of the PC 10 described in this specification are realized.

[0030] <Hardware Configuration of the Multifunction Device> FIG. 3 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the multifunction device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0031] The multifunction device 10 includes hardware elements such as a processor 2002, a memory 2004, an auxiliary storage device 2006, an image processing circuit 2008, a printer 2010, a scanner 2012, a facsimile modem 2014, a network interface 2016, an operation panel 2018, and a bus 2020.

[0032] The processor 2002 is a computing device that executes programs, and may include a CPU, a GPU, etc. The processor 2002 executes a group of control programs for the overall control of the multifunction device 10, programs for controlling each hardware element, application programs that utilize the functions of the hardware elements and the image forming apparatus as a whole, etc. These programs also include programs that describe the processes performed by functional modules such as the job management unit 22, the log processing unit 24, and the anonymization tool 28 shown in FIG.

[0033] The memory 2004 is a main storage device that provides a working storage area when the processor 2002 executes a program, and is configured as, for example, a random access memory. The auxiliary storage device 2006 is a large-capacity storage device that non-volatilely stores the programs executed by the processor 2002, data used by the programs, or data generated by the programs that should be stored. For example, a hard disk drive or a solid state drive is used as the auxiliary storage device 2006. The above-mentioned log information is stored in, for example, the auxiliary storage device 2006.

[0034] The image processing circuit 2008 is a circuit that executes various image processes on images such as images read by the scanner 2012 and images printed by the printer 2010. The printer 2010 is a device that prints images on paper. The scanner 2012 is a device that optically reads images of paper documents and converts them into electronic image data. The facsimile modem 2014 is connected to a telephone line and performs image communication in accordance with the facsimile standard via the telephone line. The network interface 2016 executes control for communication with a network such as a local area network. The operation panel 2018 is a system that accepts operation inputs from a user to the multifunction device 10, and includes a display such as a touch panel.

[0035] The above-described devices, such as the processor 2002, the operation panel 2018, and the like, are interconnected via a data transmission path such as a bus 2020.

[0036] <Concealment of log information> The anonymization process of the log information by the anonymization tools 16 and 28 will now be described in more detail.

[0037] As described above, the anonymization tools 16 and 28 switch the anonymization method depending on whether the print job targeted by the log information is for fault investigation or not. This switching will be described with reference to FIG.

[0038] The printer driver 12 generates a print job 100 representing a document to be printed in response to an instruction from an application on the PC 10, and sends the print job 100 to the multifunction device 20. If a problem occurs during execution of the print job in the multifunction device 20, a print job 100a for investigating the problem is sent from the PC 10 to the multifunction device 20 in order to investigate the cause of the problem by reproducing the problem, etc.

[0039] The print job 100a for fault investigation contains information indicating that the print job 100a is for fault investigation. Hereinafter, the information indicating that the print job is for fault investigation is referred to as "specific information." In the example of Fig. 4, the specific information is embedded in the value of the job ID contained in the print job 100a.

[0040] Here, the job ID is unique identification information that the printer driver 12 assigns to a print job that it has generated. The job ID is used to identify a print job, for example, when checking the processing status of a print job sent by the printer driver 12 to the multifunction device 20. The description 102a on the fifth line of the print job 100a indicates that a job ID with a value of "A021B6A5..." is set as one of the attributes of the print job 100a. In this example, the first (i.e., leftmost) digit of the job ID value is used as a digit for identifying information, and the value of this digit, "A", is the identifying information in this example.

[0041] On the other hand, a job that is not for troubleshooting, i.e., a normal print job 100b, does not include identification information. That is, the first digit of the job ID value "0021B6A5..." shown in description 102b in print job 100b is "0", which is different from the value "A" of the identification information.

[0042] Thus, in the example of Figure 4, the first digit of the job ID value is reserved as a dedicated digit for specific information, with the value of that digit "A" representing a job for troubleshooting and "0" representing a normal job.

[0043] Note that there may be two or more types of specific information. For example, the first digit of the job ID for a print job for troubleshooting may be "A", "B", or "C", and the first digit of the job ID for a normal print job may be a value other than "A", "B", or "C".

[0044] Also, the first digit of the job ID is reserved for specific information, but this is merely one example. Digits other than the first digit may be reserved for specific information. Also, specific multiple digits of the job ID may be reserved for specific information, and the specific information may be expressed by the sequence of the values ​​of those specific multiple digits.

[0045] In the description of print jobs 100a and 100b, the second line indicates that the value of the item "DNAME", i.e., the document name, is "abc", and the third line indicates that the value of the attribute item named "@name", i.e., the user name, is "ABC". These document names and user names are considered to be confidential information for the user who prints the document.

[0046] The multifunction device 20 receives and executes the print job 100 (i.e., print job 100a or 100b). The log processing unit 24 (see FIG. 1) generates log information related to this execution and accumulates it in the log accumulation unit 26. Hereinafter, each piece of log information generated by the log processing unit 24 is referred to as a log record. For example, when one print job is executed by the job management unit 22 (see FIG. 1), one log record is generated for the execution of this print job.

[0047] The log information 140 stored in the log storage unit 26 includes several items such as "Job#", "Doc", "User", and "JobID". "Job#" is unique identification information (e.g., a serial number) that the job management unit 22 assigns to manage the print job. That is, "JobID" is identification information assigned by the printer driver 12, whereas "Job#" is identification information assigned by the multifunction device 20. "Doc" is the document name of the document printed by the print job 100. In "Doc", the value of the item "DNAME" in the print job 100a or 100b is recorded. "User" is the user name of the user who issued the print job 100. In "User", the value of the item "@name" in the print job 100a or 100b is recorded. And "JobID" is identification information assigned to the print job 100 by the client side (i.e., the printer driver 12). In "User", the value of the item "@JOBID" in the print job 100a or 100b is recorded. Note that if information on the correspondence between "Job#" and "JobID" is stored in another database in the multifunction device 20 (for example, a database that stores the print job 100 for a certain period of time), the log information 140 in the log accumulation unit 26 does not need to include "JobID".

[0048] Log information 140 shown in FIG. 4 includes log records for three print jobs with "Job#" of "1," "2," and "3." The items included in log information 140 are merely for the convenience of explanation. Log information 140 may also include items not shown. For example, log information 140 may include the date and time of job execution, the type of job such as printing or copying, job parameters (e.g., number of copies to be printed, paper size), and codes for errors that occurred during job execution. Also, log information 140 does not need to include all of the items shown in the figure.

[0049] The concealment tool 28 judges, for each log record in the log information 140 in the log accumulation unit 26, whether the log record is for a print job 100a for fault investigation or for a normal print job 100b. In the example of FIG. 14, this judgment is made by checking whether the value of the first digit of the "JobID" value is "A". Since the first digit of the "JobID" value "A021..." included in the log record with "Job#" of "2" is "A", the print job 100 corresponding to this log record is the print job 100a for fault investigation. Also, since the first digit of the "JobID" values ​​"0033..." and "005A..." included in the two log records with "Job#" of "1" and "3" is "0", the print job 100 corresponding to these log records is the normal print job 100b.

[0050] The anonymization tool 28 performs a restorable anonymization process such as encryption on the log records for the print job 100a for fault investigation. The anonymization tool 28 performs a non-restorable anonymization process such as masking on the log records for the normal print job 100b. In the anonymized log information 142 output from the anonymization tool 28, the values ​​of the document name "Doc" and the user name "User" are replaced with a predetermined masking character string "***" for two log records with "Job#" of "1" and "3". The masking character string "***" does not include information on the original values ​​of the document name "Doc" and the user name "User", so the original values ​​cannot be restored from the character string "***". For the log record with "Job#" of "2", the values ​​of the document name "Doc" and the user name "User" are encrypted and converted to the values ​​[ai] and [ue]. The original values ​​can be restored by decrypting these encrypted values ​​[ai] and [ue]. Therefore, a person analyzing the log record of a print job for troubleshooting purposes can obtain the original values ​​of each encrypted item, "abc" and "ABC", by performing a decryption process on the log record.

[0051] On the PC 10 side that sent the print job 100a for fault investigation to the multifunction device 20, it is clear that the print job 100a just sent is for fault investigation. Therefore, the anonymization tool 16 performs a restorable anonymization process such as encryption on the log record generated by the printer driver 12 for the print job 100a. In the illustrated example, the log information 120 generated by the printer driver 12 contains the value "abc" of the document name "Doc" of the print job 100a and the value "ABC" of the user name "User". In the anonymized log information 122 output from the anonymization tool 16, the values ​​of the document name "Doc" and the user name "User" are encrypted and converted to the values ​​[ai] and [ue]. A person who analyzes the log record of the print job for fault investigation performs a decryption process on the log information 122 to obtain the original values ​​"abc" and "ABC" of the encrypted document name and user name.

[0052] The person in charge then searches the decrypted results of the log information 142 output from the multifunction device 20 for a log record that includes the same combination of document name "abc" and user name "ABC" as those included in the decrypted results of the log information 122 output from the PC 10. The person in charge then searches the decrypted results of the log information 142 output from the multifunction device 20 for a log record that includes the same combination of document name "abc" and user name "ABC" included in the decrypted results of the log information 122. The person in charge then searches the log record found in the search for the decrypted results of the log information 122. The person in charge then searches the log record that includes the document name "abc" and user name "ABC" included in ...

[0053] <Printer driver processing> An example of the processing procedure of the printer driver 12 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. In this procedure, a person in charge of troubleshooting instructs the printer driver 12 of the PC 10 to switch to the troubleshooting mode. Then, in the troubleshooting mode, the person in charge instructs the multifunction device 20 to print a document as the output destination.

[0054] When a print instruction is received, printer driver 12 determines whether or not the current mode is troubleshooting mode (S10). If the result of this determination is No, the printer is not in troubleshooting mode, and printer driver 12 generates a normal job ID (S12). This normal job ID does not include specific information that indicates that it is a print job for troubleshooting. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in S10 is Yes, printer driver 12 generates a job ID that includes specific information that indicates that it is a print job for troubleshooting (S14).

[0055] Next, the printer driver 12 generates a print job 100 representing the document to be printed, and includes in the print job the value of the job ID generated in S12 or S14 (S16).Then, the printer driver 12 transmits the generated print job to the multifunction device 20 specified as the output destination (S18).

[0056] <Processing of masking tools> Next, an example of a processing procedure of the anonymization tools 16 and 28 (hereinafter, referred to as the anonymization tool 28, etc., to avoid complication) will be described with reference to Fig. 6. This procedure is executed when an instruction to extract log information is received from a user.

[0057] For example, in the case of the multifunction device 20, the user (i.e., the person in charge of the work for fault analysis) sends a print job 100a for fault investigation from the PC 10 to the multifunction device 20 to execute it, and then inputs an instruction to the multifunction device 20 to retrieve the log information in the log accumulation unit 26. In the case of the PC 10, the user switches the printer driver 12 to a fault investigation mode and instructs the multifunction device 20 to print the document to be investigated. In response to this instruction, the print job 100a for fault investigation is sent to the multifunction device 20, and after it is processed, the user instructs the concealment tool 28 to retrieve the latest log record (i.e., the log record for the print job for fault investigation).

[0058] When receiving an instruction to extract, the anonymization tool 28, etc. sequentially reads and processes the log records in the log information to be extracted (S20). The anonymization tool 28, etc. checks the value of the job ID in the read log record (S22) and determines whether or not the value includes specific information indicating that the job is a print job for troubleshooting (S24). In the example of Fig. 4, the anonymization tool 28, etc. checks the value of the first digit of the job ID, and if the value is "A", determines that the log record is for a print job for troubleshooting, and if not, determines that the log record is for a normal job.

[0059] If it is determined in S24 that the job ID does not include the specific information, the anonymization tool 28 or the like performs a non-restorable anonymization process, such as masking, on the personal information item in the log record (S26). If it is determined in S24 that the job ID includes the specific information, the anonymization tool 28 or the like performs a restorable anonymization process, such as encryption, on the personal information item in the log record (S28). Note that in S26 and S28, the values ​​of each item that is designated in advance as a target of anonymization, such as personal information, among the multiple items included in the log record may be anonymized. Values ​​of items that are not designated as targets of anonymization may remain as their original values, or may be anonymized. Then, the anonymization tool 28 or the like outputs the log record that has been anonymized in S26 or S28 (S30).

[0060] The masking tool 28 or the like executes the procedure of Fig. 6 for each log record included in the log information to be extracted. As a result, each log record included in the log information is masked in a restorable or non-restorable manner depending on whether the job to which the log record is applied is for troubleshooting or not.

[0061] <Modification> In the above embodiment, the PC 10, the multifunction device 20, and the person in charge of analyzing the log information need to share key information used to encrypt and decrypt the log records for the print job 100a for troubleshooting. One method for this is for the printer driver 12 to include key information in the print job 100. However, this method is troublesome because it is necessary to specify key information every time the print job 100a for troubleshooting is sent. In addition, if the print job 100a contains key information, the difference between the print job 100a and the normal print job 100b becomes large, which is a problem in that it becomes easier to identify the key information.

[0062] Therefore, in this modification, a different method for sharing key information is proposed.

[0063] In this method, the anonymization tools 16 and 18 generate key information from the job ID that the printer driver 12 assigns to the print job 100. Since the anonymization tools 16 and 18 generate key information from the same job ID using the same algorithm, they can obtain the same key information.

[0064] The processing procedure of the anonymization tool 28 and the like in this modified example will be described with reference to Fig. 7. In Fig. 7, the same steps as those in Fig. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0065] In the procedure of FIG. 7, when it is determined in S24 that the log record read in S20 is for a print job for fault investigation, the anonymization tool 28 etc. generates key information from the job ID of the print job (S27). The anonymization tool 28 etc. generates key information by applying a predetermined conversion algorithm to the remaining character string of the job ID, excluding the values ​​of each digit constituting the specific information indicating that the job is for fault investigation. Since the conversion algorithm used at this time is shared between the anonymization tool 16 of the PC 10 and the anonymization tool 28 of the multifunction device 20, the anonymization tools 16 and 28 generate the same key information from the same job ID. The anonymization tool 16 or 28 may output the generated key information for the person in charge of analyzing the log information. The person in charge uses the key information to decrypt the anonymized log information.

[0066] Then, the anonymization tool 28 or the like encrypts the personal information item in the log record using the key information generated in S27 (S28).

[0067] As described above, in this modified example, key information is generated from the job ID, so that the same key information can be shared between the PC 10 and the multifunction device 20 even if the key information is not explicitly included in the print job 100a.

[0068] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are merely illustrative. Various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiments and modifications, the anonymization tools 16 and 28 are installed in the PC 10 and the multifunction device 20, but this is merely an example. Instead, a worker who investigates a problem may connect a mobile terminal in which a tool equivalent to the anonymization tool 28 or the like is installed to the PC 10 and the multifunction device 20, and anonymize the log information using the tool when retrieving the log information from the PC 10 and the multifunction device 20 to the mobile terminal.

[0069] In the above embodiment, the job ID includes the identification information indicating that the print job is for troubleshooting. However, this is merely an example. Instead, the identification information may be included in an attribute item other than the job ID included in the print job. Also, a dedicated item representing the identification information may be added to the print job.

[0070] In each of the above embodiments, the term "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, including general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.).

[0071] In addition, the operations of the processor in each of the above embodiments may be performed not only by one processor, but also by multiple processors located at physically separate locations working together. Furthermore, the order of the operations of the processor is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate.

[0072] (Additional Note) (((1))) a first system for transmitting a processing instruction to a device; a second system that conceals log information related to the processing instruction when the log information is extracted from the device to an outside; having The first system comprises: A first processor is provided. The first processor, When an instruction to perform a fault investigation is received, a processing instruction including specific information indicating that the processing instruction is for the fault investigation is transmitted to the device; The second system comprises: a second processor; The second processor, Identifying log information corresponding to a processing instruction including the identification information from among log information stored in the device; performing a restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performing an irreversible concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputting the concealed log information group; An information processing system comprising: (((2))) 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the specific information is included in unique identification information that the first processor assigns to the processing instruction. (((3))) 3. The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein the restorable concealment of the identified log information is a process of encrypting the log information using an encryption key generated from the identification information including the specific information. (((4))) A processor is provided. The processor, Identifying log information corresponding to a processing instruction including identification information indicating that the processing instruction is for fault investigation from among log information stored in a device that executes the processing instruction from the first system; performing a restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performing an irreversible concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputting the concealed log information group; An information processing system comprising: (((5))) On the computer, Identifying log information corresponding to a processing instruction including identification information indicating that the processing instruction is for fault investigation from among log information stored in a device that executes the processing instruction from the first system; performing a restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performing an irreversible concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputting the concealed log information group; A program for executing a process.

[0073] The information processing system described in (((1))) or (((4))), or the program described in (((5))), makes it possible for a person conducting a fault investigation to investigate device log information regarding processing instructions for fault investigation, while keeping device log information regarding normal processing instructions not for fault investigation confidential even from that person. According to the information processing system described in (((2))), it is possible to include specific information in a processing instruction without adding a new item representing the specific information to the processing instruction. According to the invention related to (((3))), the log information can be encrypted using the same key information in the first system and the second system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 10 PC (personal computer), 12 printer driver, 14 log accumulation unit, 16, 28 concealment tool, 20 multifunction device, 22 job management unit, 24 log processing unit, 26 log accumulation unit, 100 print job, 100a print job for troubleshooting, 100b normal print job, 120, 140 log information, 122, 142 concealed log information.

Claims

1. a first system for transmitting processing instructions to a device; a second system that conceals log information related to the process associated with the process instruction when the log information is extracted from the device to an outside; having The first system comprises: A first processor is provided, The first processor, When receiving an instruction to perform a fault investigation, a processing instruction including specific information indicating that the processing instruction is for the fault investigation is transmitted to the device; The second system comprises: a second processor; The second processor comprises: Identifying log information corresponding to a processing instruction including the identification information from among log information stored in the device; performing a restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performing an irreversible concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputting the concealed log information group; An information processing system comprising:

2. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the specific information is included in unique identification information that is assigned to the processing instruction by the first processor.

3. The information processing system according to claim 2 , wherein the restorable concealment of the specified log information is a process of encrypting the log information using key information generated from the identification information including the specified information.

4. A processor is provided. The processor, Identifying log information corresponding to a processing instruction including identification information indicating that the processing instruction is for fault investigation from among log information stored in a device that executes the processing instruction from the first system; performing a restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performing an irreversible concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputting the concealed log information group; An information processing system comprising:

5. On the computer, Identifying log information corresponding to a processing instruction including identification information indicating that the processing instruction is for fault investigation from among log information stored in a device that executes the processing instruction from the first system; performing a restorable concealment on the identified log information, and performing an irreversible concealment on log information other than the identified log information, and outputting the concealed log information group; A program for executing a process.

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