Monitoring control system, authentication method, and program

Abstract

To provide a monitoring control system to which an account management function can be added without requiring a large change from the existing system, an authentication method, and a program.SOLUTION: A monitoring control system (1) has a first network (51), and the monitoring control system (1) comprises an authentication server (10) that is connected thereto via a second network (52) that is physically cut off from the first network (51) and performs account authentication in the monitoring control system (1).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a monitoring and control system, an authentication method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technique for monitoring plants such as water purification plants. Since the monitoring and control systems used in such monitoring need to constantly perform monitoring and control, some of them maintain a logged-in state without connecting to an external network.

[0003] In such a monitoring and control system, account management is sometimes performed from the viewpoint of preventing fraudulent acts by recording operation history. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a device that improves the security of equipment by determining the presence or absence of identification information corresponding to preset usage permission information and setting and controlling a processing mode according to the identification information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-009469 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Here, adding account management to the monitoring and control system itself often requires major modifications. Also, introducing account management like that in Patent Document 1 into the monitoring and control system requires an external network connection, which may reduce security.

[0006] The objective of the present disclosure, made in consideration of the above circumstances, is to provide a monitoring and control system, an authentication method, and a program that enable the addition of account management functionality without making major changes to an existing system, by retrofitting a device that manages user accounts. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A monitoring and control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: A monitoring and control system having a first network, connected via a second network physically separated from the first network, The monitoring and control system further includes an authentication server for performing account authentication.

[0008] An authentication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: An authentication method performed in a monitoring and control system having a first network, comprising: The method includes a step of an authentication server connected via a second network that is physically separated from the first network, performing account authentication in the monitoring and control system.

[0009] A program according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: A program executed in a monitoring and control system having a first network, An authentication server connected via a second network that is physically separated from the first network performs account authentication in the monitoring and control system. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a monitoring and control system, an authentication method, and a program that enable an account management function to be added without making major changes to an existing system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an authentication server included in a monitoring and control system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a monitoring and control system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an authentication method according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a monitoring and control system without an account management function. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, a monitoring and control system, an authentication method, and a program according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an authentication server 10 provided in a monitoring control system 1 (see Fig. 2) according to this embodiment. The authentication server 10 is a server that performs operation authentication as account authentication in the monitoring control system 1. The authentication server 10 can add an account management function to a monitoring control system 101 (see Fig. 4) that does not have an account management function by being incorporated (added) into the system. The connection of the authentication server 10 in the monitoring control system 1 will be described later.

[0014] The authentication server 10 has the following hardware configuration: The authentication server 10 includes a communication unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a control unit 14.

[0015] The communication unit 12 is one or more communication interfaces that communicate with external devices wirelessly or via wires. In this embodiment, the communication unit 12 includes a communication interface that communicates with the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 (see FIG. 2). The communication interface that communicates with the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 may be a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0016] In the present embodiment, the communication unit 12 includes a communication interface for communicating with the input / output device 11. The communication interface for communicating with the input / output device 11 may be a network such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) (registered trademark).

[0017] The storage unit 13 is one or more memories. The memory may be, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic memory, an optical memory, or the like, but is not limited to these and may be any memory. The storage unit 13 functions as, for example, a primary storage device or a secondary storage device. The storage unit 13 is, for example, built into the authentication server 10, but may also be configured to be connected to the authentication server 10 from the outside via any interface.

[0018] The control unit 14 is one or more processors. The processor may be, for example, a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process, but is not limited to these and may be any processor. The control unit 14 controls the overall operation of the authentication server 10.

[0019] Here, the input / output device 11 is an interface for accepting a user's operation on the authentication server 10 and presenting information from the authentication server 10 to the user. The input / output device 11 may be composed of an input device and a display device. The input device may be, for example, a keyboard and a mouse as a hardware configuration. The input device may be, for example, a biometric authentication device that reads a fingerprint or veins unique to a user to identify the user's ID (identification), etc. The display device may be, for example, a display such as a liquid crystal display or an OEL (Organic Electro-luminescence) display as a hardware configuration.

[0020] The authentication server 10 has the following software configuration. One or more programs used to control the operation of the authentication server 10 are stored in a storage unit 13. When the programs stored in the storage unit 13 are read by a control unit 14, they cause the control unit 14 to function as an input means 15, an acquisition means 16, an authentication means 17, and an output means 18.

[0021] An overview of each means is as follows. Input means 15 is a means for accepting input based on a user operation on an input device. Acquisition means 16 is a means for acquiring a registrant list from storage unit 13 for checking the input user ID and password. Authentication means 17 is a means for checking the input user ID and password against the contents of the registrant list, and determining that operation by the user is permitted if a match is confirmed. Output means 18 is a means for outputting an authorization signal based on authentication by authentication means 17 so that a device connected via a second network 52 described later becomes operable. Specific operations of each means will be described later.

[0022] 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the monitoring and control system 1 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the monitoring and control system 1 is a system for monitoring a plant such as a water purification plant, and is constructed inside the plant facility 2 without being connected to an external network from the viewpoint of security.

[0023] The monitoring and control system 1 has a first network 51. The first network 51 is a closed network within the facility 2, and is used for transmitting and receiving data signals between connected information processing devices. In this embodiment, the first network 51 is a LAN network.

[0024] The monitoring control system 1 includes a monitoring control server 30 and one or more terminal devices 40. The monitoring control server 30 executes various functions for monitoring a plant. The monitoring control server 30 is connected to the terminal devices 40 via a first network 51. The monitoring control server 30 and the terminal devices 40 connected via the first network 51 are maintained in an operating state in order to constantly monitor the plant and receive monitoring control. Here, the monitoring control server 30 and the terminal devices 40 may be configured as computers. A user of the monitoring control system 1 can use the input / output device 31 of the monitoring control server 30 or the input / output device 41 of the terminal devices 40 to perform operations on the monitoring control server 30 or obtain information from the monitoring control server 30. For example, the user can have the monitoring control server 30 change the settings of the conditions for monitoring the plant or display the monitoring results.

[0025] The authentication server 10 first performs authentication (operation authentication) in the monitoring control system 1 to confirm that the user is a registered person authorized to access the monitoring control server 30. The input / output device 41 and the terminal device 40, and the input / output device 31 and the monitoring control server 30 are connected by USB or HDMI (registered trademark). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, in the monitoring control system 1, the first network 51 and the second network 52 are physically separated (disconnected). The second network 52 connects the authentication server 10 to the monitoring control server 30 and the input / output devices 31 and 41 of the terminal device 40. In this embodiment, the second network 52 is a network such as a LAN. Here, the connection between the input / output device 41 and the terminal device 40, and the input / output device 31 and the monitoring control server 30 by USB or HDMI (registered trademark), are referred to as local connections hereinafter in order to distinguish them from networks such as a LAN.

[0026] The authentication server 10 can control the operation of the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 via the second network 52. For example, the authentication server 10 may control the on / off of the power supply of the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 by outputting a control signal via the second network 52. For example, the authentication server 10 may control the on / off of the electrical connection between the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 and the monitoring control server 30 and the terminal device 40 by outputting a control signal via the second network 52. When the authentication server 10 authenticates that the user is an authorized person, that is, when the result of the account authentication is correct, the authentication server 10 makes the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 operable. In other words, when the result of the account authentication is incorrect, the authentication server 10 keeps the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 in an unusable state. Here, the authentication server 10 controls whether or not the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 connected by a local connection can be operated, such as by turning the power supply on or off.

[0027] The authentication server 10 is not connected to the first network 51, and does not execute operations on the monitoring control server 30 or obtain information from the monitoring control server 30. Therefore, problems such as unauthorized operations from the authentication server 10 and leakage of monitoring information do not occur.

[0028] Here, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a monitoring control system 101 without an account management function. In the monitoring control system 101, the same elements as those in FIG. 2 are assigned the same reference numerals. As is clear from a comparison between the monitoring control system 101 in FIG. 4 and the monitoring control system 1 in FIG. 2, a monitoring control system 1 capable of performing account authentication can be constructed by simply adding an authentication server 10 via a second network 52 to the monitoring control system 101 without an account management function. Also, as described above, the added authentication server 10 does not cause problems such as unauthorized operation and leakage of monitoring information. Also, there is no need to make any changes to the first network 51 of the monitoring control system 101. In this way, for example, an account management function can be easily added to an old system without an account management function by adding an authentication server 10.

[0029] 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an authentication method executed by the monitoring and control system 1 according to this embodiment. In the authentication (operation authentication), the following processes are executed.

[0030] A user inputs an ID and a password from an input device (step S1). The input device may be the input / output device 11. If the input / output device 11 is a biometric authentication device, biometric information may be used as the ID and password.

[0031] The authentication server 10 acquires the ID and password via the communication unit 12, and executes the operation authentication process using the ID and password acquired by the control unit 14 (step S2). Details of the software process for the operation authentication are as follows.

[0032] The input means 15 accepts an ID and a password based on a user operation on the input device. The acquisition means 16 acquires a registrant list from the storage unit 13. The registrant list indicates IDs and passwords of registrants who have the authority to access the monitoring control server 30. The authentication means 17 compares the input user ID and password with the contents of the registrant list. If the authentication means 17 confirms a match, it determines that the result of the account authentication is correct. If the result of the account authentication is correct, the output means 18 grants operation permission via the second network 52. Here, if the result of the account authentication is incorrect, the output means 18 may output a control signal to cause a display to display, for example, a message prompting the user to re-enter the ID and password.

[0033] When operation permission is granted, the input / output devices 31 and 41 become operable, and the user can use the input / output devices 31 and 41 to operate the monitoring control server 30 and access monitoring information (step S3).

[0034] As described above, the monitoring and control system 1, authentication method, and program according to this embodiment can add an account management function without making major changes to an existing system (see monitoring and control system 101 in FIG. 4) due to the above configuration. In this embodiment, the account management function can be added without making any changes to the transmission and reception of information using the first network 51 of the existing system.

[0035] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and embodiments, it should be noted that those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications and corrections based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and corrections are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each means, each step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple means or steps can be combined or divided into one.

[0036] The configuration of the above devices is also arbitrary. For example, the process executed by one authentication server 10 in the above embodiment may be executed by multiple servers. Similarly, the process executed by one terminal device 40 and one monitoring control server 30 may be executed by multiple devices and servers.

[0037] Also, for example, the authentication server 10 may not have a dedicated input / output device 11. In such a case, the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 may be used as input devices in the process (step S1 above) in which the authentication server 10 acquires an ID and a password. In other words, at least a part of the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 may also have the function of an input device of the authentication server 10. At least a part of the input / output device 31 and the input / output device 41 may function as an interface for the authentication server 10 during the operation authentication, and may be switched to an interface for the monitoring control server 30 and the terminal device 40 after the operation authentication is completed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1. Monitoring and control system 2 Facilities 10 Authentication Server 11 Input / Output Devices 12 Communications Department 13 Storage section 14 Control section 15 Input Methods 16 Acquisition method 17 Authentication Methods 18 Output Method 30 Monitoring and Control Server 31 Input / Output Devices 40 Terminal Equipment 41 Input / Output Devices 51 Network 1 52 Second Network 101 Supervisory control system

Claims

1. A monitoring and control system having a first network for monitoring a monitoring target and an input / output device for operating the first network, the input / output device is always connected to a first network, and is connected to an authentication server that performs account authentication in the monitoring and control system via a second network that is physically separated from the first network to which the input / output device is always connected; The authentication server enables operation of the input / output device when a result of the account authentication is correct.

2. The authentication server controls whether or not the input / output device connected by a local connection can be operated. The monitoring and control system according to claim 1 .

3. 1. An authentication method executed in a monitoring and control system having a first network and an input / output device that operates the first network, comprising: a step of, when the input / output device is connected to an authentication server that performs account authentication in the monitoring and control system via a second network that is physically separated from the first network, the authentication server performs account authentication in the monitoring and control system; The authentication method, wherein the authentication server enables operation of the input / output device if a result of the account authentication is correct.

4. A program executed in a monitoring and control system having a first network and an input / output device that operates the first network, when the input / output device is connected to an authentication server that performs account authentication in the monitoring and control system via a second network that is physically separated from the first network, causing the authentication server to perform account authentication in the monitoring and control system; The authentication server is a program that enables operation of the input / output device if a result of the account authentication is correct.

5. a first network for monitoring a monitoring target; a second network physically separated from the first network; an information processing device that is connected to the first network; an input / output device for operating the first network, an authentication server that performs account authentication in the monitoring and control system via the second network without being connected to the first network; the input / output device is locally connected to the information processing device and is network-connected to an authentication server via the second network; The authentication server enables operation of the input / output device when a result of the account authentication is correct.

6. The monitoring and control system according to claim 5 , wherein the input / output device operates the first network via the locally connected information processing device without being directly connected to the first network.

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