Erroneous transmission prevention device, erroneous transmission prevention method, and program

Abstract

To provide a device, method and program for preventing erroneous transmission in transmitting a message including storage destination information of electronic data.SOLUTION: An erroneous operation prevention server includes an important information determination part for determining whether or not prescribed important information is included in an attached file in the case that the attached file is attached to a message of a transmission object, and a storage part for storing the attached file in the prescribed storage service in the case of determining that the important information is not included in the attached file, and a mail transmission terminal includes a display control part for displaying a screen to confirm the important information in the case of determining that the important information is included in the attached file, and a mail creation part for creating a mail with the attached file deleted and with a storage destination in a storage service of the attached file written.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an erroneous transmission prevention device, an erroneous transmission prevention method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] A known technique for preventing erroneous transmission of electronic mail (hereinafter also simply referred to as "mail") is to display a confirmation screen for prompting the sender to confirm the legitimacy of the destination address, the legitimacy of the attached file, etc., before sending the email. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for displaying a confirmation screen for prompting the sender to confirm the legitimacy of the destination address before sending the email, and not allowing the email to be sent until the confirmation result on this confirmation screen is obtained.

[0003] In recent years, there has been an increasing trend to store electronic files (hereinafter simply referred to as "files") in a storage service and then include the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the storage location in the email, rather than attaching the file itself to an email. This method of use is essentially the same as attaching the file itself to an email, and is therefore considered to pose the same security risks. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-87327 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the prior art, when a storage destination URL is included in an email, it is not possible to display a confirmation screen to confirm the legitimacy of the file. Therefore, for example, if the wrong file is stored in a storage service and the storage destination URL is sent by email, a situation essentially similar to the erroneous sending of the file occurs. Note that this situation is also likely to occur in messaging applications other than email, such as instant messengers and chat applications.

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to prevent erroneous transmission when sending a message that includes storage destination information for electronic data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, one embodiment of the mistransmission prevention device has: a determination unit that, when an attachment is attached to a message to be sent, determines whether the attachment contains specified important information; a storage unit that stores the attachment in a specified storage service if it is determined that the attachment does not contain the important information; a display control unit that displays a screen for allowing the user to confirm the important information if it is determined that the attachment contains the important information; and a creation unit that creates the message in which the attachment has been deleted and in which the storage location of the attachment in the storage service is described. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] This makes it possible to prevent erroneous transmission of a message containing storage destination information for electronic data. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a mail sending terminal according to the embodiment. [Figure 2]10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an email transmission process according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmission confirmation screen. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of important information determination processing according to the present embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an important information confirmation screen. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a mail sending terminal and a mail erroneous sending prevention server according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, a mail sending terminal 10 that can prevent erroneous sending of a mail containing a file storage destination URL will be described.

[0011] Here, erroneous transmission refers to sending an email that is not intended by the sender. For example, the following cases (1) to (3) fall under erroneous transmission.

[0012] (1) When an email is sent to an incorrect recipient (for example, an unintended recipient). (2) When sending an email with an incorrect file attached (for example, a file not intended by the sender, a file with erroneous or inappropriate information, etc.) (3) If an email containing an incorrect file storage URL is sent In this embodiment, we will explain how to prevent erroneous sending of (1) and (2), and also how to prevent erroneous sending of (3). To achieve this prevention of erroneous sending of (3), when an operation to send an email containing a URL of a storage service is performed, the email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment displays a screen (a sending confirmation screen, which will be described later) that allows the user to confirm the contents of the file stored in the storage destination indicated by the URL before the email is actually sent. This allows the email sender (hereinafter also referred to as the user) to confirm the contents of the file before sending the email, thereby preventing the sending of an email containing an incorrect file storage destination URL. Note that the prevention of erroneous sending of (1) and (2) is achieved using existing technology.

[0013] In addition to this, the mail sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment displays a screen (an important information confirmation screen to be described later) for confirming important information (for example, personal information, etc.) when the file (mainly the file stored in the storage destination indicated by the above storage destination URL) contains important information. This makes it possible to notify the user that important information is contained in the file before sending the mail, and therefore makes it possible to have the user confirm, for example, whether or not it is really okay to send the storage destination URL of the file.

[0014] Although this embodiment will be described with respect to email, this is merely an example, and this embodiment can be similarly applied to messaging applications such as instant messengers and chat applications. That is, when sending a message containing a file storage URL using a messaging application, this embodiment can be similarly applied to preventing the erroneous sending described in (3) above, or to notifying the user that the file contains important information. Note that an email application (a so-called mailer) for sending and receiving emails can also be considered a messaging application, and therefore email is also an example of a message.

[0015] Furthermore, files stored in the storage service (and files attached to emails) are primarily assumed to be document files, but are not limited to this and may be any electronic data such as image files.

[0016] <Overall configuration of the email sending terminal 10> FIG. 1 shows the functional configuration of an email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment includes an email creation unit 101, an erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102, and a display control unit 103. These units are realized, for example, by one or more programs installed in the email sending terminal 10, which are executed by various computing devices such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). For example, the email creation unit 101 can be realized by a process executed by an email application in the computing device. Furthermore, for example, the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 may be realized by a process executed by an erroneous transmission prevention application program different from the email application in the computing device, or by a process executed by an add-in or add-on program to the email application in the computing device. The display control unit 103 may be realized by a process executed by the erroneous transmission prevention application program in the computing device, or by a process executed by an add-in or add-on program in the computing device, or by a process executed by a program such as a web browser in the computing device.

[0017] The mail sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment also has a setting information storage unit 104. The setting information storage unit 104 is realized by various storage devices such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, etc. However, the setting information storage unit 104 may also be realized by a storage device (for example, a database server, etc.) connected to the mail sending terminal 10 via a communication network.

[0018] The email sending terminal 10 is a terminal used by an email sender, and is realized by various computers or computer systems such as a PC (personal computer), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a wearable device, and the like.

[0019] The email creation unit 101 creates an email (for example, an email containing a URL of a file storage location in the storage service 20). Here, the storage service 20 is, for example, a service that rents out storage (memory area) in the form of a cloud service or the like. The storage service 20 may be provided by an external business operator, or may be provided by the email sender or email receiver (or an organization to which the email sender belongs, an organization to which the email receiver belongs, etc.).

[0020] The erroneous transmission prevention processor 102 generates screens (such as a transmission confirmation screen and an important information confirmation screen) for preventing erroneous transmission of the email created by the email creation unit 101, and transmits the email to the email server 30 in response to a user operation. Here, the erroneous transmission prevention processor 102 includes a URL determination unit 111, a storage determination unit 112, an important information determination unit 113, a screen generation unit 114, and a transmission unit 115.

[0021] The URL determination unit 111 refers to the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 104 and determines whether or not a URL is included in the email.

[0022] The storage determination unit 112 refers to the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 104 and determines whether the URL determined by the URL determination unit 111 to be included in the email is the URL of a predetermined storage service 20.

[0023] The important information determination unit 113 refers to the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 104 and determines whether or not important information is included in a file (particularly, a file stored in the above-mentioned storage service 20).

[0024] When the storage determination unit 112 determines that the URL of a predetermined storage service 20 is included in the email, the screen generation unit 114 generates a transmission confirmation screen that notifies the user that the URL is included in the email. Also, when the important information determination unit 113 determines that important information is included in the file, the screen generation unit 114 generates an important information confirmation screen that notifies the user that the important information is included in the file.

[0025] When a user performs an email sending operation on the sending confirmation screen, the sending unit 115 sends the email created by the email creating unit 101 to the email server 30. In addition, even when the sending confirmation screen is not generated, the sending unit 115 sends the email created by the email creating unit 101 to the email server 30.

[0026] The display control unit 103 displays the transmission confirmation screen and important information confirmation screen generated by the screen generation unit 114 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 on the display of the email sending terminal 10. The display control unit 103 also displays various screens other than the transmission confirmation screen and important information confirmation screen on the display of the email sending terminal 10.

[0027] The setting information storage unit 104 stores setting information referenced by the URL determination unit 111, storage determination unit 112, and important information determination unit 113 included in the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102. Here, the setting information includes regular URL information used to determine whether a URL is included in an email, storage URL information for determining whether the URL is for a predetermined storage service 20, and matching information for determining whether important information is included in a file. The setting information includes one or more pieces of storage URL information and one or more pieces of matching information.

[0028] Canonical URL information is information that expresses an arbitrary URL using an expression method called a regular expression. For example, canonical URL information can be information expressed as "(([Hh][Tt][Tt][Pp][Ss]{0,1}): / / )[a-zA-Z0-9\-\._~: / ?#\[\]!$&'\(\)*+,;=%^]+". However, this is just one example of canonical URL information, and information expressed in other formats may also be used as long as it expresses an arbitrary URL using a regular expression.

[0029] The storage URL information is information for determining whether a certain URL is the URL of a specific storage service 20, and is information that is composed of, for example, a characteristic character string and a wildcard in the URL of the storage service 20.

[0030] For example, if the URL of storage service A is "http: / / www.storage-a.co.jp," the storage URL information of storage service A can be expressed as "*storage-a*" using the wildcard "*." This means that if the string "storage-a" exists in the URL, the URL is determined to be the URL of storage service A.

[0031] Furthermore, for example, if the URLs of storage service B are "http: / / www.storage-b.co.jp" and "http: / / www.cloud-b.co.jp," the storage URL information of storage service B can be expressed as "*storage-a*|*cloud-b*" or the like, using the wildcard "*" and the symbol "|" representing logical sum. This means that if the character string "storage-a" or the character string "cloud-b" exists in the URL, the URL is determined to be the URL of storage service B.

[0032] The matching information is information used when determining whether or not important information is contained in a file by pattern matching, and is information that is composed of, for example, keywords, special symbols, and the like.

[0033] For example, when determining whether a personal name is included in a file as important information, the matching information can be information consisting of a surname and a wildcard, such as "Suzuki*," "Sato*," or "Yamada*."

[0034] Also, for example, when determining whether an address is included in a file as important information, the matching information can be information consisting of a prefecture name, a city / ward / town / village name, and a wildcard, such as "Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo*" or "Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture*."

[0035] Also, for example, when determining whether a telephone number is included in a file as important information, the matching information can be information consisting of an area code such as "03-####-####" or "06-####-####" and the symbol "#" representing any single digit.

[0036] The above matching information is merely an example, and any information can be used as long as it is information that can be used to determine whether or not predetermined important information is contained in a file by pattern matching. Important information may be not only personal names, addresses, and telephone numbers, but also email addresses, My Numbers, and other types of confidential information (e.g., user IDs, passwords, etc.) that are arbitrarily set.

[0037] <Email sending process> The email sending process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. In this email sending process, when an email is sent, if the URL of a predetermined storage service 20 is described in the email, a sending confirmation screen is displayed on the display (in particular, icon 1101, which will be described later, is displayed on this sending confirmation screen). If there are other confirmation items (for example, the destination, the contents of the email body, etc.), display components for prompting the user to confirm these confirmation items are also displayed on the sending confirmation screen.

[0038] First, the email creation unit 101 creates an email in response to a user operation (step S101). Here, it is assumed that the user creates a desired email and then performs an operation to send the email. As a result, the email is sent to the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102.

[0039] Next, URL determination unit 111 of erroneous transmission prevention processor 102 uses the canonical URL information included in the setting information stored in setting information storage unit 104 to determine whether or not a URL is included in the email created in step S101 (step S102). That is, URL determination unit 111 uses the canonical URL information to determine whether or not a URL-formatted character string (i.e., a character string of alphanumeric characters of any length beginning with "http: / / " regardless of uppercase and lowercase letters) is included in the email. Note that "inside the email" refers to within the body of the email, but the subject of the email may also be included in addition to the body of the email.

[0040] If it is determined in step S102 above that a URL is included in the email (YES in step S103), the storage determination unit 112 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 uses the storage URL information included in the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 104 to determine whether or not the URL determined to be included in the email in step S102 above is the URL of a predetermined storage service 20 (step S104). That is, the storage determination unit 112 uses the storage URL information to determine whether or not a storage destination URL specifying a predetermined storage service 20 as a storage destination for a file is described in the email.

[0041] If it is not determined in step S102 above that a URL is included in the email (NO in step S103) or if it is not determined in step S104 above that the URL included in the email is the URL of the predetermined storage service 20 (NO in step S105), the sending unit 115 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 sends the email created in step S101 above to the email server 30 (step S106). That is, in this case, the sending unit 115 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 sends the email to the email server 30 without displaying a sending confirmation screen. Note that the email is sent to the recipient by being sent to the email server 30. However, if there are other confirmation items other than the URL of the predetermined storage service 20, a sending confirmation screen including display components for prompting the user to confirm those confirmation items may be displayed. In addition, at this time, a display component indicating that the URL of the specified storage service 20 is not included in the email may be displayed separately from display components that prompt the user to check other confirmation items, and the email may be automatically sent only if all confirmation items, including the confirmation item as to whether the URL of the specified storage service 20 is included in the email, meet the specified sending criteria.

[0042] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S104 above that the URL contained in the email is the URL of a specified storage service 20 (YES in step S105), the screen generation unit 114 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 generates a transmission confirmation screen that at least notifies the user that the URL of the specified storage service 20 is contained in the email (step S107).

[0043] Then, the display control unit 103 displays the transmission confirmation screen generated in step S107 on the display (step S108). This notifies the user before sending the email that the email contains a storage destination URL for the file to be stored in a specific storage service 20. This prompts the user to reconfirm the contents of the file, preventing erroneous transmission.

[0044] <<Send confirmation screen>> An example of the transmission confirmation screen displayed in step S107 above is shown in Fig. 3. The transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Fig. 3 is an example of the case where an email is created in step S101 above with "Quote" as the subject, the URL of the storage destination of storage service A in the body, and "Quote.pdf" and "Schedule.xlsx" as attachments.

[0045] Icons 1101 to 1103 are displayed in the attachment display field 1100 of the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Fig. 3. Icon 1101 is a display component indicating that a URL specifying storage service A as the storage destination is described in the email. Icon 1102 is a display component indicating that "Quote.pdf" is attached, and icon 1103 is a display component indicating that "Schedule.xlsx" is attached. This allows the user to be notified that an attachment has been attached and that a storage destination URL specifying a specific storage service 20 as the file storage destination is described in the email.

[0046] At this time, for example, if the user selects icon 1101, an important information determination process, which will be described later, is executed to determine whether or not important information is contained in a file stored in a storage destination indicated by a storage destination URL of the storage service 20 (storage service A in the example shown in FIG. 3) corresponding to the icon 1101. Details of this important information determination process will be described later. Similarly, for example, if the user selects icon 1102, it is determined whether or not important information is contained in "quote.pdf," and if the user selects icon 1103, it is determined whether or not important information is contained in "schedule.xlsx."

[0047] When icon 1101 is selected, the important information determination process may not be executed, but a file may be downloaded from the storage destination URL of the storage service 20 corresponding to icon 1101, and the contents of the file may be displayed. Similarly, when icon 1102 is selected, the contents of "Quote.pdf" may be displayed, and when icon 1103 is selected, the contents of "Schedule.xlsx" may be displayed.

[0048] The transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in FIG. 3 also includes a subject display field 1200, a destination display field 1300, and a body display field 1400.

[0049] In the subject display field 1200, the subject of the email created in step S101 above, "Quote Request," is displayed.

[0050] The destination display field 1300 displays the email address set as the destination of the email created in step S101 above. The example shown in FIG. 3 shows a case where "usere1@expop1.abc.gr.jp" is set as the destination email address. In this case, icon 1301 displays the domain of the destination email address, "abc.gr.jp," and icon 1302 displays the destination email address. Icon 1301 is displayed in a different manner depending on whether or not an email has been sent to the domain in the past. Similarly, icon 1302 is displayed in a different manner depending on whether or not an email has been sent to the email address in the past. Note that the example shown in FIG. 3 shows a case where the domain "abc.gr.jp" is a domain to which an email has been sent in the past, but no email has been sent to "usere1" in the domain "abc.gr.jp."

[0051] The body of the email created in step S101 above is displayed in the body display field 1400. Note that the user may be able to edit (add, delete, etc.) the contents of the email body in this body display field 1400.

[0052] 3 includes a send button 1500 and a cancel send button 1600, and the email created in step S101 above is actually sent when the user selects the send button 1500. That is, when the user selects the send button 1500, the sending unit 115 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 sends the email to the email server 30. On the other hand, the user can cancel sending of the email by selecting the cancel send button 1600.

[0053] 3 is an example, and in addition to the display components shown, the screen may also include buttons for executing a determination process for each check item, including whether or not the URL of a predetermined storage service 20 is included in the email (i.e., the processes of steps S102 to S105 above, existing erroneous transmission prevention processes, etc.). The determination process for each check item may be automatically executed when, for example, the subject, destination, email body, or attached file (including a file stored in the storage destination URL of the storage service 20) is changed.

[0054] 3 (icons 1101 to 1103 in the attachment display field 1100, subject display field 1200, destination display field 1300, body display field 1400, etc.) may change their display mode when the user confirms the corresponding confirmation item. Note that changes in display mode may include not only changing the color, etc., but also displaying a check mark in a character string or a check box, etc.

[0055] For example, when "Quote.pdf" is opened, the display mode of icon 1102 may be changed to a mode indicating that it has been confirmed (for example, by changing the color to green or displaying the text "Confirmed"). Similarly, when "Schedule.xlsx" is opened, the display mode of icon 1103 may be changed to a mode indicating that it has been confirmed. Similarly, when a file stored in the storage destination URL of storage service A is opened (or downloaded and opened), the display mode of icon 1101 may be changed to a mode indicating that it has been confirmed.

[0056] <Important information determination process> The important information determination process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. In this important information determination process, if important information is included in a file, an important information confirmation screen is displayed on the display. In the following, as an example, it is assumed that the user selects icon 1101 on the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Fig. 3.

[0057] First, the important information determination unit 113 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 acquires a file stored in a storage destination indicated by a storage destination URL of the storage service 20 (storage service A in the example shown in FIG. 3) corresponding to the icon 1101 selected by the user (step S201). Here, the important information determination unit 113 may acquire the file by automatically downloading the file from the storage destination URL, or may acquire a file downloaded by a user operation from the storage destination URL. When a file is downloaded by a user operation, for example, a file download screen of storage service A is displayed by the display control unit 103 in response to the selection of the icon 1101, and the user performs a file download operation on this file download screen.

[0058] Next, the important information determination unit 113 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 determines whether or not important information is included in the file acquired in step S201 above (step S202), using the matching information included in the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 104. That is, the important information determination unit 113 performs pattern matching on the file using the matching information, thereby determining whether or not important information corresponding to the matching information is included.

[0059] If it is determined in step S202 above that important information is not included in the file (NO in step S203), the erroneous transmission prevention processor 102 ends the important information determination process.

[0060] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S202 above that the file contains important information (YES in step S203), the screen generation unit 114 of the mistransmission prevention processing unit 102 generates an important information confirmation screen notifying the user that the file contains important information (step S204).

[0061] Then, the display control unit 103 displays the important information confirmation screen generated in step S204 on the display (step S205). This makes it possible to notify the user that important information is included in the file (particularly, a file stored in a predetermined storage service 20) before sending the email. This prompts the user to reconfirm the contents of the file, making it possible to prevent the leakage of important information such as personal information.

[0062] 4 determines whether or not important information is included in a file stored in a predetermined storage service 20, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may also be determined whether or not important information is included in a file attached to an email (for example, "quote.pdf" and "schedule.xlsx" in the example shown in FIG. 3). When determining whether or not important information is included in a file attached to an email, it is not necessary to execute step S201 above, and it is sufficient to determine whether or not important information is included in a file attached to an email in step S202 above.

[0063] <Important Information Confirmation Screen> An example of the important information confirmation screen displayed in step S205 above is shown in Fig. 5. The important information confirmation screen 2000 shown in Fig. 5 is an example when it is determined in step S202 above that the information includes a phone number, a password, and three personal names.

[0064] Icons 2101 to 2103 are displayed in an important information display field 2100 of an important information confirmation screen 2000 shown in Fig. 5. Icon 2101 is a display component indicating that the file contains a phone number, icon 2102 is a display component indicating that the file contains a password, and icon 2103 is a display component indicating that the file contains three personal names. This allows the user to be notified that the file contains important information.

[0065] At this time, for example, if the user selects icon 2101, the telephone number contained in the file may be displayed. Similarly, if the user selects icon 2102, the password may be displayed, and if the user selects icon 2103, three personal names may be displayed. However, confidential information such as passwords may not be displayed, or may be displayed in a masked state.

[0066] Furthermore, when the user selects the OK button 2200, the display control unit 103 hides the important information confirmation screen 2000.

[0067] The important information confirmation screen 2000 shown in FIG. 5 may be displayed as a pop-up screen or the like, separately from the transmission confirmation screen, or may be displayed as a part of the transmission confirmation screen.

[0068] <Modification> A modification of this embodiment will now be described.

[0069] <<Variation 1>> In this embodiment, the case has been described where the mail sending terminal 10 has the mail creation unit 101, the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102, the display control unit 103, and the setting information storage unit 104, but the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 and the setting information storage unit 104 may be held by a server located between the mail sending terminal 10 and the mail server 30. That is, as shown in Fig. 6, the erroneous transmission prevention server 40 may be located between the mail sending terminal 10 and the mail server 30, and this erroneous transmission prevention server 40 may have the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 and the setting information storage unit 104. This eliminates the need to install a program that realizes the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 in the mail sending terminal 10, which is effective when there are a large number of mail sending terminals 10, for example.

[0070] <<Variation 2>> In the above-described first modification, the mail sending terminal 10 has the mail creation unit 101, but the mail sending terminal 10 does not necessarily have to have the mail creation unit 101. For example, if the mail creation unit 101 is realized by webmail, the mail sending terminal 10 only needs to have a web browser, and does not necessarily have to have the mail creation unit 101. In this case, the server that provides the webmail has the mail creation unit 101.

[0071] <<Variation 3>> 2, it is determined whether or not a URL is included in the email, but it may also be determined whether or not a URL is included in an attachment to the email, for example. This makes it possible to display a transmission confirmation screen in step S108 of FIG. 2 even if the storage destination URL of a file stored in a predetermined storage service 20 is included in the attachment.

[0072] Furthermore, when a user replies to a received email, the reply email may contain a quoted sentence (for example, a sentence beginning with the symbol ">"). In this case, even if a URL is included in the email, if the URL is included in the quoted sentence, it may be determined in step S102 of Fig. 2 that the URL is not included in the email. In the series of determinations from step S102 to step S104, each determination unit may have information on the determination conditions, such as legitimate URL information, the URL of a predetermined storage service 20, and whether or not to exclude the quoted sentence, so that the determination can be made without referring to the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 104.

[0073] <<Variation 4>> In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user will store (upload) the file to the storage service 20 in advance, but this uploading may also be performed by the email sending terminal 10. For example, when an email with an attachment is created in step S101 of FIG. 2, the email sending terminal 10 may automatically store (upload) this attachment to the storage service 20 and automatically include the storage destination URL in the email body, etc. This allows the user to create and send an email with a storage destination URL included simply by creating an email with an attachment, without having to upload the file in advance. Note that the upload destination storage service 20 and its account information (e.g., user ID and password) must be registered in advance in the email sending terminal 10.

[0074] Furthermore, before uploading the file to the storage service 20, the important information determination unit 113 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 may determine whether or not the file contains important information. If the file to be uploaded contains important information, an important information confirmation screen may be displayed and the upload of the file may be stopped. This makes it possible to prevent the upload of files containing important information when email attachments are automatically uploaded to the storage service 20.

[0075] <<Variation 5>> Icons 1101 to 1103 are displayed in the attachment file display field 1100 of the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in FIG. 3, but the display order of these icons 1101 to 1103 may be changed according to some criteria.

[0076] For example, a score may be calculated for each file (attached file or file stored in the storage service 20) corresponding to each icon, and the icons may be displayed in descending order of the scores.

[0077] In this case, the score may be a value calculated or determined depending on the importance of the file corresponding to the icon, the level of security risk in case of erroneous transmission, etc. For example, it is conceivable to calculate the score depending on the important information contained in the file corresponding to the icon. Specifically, for example, the type of important information is i (1≦i≦I, I is the number of types), and the weight of the important information of type i is w i , the number of important information of type i contained in the file is n i The score of the file is w1n1+···+w I n I In addition to this, the score may be calculated taking into account information such as the nature of the file (for example, whether it is confidential or not). In this way, a score is calculated according to the type and amount of important information contained in the file, the nature of the file, etc., and the icons corresponding to the files are displayed in descending order of their scores.

[0078] Furthermore, the display mode of each icon may be changed depending on the score. For example, an icon corresponding to a file whose score is equal to or exceeds a predetermined threshold may be highlighted by changing its color or blinking.

[0079] Furthermore, when changing the display order or the display mode, the type of file corresponding to the icon and the storage service 20 in which the file is stored may be taken into consideration. For example, if there is a rule that "quotes should be sent as PDF files," and if the quote is not a PDF file, the icon corresponding to that file may be moved to the top of the display order or highlighted. Also, for example, if there is a rule that "when sending a storage destination URL to a specific destination, the file should be stored in a specific storage service 20 and the storage destination URL should be entered," the icon corresponding to that file may be moved to the top of the display order or highlighted. The file type may be identified from the character string or file name written in the file.

[0080] In this way, if there are rules or conventions that conform to rules when sending files (attachments, storage URLs), if the file does not conform to those rules or conventions, the icon corresponding to the file may be displayed higher or highlighted.

[0081] Variation 6 Check boxes or the like may be provided for each display component (icons 1101 to 1103 in the attachment display field 1100, subject display field 1200, destination display field 1300, body display field 1400, etc.) in the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in FIG. 3 , and, for example, if all check boxes are not checked, the send button 1500 may not be pressed. Also, for example, if the attached files (including files stored in the storage destination URL of the storage service 20) have not been confirmed, the check boxes may not be checked, and the send button 1500 may not be pressed. Furthermore, for example, if the transmission confirmation screen 1000 includes a button or the like for executing a determination process for each confirmation item, including whether or not the URL of the storage service 20 is included in the email, the button may not be pressed when all check boxes are not checked (or the attached files have not been confirmed).

[0082] The present invention is not limited to the above-described specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications, changes, and combinations with known technologies are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 10. Email sending terminal 20 Storage Services 30 Mail Server 101 Email Creation Department 102 Mistransmission prevention processing unit 103 Display control unit 104 Setting information storage unit 111 URL determination section 112 Storage determination unit 113 Important Information Judgment Department 114 Screen generation section 115 Transmitter

Claims

1. a determination unit that, when a file is attached to a message to be sent, determines whether or not predetermined important information is included in the attached file; a storage unit that stores the attached file in a predetermined storage service when it is determined that the attached file does not contain the important information; a display control unit that displays a screen for prompting the user to confirm the important information when it is determined that the important information is included in the attached file; a creating unit that creates the message from which the attachment has been deleted and in which a storage location of the attachment in the storage service is described; An erroneous transmission prevention device having the same.

2. a determination unit that, when a file is attached to a message to be sent, determines whether or not predetermined important information is included in the attached file; a storage unit that stores the attached file in a predetermined storage service when it is determined that the attached file does not contain the important information; a display control unit that, when it is determined that the important information is included in the attached file, does not store the attached file in the storage service and displays a screen for allowing the user to confirm the important information; An erroneous transmission prevention device having the same.

3. a determination step of determining whether or not predetermined important information is included in an attachment file when the message to be sent has an attachment file; a storage procedure for storing the attachment in a predetermined storage service when it is determined that the important information is not included in the attachment; a display control step of displaying a screen for prompting the user to confirm the important information when it is determined that the important information is included in the attached file; a creation step of creating the message from which the attachment has been deleted and in which a storage location of the attachment in the storage service is described; The computer performs a method to prevent accidental transmission.

4. a determination step of determining whether or not predetermined important information is included in an attachment file when the message to be sent has an attachment file; a storage procedure for storing the attachment in a predetermined storage service when it is determined that the important information is not included in the attachment; a display control procedure for displaying a screen for allowing the user to confirm the important information without storing the attachment in the storage service when it is determined that the important information is included in the attachment; The computer performs a method to prevent accidental transmission.

5. A program that causes a computer to function as the erroneous transmission prevention device according to claim 1 or 2.

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