Message delivery device, message delivery method, and message delivery program

Abstract

To determine and distribute a person in charge of notifying an update message to all terminals connected to a local network in consideration of a difficulty level of a countermeasure and a IT literacy level of a user.SOLUTION: The message distribution device includes a terminal information acquisition unit that acquires terminal information related to software installed in a terminal connected to a local network, a version information acquisition unit that acquires version information of a latest version of the software and stores the acquired version information in a terminal management server, a distribution rule registration unit that registers a distribution rule for distributing a message prompting update of the software for each terminal, a notifier setting unit that sets a user of the terminal as at least a notifier based on the terminal information, and a message distribution unit that determines a message according to the distribution rule based on the terminal information and the version information and distributes the determined message to a terminal of the set notifier.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a message distribution device, a message distribution method, and a message distribution program for distributing a message prompting a software update. [Background technology]

[0002] Cyber ​​attacks using malware have become increasingly sophisticated, resulting in numerous incidents of spam emails and unauthorized access, but the rate at which users themselves implement security measures remains low.

[0003] Patent Document 1 proposes a device that identifies security holes in terminals managed by users and delivers appropriate security information to the users. This allows the device to notify the users of information necessary for patch application (such as a URL for downloading patches) from security information collected from trusted sites, taking into consideration the user's patch application status.

[0004] Patent Document 2 proposes a device that determines whether there is a failure on the server side when notifying users of software updates, and notifies them when there is no failure. This allows users to update without overlapping with server failures.

[0005] Patent Document 3 discloses a technology for managing the patch application status of hardware and software by comparing patch information provided by development vendors with the patch application status of employees, extracting necessary security measures that have not been patched, and notifying them by email.

[0006] Patent document 4 proposes a device that acquires the software update status of a user terminal, outputs a message requesting the execution of an update program for the software at a predetermined timing, determines the user's behavioral change stage regarding security measures based on the response to the message, and changes the content of the message output based on the determined behavioral change stage.

[0007] Patent document 5 proposes a device that improves update rates by acquiring the attributes of each user, registering distribution rules that define the work status for each attribute as the timing for delivering messages, setting the timing for delivering messages for each user based on the distribution rules, acquiring the number of applications currently running, determining which of several types of work status it is based on changes in the number of running applications, and delivering messages at a timing when the determined work status matches the set work status.

[0008] Patent Document 6 proposes a device that can optimize messages related to updating apps according to the type of app by registering rules for distributing messages to encourage updating the apps according to the type of app, acquiring terminal information related to apps installed on the user terminal, acquiring app information including the type of app installed on the user terminal for each of multiple apps from an app management server that stores the type of app, determining a message according to the distribution rules based on the app information and terminal information, and distributing the message to the user terminal.

[0009] Patent Document 7 proposes a device that accepts input of information including security measure items, conditions for implementation, implementation procedures, and explanations of terminology, registers the information in a database, obtains application information from an application management server, obtains terminal information, collects user responses to questions about the type of user terminal and the services used, extracts items that need to be implemented from the security measure items based on the collected responses, and presents them on the user terminal.It also extracts implementation procedures and explanations of terminology for the selected items from the database and presents them on the user terminal, thereby presenting security measure implementation procedures in an appropriate user interface according to the user's characteristics and usage environment. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0010] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-256370 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 5006941 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-234208 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-56574 [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-144600 [Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-111191 [Patent Document 7] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2024-37295 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0011] The method of promoting security measures is uniform for all users, and it can be difficult for users with low IT literacy to implement appropriate measures themselves. As a result, some devices are left unattended without security measures implemented. Currently, PCs and IoT devices that are shared within homes or offices do not receive real-time update notifications unless the administrator is using the device. As a result, the OS and application programs (hereafter referred to as "apps") are not updated, and users may not realize that they are still using old versions. Furthermore, compared to personally owned devices, shared devices have a lower sense of ownership regarding device maintenance, so updating security patches and the like is given a lower priority and they are less likely to be updated to the latest version, increasing the risk of encountering attacks that exploit vulnerabilities. Patent documents 1 to 3 do not take into consideration the case where users with low levels of IT literacy are unable to implement appropriate measures, and because no notification is sent to shared terminals, terminals that have not been updated to the latest version remain.

[0012] The present invention aims to provide a message distribution device, a message distribution method, and a message distribution program that determine the person in charge of notifying update messages and distribute them to all terminals connected to a local network, taking into account the difficulty of the countermeasures and the user's level of IT literacy. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] The message delivery device of the present invention comprises a terminal information acquisition unit that acquires terminal information regarding software installed on a terminal connected to a local network; a version information acquisition unit that acquires version information of the latest version of the software and stores the acquired version information in a terminal management server; a delivery rule registration unit that registers, for each terminal, a delivery rule for delivering a message prompting the user of the terminal to update the software; a notification person setting unit that sets the user of the terminal as at least a notification person based on the terminal information; and a message delivery unit that determines a message in accordance with the delivery rule based on the terminal information and the version information, and delivers the determined message to the terminal of the notification person set by the notification person setting unit.

[0014] The notification person setting unit may set a person who has a higher level of IT literacy than the user as a notification person together with the user.

[0015] If a notification person is not set for the terminal, the message delivery unit may designate a person with a high level of IT literacy as the notification person and deliver the message.

[0016] If the terminal is a shared terminal and a notification person has not been set for the terminal, the message delivery unit may designate a user who uses the terminal frequently or a person with a high level of IT literacy as the notification person and deliver the message.

[0017] The message may include a help button that enables the notification person to request another person with a higher level of IT literacy to perform the software update if the person in charge of notification has a low level of IT literacy compared to the difficulty of the software update measures.

[0018] A message delivery method according to the present invention is carried out by a computer, comprising: a terminal information acquisition step of acquiring terminal information relating to software installed on a terminal connected to a local network; a version information acquisition step of acquiring version information of the latest version of the software and storing the acquired version information in a terminal management server; a delivery rule registration step of registering, for each terminal, a delivery rule for delivering a message prompting the user of the terminal to update the software; a notification person setting step of setting a user of the terminal as at least a notification person based on the terminal information; and a message delivery step of determining a message in accordance with the delivery rule based on the terminal information and the version information, and delivering the determined message to the terminal of the notification person set in the notification person setting step.

[0019] A message distribution program according to the present invention causes a computer to function as the message distribution device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] According to the present invention, it is possible to determine and deliver notification personnel for update messages to all terminals connected to a local network, taking into consideration the difficulty of the countermeasures and the user's level of IT literacy. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a management system 1 according to the present embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a message management server according to the present embodiment. [Figure 3]FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relationship between a local network and message delivery in the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message display screen according to the present embodiment. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a message distribution process of the management system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a message distribution process of the management system in the present embodiment when the terminal is a shared terminal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. First, an outline of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, all devices (terminals) connected to a local network within a home, including terminals of users with low IT literacy (hereinafter also referred to as "IT literacy level") and shared terminals, are targeted for distribution. For example, the versions of devices (terminals) connected to the local network are managed, and updates are notified to terminals with older versions. Version management may be performed using, for example, asset management software, System Support best1 (registered trademark) (https: / / www.dos-osaka.co.jp / ss1 / point / ). The notification content can be notified using known techniques (e.g., Patent Documents 4, 5, and 6) with appropriate wording, UI design, delivery timing, etc., depending on the user's IT literacy level. Furthermore, by applying known stage classification methods (e.g., Patent Document 4) and countermeasure presentation methods (e.g., Patent Document 7), the notification content can be tailored to the user's characteristics, thereby improving the implementation of countermeasures. Furthermore, the IT literacy level is determined, for example, using the stage classification results of Patent Document 4. In this embodiment, for users who leave the task to someone close to them (users with low IT literacy), the countermeasure presentation method of Patent Document 7 is used to present procedures using images and videos. Furthermore, in this embodiment, if a user with low IT literacy is unable to take countermeasures even after being presented with the countermeasure presentation method (Patent Document 7), a help notification is provided to encourage others to take the countermeasure. Furthermore, for shared devices (e.g., PCs and IoT devices), an update message is notified to multiple notification personnel, and when an update is made by the notification personnel or a user other than the notification personnel, all notification personnel are notified that the countermeasure has been completed. Furthermore, updating the operating system of a PC or smartphone can be completed with a relatively simple operation, such as simply rebooting the device. On the other hand, updating the firmware of an IoT device requires complex operations such as connecting to a PC and entering commands, making it difficult for only users with a high level of IT literacy to handle the update. In response to this issue, this embodiment aims to improve the implementation rate of countermeasures by automatically determining and notifying the person in charge of notification based on the user's literacy and the difficulty of the countermeasure. By doing so, the present invention can support users who could not be helped by conventional measures to improve the countermeasure implementation rate, and can improve the countermeasure implementation rate up to 100%. The above is an outline of this embodiment.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a management system 1 according to this embodiment. The management system 1 includes a message management server 10 (message distribution device) equipped with a database, a terminal 20, and a terminal management server 30. Management software (hereinafter also referred to as a "management application") is distributed to the terminal 20. Although the management system 1 is connected to one terminal 20 in FIG. 1, it is actually connected to a plurality of terminals 20 arranged on a home local network (not shown). The terminal management server 30 is a data server or the like, and stores version information 31 of the latest versions of software such as the OS, firmware, and apps installed on the terminal 20, as well as a manual 32 that describes how to update the software. In response to a request from the message management server 10, the terminal management server 30 transmits the software version information 31 and the update method manual 32 to the message management server 10.

[0024] The management system 1 executes a terminal information acquisition process (1), a version information acquisition process (2), a distribution rule registration process (3), a notification person setting process (4), a message distribution process (5), and a message response acquisition process (6) by having the message management server 10, the software of the terminal 20, and the terminal management server 30 operate in cooperation with each other.

[0025] As a result, the message management server 10 manages messages and their distribution rules, and distributes messages to the terminals 20 of users and staff members encouraging them to implement necessary security measures (updating software such as the OS, firmware, and apps) based on terminal information and version information. At this time, the message management server 10 manages the versions of the connected terminals 20 on a management app, and delivers a message encouraging the user or a person in charge with a high level of IT literacy to update the software depending on the user's or person in charge's level of IT literacy (i.e., behavioral change stage), and by sending reminder notifications until the update is completed, the number of terminals 20 of users using old versions can be reduced to close to 0%.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the message management server 10 in this embodiment. The message management server 10 is an information processing device (computer) that includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 13, input / output devices for various data, communication devices, and the like.

[0027] The control unit 11 is a part that controls the entire message management server 10, and realizes each function in this embodiment by appropriately reading and executing various programs stored in the storage unit 13. The control unit 11 may be a CPU.

[0028] The storage unit 13 is a storage area for various programs for causing the hardware group to function as the message management server 10, various data, etc., and may be a ROM, RAM, flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), or the like. Specifically, the storage unit 13 stores various databases in addition to a program (message distribution program) for causing the control unit 11 to execute each function of this embodiment.

[0029] The terminal information acquisition unit 111 is a functional unit responsible for the terminal information acquisition process (1), and scans the terminals 20 connected to the home local network via a management application for the terminals 20. The terminal information acquisition unit 111 acquires terminal information (e.g., software version) related to software such as the OS, firmware, and applications installed on the terminals 20. The terminal information acquisition unit 111 stores and manages the software version in the acquired terminal information together with the acquisition date and time in the terminal information log 131 for each terminal 20. Furthermore, the terminal information acquisition unit 111 may calculate the time taken for the update based on, for example, the date and time when the user started the update and the date and time when the version was actually upgraded in the terminal information log 131. If the time taken for the update is longer than a preset time, the terminal information acquisition unit 111 may determine that the IT literacy level of the user of the terminal 20 is low. Furthermore, the terminal information acquisition unit 111 may, for example, distribute a questionnaire regarding the behavior change stage, and acquire further information regarding the behavior change stage by the user answering the questionnaire, and record the information in the questionnaire log 135 of the storage unit 13.

[0030] The version information acquisition unit 112 is a functional unit responsible for the version information acquisition process (2), and acquires the latest version information of software such as the OS installed on the terminal 20, and a manual describing how to update the software, from the website of the software development company, etc. The version information acquisition unit 112 stores the acquired version information and manual in the version information 31 and manual 32 of the terminal management server 30.

[0031] The version information acquisition unit 112 may create the acquired manuals according to the level of IT literacy and manage them in the manuals 32 of the terminal management server 30. To this end, the version information acquisition unit 112 may determine the difficulty level of the update from the contents of the acquired manual, for example. Specifically, the version information acquisition unit 112 may input the manual into an external AI device (not shown) and output the number of operation steps and the number of commands. The version information acquisition unit 112 may determine whether the manual is of low or high difficulty level based on the determination conditions of the number of steps in the implementation content and the number of commands, such as determining that a task that requires one or more command inputs is of high difficulty level and that a task that can be completed with one operation step is of low difficulty level. Here, the judgment conditions may be set by a system administrator, or the message management server 10 may automatically set the judgment conditions based on the past task manual and the implementation status of the user (or person in charge). Note that the automatically set conditions may be such that a task for which the user (or person in charge) has a low implementation status is set to a high difficulty level. For example, if a task for which the user (or person in charge) has a low implementation status is a task for which the user has a high number of command inputs, the task for which the user (or person in charge) has a high number of command inputs may be set to a high difficulty level. Alternatively, the system administrator may set the difficulty level of each task in advance.

[0032] Alternatively, the version information acquisition unit 112 may input a manual into an external AI device (not shown) and have it create manuals, images, videos, etc. for each level of IT literacy.

[0033] The delivery rule registration unit 113 is a functional unit responsible for the delivery rule registration process (3), and receives delivery rules (delivery content according to the behavior change stage and the type of terminal 20, etc.) for messages encouraging software updates such as the OS, firmware, and apps based on knowledge obtained from survey results, etc., directly from the system administrator or via the system administrator's terminal in advance, and registers them in the delivery rules 133 in the storage unit 13. Specific examples of delivery rules include the behavior change stages in Patent Document 4 and the countermeasure presentation method in Patent Document 7.

[0034] The notification person setting unit 114 is a functional unit that performs the notification person setting process (4), and sets the user of the terminal 20 as at least the notification person based on the terminal information log 131. Specifically, the notification person setting unit 114 sets the notification person in the notification person 136 of the storage unit 13 using, for example, the account name (ID) of the management app or the IP address of the terminal 20, based on the terminal information acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 111 via the management app of the terminal 20 and the account information 137 of the app. For example, if the terminal 20 is a personally owned smartphone or the like, the notification person setting unit 114 sets the account name (ID) of the user of the terminal 20 or the IP address of the terminal 20 as the notification person, and stores this in the notification person 136 of the storage unit 13. Furthermore, in the case of an IoT device such as a printer or a wireless router, or a shared terminal 20 such as a PC, the notification person setting unit 114 sets the account name (ID) of the management app of the person in charge of updating (for example, the father in a family) or the IP address of the terminal 20, and stores this in the notification person 136 of the storage unit 13. If the terminal 20 is a shared terminal, the notification person setting unit 114 may set the account names (IDs) of the management applications of the multiple persons in charge or the IP address of the terminal 20. The app account information 137 includes the account name (ID) of the user set in the management app, the IP address of the terminal 20, etc. Furthermore, the app account information 137 may also include the account name (ID) of a user of a family member who is far away, the IP address of the terminal 20, etc., as will be described later.

[0035] When multiple people are set as notification persons, the notification person setting unit 114 may set the notification to a person other than the user of the terminal 20. In this case, the notification person setting unit 114 can set the conditions for the delivery rules by the delivery rule registration unit 113 by determining the IT literacy level of the user or each person in charge based on the behavioral change stages of Patent Document 4, for example, and can send different messages according to the IT literacy level.

[0036] Also, as shown in FIG. 3, if a user (e.g., a grandparent, etc.) of a terminal 20 connected to a local network LN2 within a home has a low level of IT literacy, and a distant family member (e.g., the child of the grandparent) has a user (e.g., the child's father) with a high level of IT literacy in a local network LN1 within the home, the notification person setting unit 114 may set the account name (ID) or the IP address of the terminal 20 of the user with a high level of IT literacy in the local network LN1, as well as the user of the terminal 20 in the local network LN2, to the notification person 136 in the memory unit 13. In this way, as will be described later, the message delivery unit 115 can notify the terminal 20 of the user of the terminal 20 in the local network LN2 as well as the terminal 20 of the notification person in the local network LN1 who is far away with a software update message. In this case, the message delivery unit 115 may notify using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) line. Also, in order for the message management server 10 to determine a family member who is far away, the user of the terminal 20 in the local network LN2 may register the terminal 20 of the user in the local network LN1 in the management app in advance, or the message management server 10 may make the determination based on the IP address (private IP address / global IP address) of the terminal 20.

[0037] The message delivery unit 115 is a functional unit responsible for the message delivery process (5), and determines a message from among the messages 138 in the storage unit 13 that conforms to the delivery rules 133 based on the terminal information and version information, and delivers the determined message to the terminal 20 of the person in charge of notification that is set by the person in charge of notification setting unit 114. Note that the message 138 pre-stores a message encouraging software updates according to the level of IT literacy, as well as a message with a UI design. The content of the delivered message and the response results are recorded in the message delivery log 134. Specifically, the message delivery unit 115 determines, from the messages 138 in the storage unit 13, a message with a wording and UI design that corresponds to the IT literacy level of the person in charge of notification set in the person in charge of notification 136, for example, based on the terminal information log 131 and the version information 31. That is, in the case of a person in charge of notification with a high level of IT literacy, the message delivery unit 115 may determine a message that causes the person in charge of notification to perform a task with a high level of difficulty. In addition, in the case of a person in charge of notification with a low level of IT literacy, the message delivery unit 115 may determine a message that includes an image, a video, or the like, that causes the person in charge of notification to perform a task with a low level of difficulty.

[0038] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message display screen in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the display screen displays a dialog box with a message urging the user to update the software, along with buttons for "Don't update," "Update," and "Help." The message response acquisition unit 116, which will be described later, acquires whether or not a software update will be performed in response to the message delivered to the notification person, that is, whether "Do not update" or "Update" was selected (which button was pressed). If "Update" is selected, the software is updated on the terminal 20. On the other hand, if "Do not update" is selected, the message delivery unit 115 delivers the message again at the same timing, for example, after a certain period of time has elapsed. The operation of the message delivery unit 115 when "Help" is selected will be described later.

[0039] When determining a message for a task with a high level of difficulty for a user with a low level of IT literacy, the message delivery unit 115 may refer to the notification person 136 and determine whether or not a notification person with a high level of IT literacy is set on the terminal 20 of the user. If a notification person with a high level of IT literacy is set, the message delivery unit 115 may determine a message for a task with a high level of difficulty and deliver the message to the notification person with a high level of IT literacy as well as to the user with a low level of IT literacy.

[0040] The message delivery unit 115 delivers the determined message to the terminal 20 of the notification person set by the notification person setting unit 114 based on the delivery rule. Here, the message delivery unit 115 may change the notification timing taking into consideration the personality of the notification person, a schedule obtained from a schedule management app installed on the terminal 20, the usage status of the terminal 20, etc. For example, the message delivery unit 115 may refer to the message delivery log 134 and determine a notification person who has postponed the update notification many times or for a long time as a notification person who has a high tendency to procrastinate or who is troublesome to update, using the number of times the notification notification has been postponed or the time it took to perform the update. Alternatively, the message delivery unit 115 may determine the personality of the notification person based on the response results of the questionnaire log 135 (a scale for measuring the tendency to be troublesome or procrastinate). Furthermore, the message delivery unit 115 may be configured to deliver the notification based on a free time in the schedule, taking into account the estimated time required for the software update. In other words, if the terminal 20 such as a personal computer is used for a long time, if the person in charge of notifications is easily bothered, or if restarting takes a long time, the message delivery unit 115 may lower the priority of notifications that have a low security importance and take a long time to update.

[0041] Furthermore, the message delivery unit 115 may use a known technique (Patent Document 7) to present images or videos of optimal implementation procedures for each level of IT literacy from the manual 32 of the terminal management server 30 to help users with low levels of IT literacy (e.g., children, elderly people, etc.) handle the update themselves as much as possible. However, if the user of the terminal 20 is still unable to update the software themselves, the user selects "Help" (presses the "Help" button) on the display screen of the delivered message, as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, if a notification person with a high level of IT literacy (e.g., a child's parent) is set in the notification person 136 of the storage unit 13, the message delivery unit 115 also delivers a message to the terminal 20 of the notification person with a high level of IT literacy on the same local network LN1, as shown in FIG. 3. This allows software updates to be performed with a high degree of accuracy even on the terminal 20 of a user with low levels of IT literacy.

[0042] 3, when a user (e.g., a grandparent) of a terminal 20 of the local network LN2 selects "Help" on the message display screen, the message delivery unit 115 also refers to the notification person 136 in the storage unit 13. When a notification person of the local network LN1 with a high level of IT literacy is set as the notification person 136, the message delivery unit 115 may deliver the message to the terminal 20 of the notification person of the local network LN1. In this case, when delivering a message to the terminal 20 of the notification person in the local network LN1, the message delivery unit 115 may obtain the schedule of the notification person from a schedule management app on the terminal 20 of the notification person or a date that the notification person has previously registered in the management app. If the notification person is far away from a user in the local network LN2, the message delivery unit 115 may deliver a message to the terminal 20 of the notification person taking into consideration the date on which the notification person will visit the user in the local network LN2. The message delivery unit 115 may also send a reminder based on the date on which the notification person will visit a user in the local network LN2 who is far away. This allows software updates to be performed with a high degree of accuracy even on the terminal 20 of a user who is far away and has a low level of IT literacy. In addition, if it is difficult for the notification officer to visit a user of the local network LN2 who is far away and the terminal 20 is a smartphone or the like, the notification officer may advise the user to go to a telecommunications carrier's shop or the like to have them assist in updating software such as the OS and apps.

[0043] In addition, if the terminal 20 is a shared terminal (PC or IoT device), the message delivery unit 115 may deliver a message urging the user to update the software to the terminals 20 of multiple notification persons who are set in the notification persons 136 of the memory unit 13.

[0044] Furthermore, if a notification person for the terminal 20 is not set in the notification person 136 of the memory unit 13, the message delivery unit 115 may determine a user with a high level of IT literacy as the notification person based on, for example, the difficulty of taking measures for software updates or the user's level of IT literacy, and deliver a message to the terminal 20 of the notification person urging them to update the software. Furthermore, if the terminal 20 is a shared terminal and the notification person of the terminal 20 is not set in the notification person 136, the message delivery unit 115 may determine a user who frequently uses the shared terminal or a person with a high level of IT literacy as the notification person, and deliver a message to the terminal 20 of the notification person urging them to update their software.

[0045] The message response acquisition unit 116 is a functional unit that performs the message response acquisition process (6), acquires message response results, etc., and manages whether or not software updates have been performed. In addition to the message response results, the message response acquisition unit 116 may determine that the update is complete if the version acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 111 matches the latest version acquired by the version information acquisition unit 112. Furthermore, in the case where multiple persons are set as the notification person 136, or in the case of a shared terminal 20, the message response acquisition unit 116 may be configured to notify all of the notification persons set as the notification person 136 that the update has been completed when the software update of the terminal 20 is completed. Furthermore, even if software is updated automatically or by someone other than the notification person, the message response acquisition unit 116 may notify all notification persons set in the notification person 136. This allows the countermeasure implementation person at the shared terminal 20 to determine whether or not to handle the update without having to check the shared terminal 20.

[0046] Based on the above, we will briefly summarize the operations of the user, the notification person, and the message management server 10 in the following cases: (a) when a message is notified about a user's own smartphone with a low level of IT literacy, (b) when there is one notification person and a message is notified about a shared terminal 20 (PC), (c) when there are multiple notification people and a message is notified about a shared terminal 20 (router), and (d) when a message is delivered about the terminal 20 of a family member (a user with a low level of IT literacy) who lives far away.

[0047] (a) When a user with low IT literacy receives a message about their own smartphone. Users with low levels of IT literacy refer to the manual and perform the update if they are able to do it themselves. However, if the user is unable to do it themselves even after referring to the manual, the user presses the help button on the display screen in Figure 4 to notify the person in charge of notification. This allows the person in charge of notification to perform the update on the user's terminal 20 while supporting the user.

[0048] (b) When there is one person in charge of notification and the message is sent on a shared terminal 20 (PC) In this case, the update may be performed by a user other than the person in charge of notification on the shared terminal 20 (PC). Alternatively, if the person in charge of notification sees the notification and performs the update, the terminal 20 of the person in charge of notification is notified that the update has been completed.

[0049] (c) When there are multiple notification personnel and the message is about a shared terminal 20 (router) Among multiple notification personnel, the notification personnel with higher literacy may be given priority in notifying the message. In this case, the notification personnel with higher literacy will carry out the update. After that, the terminals 20 of all notification personnel will be notified that the update has been completed.

[0050] (d) When a message is delivered to a terminal 20 of a family member (a user with low IT literacy level) who lives far away. First, a family member who is far away performs the update themselves. However, if the family member is unable to perform the update themselves and the help button on the display screen of FIG. 4 is pressed, notifying the person in charge of notification, the person in charge of notification will visit the family member who is far away and perform the update on the terminal 20. Alternatively, if the message management server 10 determines that the family member who is far away is unable to perform the update and notifies the terminal 20 of the person in charge of notification, the person in charge of notification may visit the family member who is far away and perform the update on the terminal 20. Then, when the update is completed, the terminal 20 of the person in charge of notification is notified of the completion.

[0051] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the message distribution process of the management system 1 in this embodiment. Here, the user of the terminal 20 himself or herself, or a person with a high level of IT literacy, is set in advance as the person in charge of notification 136.

[0052] In step S11, the message delivery unit 115 refers to the terminal information log 131 in the storage unit 13 and the version information 31 of the terminal management server 30, and determines whether the version of software such as the OS installed on the terminal 20 is old. If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S12, and if the determination is NO, the message delivery process ends.

[0053] In step S12, the message delivery unit 115 refers to the notification person 136 in the storage unit 13, and determines whether or not a notification person has been set by the notification person setting unit 114. If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S13, and if the determination is NO, the process proceeds to step S14.

[0054] In step S13, the message delivery unit 115 determines a user with a high level of IT literacy as the person in charge of notification based on the degree of difficulty of the update countermeasure or the user's level of IT literacy.

[0055] In step S14, the message delivery unit 115 delivers a message to the terminal 20 of the person in charge of notification, urging the person to update the software.

[0056] In step S15, the message reply acquisition unit 116 determines whether or not the user of the terminal 20 has selected "Help" on the display screen of Fig. 4. If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S16, and if the determination is NO, the process proceeds to step S17.

[0057] In step S16, the message delivery unit 115 refers to the notification person 136 in the storage unit 13, and delivers the message to the terminal 20 of the notification person with a higher level of IT literacy. In this case, the notification person updates the software on the user's terminal 20. Then, the message delivery process ends.

[0058] In step S17, the terminal 20 updates the software when the user presses the "Update" button on the display screen of Fig. 3. Then, the message distribution process ends.

[0059] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the message distribution process of the management system 1 in the present embodiment when the terminal 20 is a shared terminal. Here, the notification person 136 is set to a user who frequently uses a shared terminal or a person with a high level of IT literacy. The processes from step S11 to step S14 are the same as those from step S11 to step S14 in FIG. 5, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0060] In step S15a, the message response acquisition unit 116 determines whether or not there are multiple notification persons who delivered the message in step S 14. If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S16a, and if the determination is NO, the process proceeds to step S17a.

[0061] In step S16a, the message response acquisition unit 116 receives a notification that the "Update" button has been pressed by one of the multiple notification persons. Then, the software (or firmware) in the shared terminal 20 is updated.

[0062] In step S17a, the software (or firmware) of the terminal 20 is updated by a user (or a person in charge of notification) who uses the terminal 20 frequently.

[0063] In step S18, the message response acquisition unit 116 determines that the update is complete if the version acquired by the terminal information acquisition unit 111 matches the latest version acquired by the version information acquisition unit 112, and notifies all notification personnel of the completion of the update.

[0064] According to this embodiment, the message management server 10 manages the versions of software such as the OS and applications of all terminals 20 connected to a home local network, determines the IT literacy level, determines a message encouraging software updates, and delivers the message to the terminal 20 of the person in charge of notification. If a user has a low level of IT literacy and is unable to update the software on the terminal 20 by themselves, the message management server 10 notifies a notification person with a high level of IT literacy and has them perform the update, thereby reducing the number of terminals 20 for which measures have not been taken. Furthermore, even if the terminal 20 is a shared terminal and a notification person has not been set, the message management server 10 automatically determines the notification person to be notified and notifies them, thereby reducing the number of terminals 20 for which measures have not been taken. In other words, the message management server 10 can determine the person in charge of notifying the update message and deliver it to all terminals connected to the local network, taking into consideration the difficulty of the countermeasures and the user's level of IT literacy.

[0065] <Variation 1> In this embodiment, the local network is a home network, but is not limited to this. For example, the local network may be a local network for each company or department.

[0066] <Variation 2> In the present embodiment, the message management server 10 and the terminal management server 30 are different devices, but this is not limiting. For example, the message management server 10 may have the functions of the terminal management server 30.

[0067] Furthermore, this embodiment can, for example, improve the implementation rate of security measures in terminal 20, thereby contributing to Goal 9 of the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to "Develop resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation."

[0068] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Furthermore, the effects described in the above-described embodiments are merely a list of the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments.

[0069] The message distribution method by the management system 1 is realized by software. When realized by software, the programs that make up this software are installed on an information processing device (computer). These programs may be recorded on removable media such as CD-ROMs and distributed to users, or may be distributed by being downloaded to the user's computer via a network. Furthermore, these programs may be provided to the user's computer as a web service via a network without being downloaded. [Explanation of symbols]

[0070] 1 Management System 10 Message management server (message distribution device) 11 Control section 111 Terminal information acquisition unit 112 Version information acquisition unit 113 Distribution rule registration section 114 Notification person setting section 115 Message Delivery Department 116 Message response acquisition unit 13 Storage section 131 Terminal Information Log 132 Terminal distribution setting log 133 Distribution Rules 134 Message Delivery Log 135 Survey Log 136 Notification Officer 137 App Account Information 138 Messages 20 terminals 30 Terminal Management Server 31 Version Information 32 Manual

Claims

1. a terminal information acquisition unit that acquires terminal information relating to software installed on a terminal connected to the local network; a version information acquisition unit that acquires version information of the latest version of the software and stores the acquired version information in a terminal management server; a distribution rule registration unit that registers, for each of the terminals, a distribution rule for distributing a message prompting the user to update the software; a notification person setting unit that sets the user of the terminal as at least a notification person based on the terminal information; a message delivery unit that determines a message in accordance with the delivery rule based on the terminal information and the version information, and delivers the determined message to the terminal of the person in charge of notification that has been set by the person in charge of notification setting unit; A message delivery device comprising:

2. The message delivery device according to claim 1 , wherein the notification person setting unit sets a person who has a higher level of IT literacy than the user as a notification person together with the user.

3. 3. The message delivery device according to claim 1, wherein if a notification person is not set for the terminal, the message delivery unit designates a person with a high level of IT literacy as the notification person and delivers the message.

4. The message delivery device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when the terminal is a shared terminal and a notification person is not set for the terminal, the message delivery unit designates a user who uses the terminal frequently or a person with a high level of IT literacy as the notification person and delivers the message.

5. The message delivery device of claim 1, wherein the message includes a help button that enables the notification person to request another person with a higher level of IT literacy to perform the software update if the person in charge of notification has a low level of IT literacy compared to the difficulty level of the software update countermeasure.

6. a terminal information acquisition step of acquiring terminal information relating to software installed on a terminal connected to the local network; a version information acquisition step of acquiring version information of the latest version of the software and storing the acquired version information in a terminal management server; a distribution rule registration step of registering a distribution rule for distributing the message prompting the software update for each of the terminals; a notification person setting step of setting the user of the terminal as at least a notification person based on the terminal information; a message distribution step of determining a message according to the distribution rule based on the terminal information and the version information, and distributing the determined message to the terminal of the person in charge of notification set in the person in charge of notification setting step; A computer-implemented message delivery method.

7. A message distribution program for causing a computer to function as the message distribution device according to claim 1 or 2.

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