Device for preventing accidental transmission, method for preventing accidental transmission, 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 a mistransmission prevention device, a mistransmission prevention method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] As a technique for preventing mistransmission of electronic mail (hereinafter, also simply referred to as mail), a technique for displaying a confirmation screen for confirming the validity of a destination address, the validity of an attached file, etc. before mail transmission is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for displaying a confirmation screen for confirming the validity of a destination address to a sender before mail transmission and not transmitting the mail until the confirmation result on this confirmation screen is obtained.

[0003] By the way, in recent years, instead of attaching the electronic file (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a file) itself to the mail, for example, a use method such as storing the file in a storage service and then describing the storage destination URL (Uniform Resource Locator) in the mail has been increasing. Since such a use method is substantially the same as the case of attaching the file itself to the mail, it is considered that there are similar security risks.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, with conventional technology, when the storage URL was included in an email, it was not possible to display a confirmation screen to verify the file's authenticity. Therefore, for example, if an incorrect file was stored in a storage service and the storage URL was sent via email, the situation would be essentially the same as sending the file to the wrong recipient. It is also likely that the same situation could occur with messaging applications other than email, such as instant messengers and chat applications.

[0006] One 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 information on the storage location of electronic data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the above objective, a misdelivery prevention device according to one embodiment includes: a determination unit that determines whether or not a predetermined important information is contained in an attachment file when an attachment file is attached to the message to be transmitted; a storage unit that stores the attachment file in a predetermined storage service when it is determined that the important information is not contained in the attachment file; a display control unit that displays a screen for confirmation of the important information when it is determined that the important information is contained in the attachment file; and a creation unit that deletes the attachment file and creates a message that specifies the storage location of the attachment file in the storage service. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] This prevents accidental transmission of messages containing information about the storage location of electronic data. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the functional configuration of the email sending terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 2]This flowchart shows an example of the email sending process according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of a submission confirmation screen. [Figure 4] This flowchart shows an example of the important information determination process according to this embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a screen for confirming important information. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of the functional configuration of a modified email sending terminal and an email misdelivery prevention server. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The following describes one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, we will describe an email sending terminal 10 that can prevent accidental sending of an email containing a URL of a file's storage location.

[0011] Here, "misdirected transmission" refers to sending an email unintentionally, and the following cases (1) to (3) constitute misdirected transmission.

[0012] (1) If you send an email to the wrong recipient (for example, a recipient not intended by the sender) (2) If you send an email with the wrong file attached (for example, a file that the sender did not intend, or a file that contains errors or inappropriate information) (3) If you send an email containing the wrong URL for the file In this embodiment, we will explain how to prevent erroneous transmissions in (1) and (2), and mainly how to prevent erroneous transmission in (3). To achieve this prevention of erroneous transmission in (3), when an operation to send an email containing a storage service URL is performed, the email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment displays a screen (a sending confirmation screen described later) for the user to confirm the contents of the file stored at the storage location indicated by the URL before the email is actually sent. This makes it possible to have the email sender (hereinafter also referred to as the user) confirm the contents of the file before sending the email, thus preventing the sending of emails containing the wrong file storage URL. Note that the prevention of erroneous transmissions in (1) and (2) is achieved by existing technology.

[0013] In addition, the email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment displays a screen (a screen for confirming important information, described later) for the user to confirm if the file (mainly a file stored at the location indicated by the storage URL mentioned above) contains important information (for example, personal information). This allows the user to be notified that the file contains important information before sending the email, making it possible to ask the user, for example, whether or not it is really okay to send the URL of the file's storage location.

[0014] Although this embodiment describes email as an example, it is applicable to messaging applications such as instant messengers and chat applications as well. In other words, it can be similarly applied when sending a message containing a URL to a file's storage location in a messaging application, to prevent accidental sending as described in (3) above, or to notify the user that the file contains important information. It should be noted that an email application for sending and receiving emails (a so-called mailer) can also be considered a messaging application, and therefore email is also an example of a message.

[0015] In addition, as the files stored in the storage service (and the files attached to emails), mainly document files are assumed, but it is not limited to this. For example, any electronic data such as image files may be used.

[0016] <Overall Configuration of Email Sending Terminal 10> The functional configuration of the email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment includes an email creation unit 101, a mistransmission prevention processing unit 102, and a display control unit 103. Each of these units is realized, for example, by processing executed by one or more programs installed in the email sending terminal 10 on various arithmetic devices such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). For example, the email creation unit 101 can be realized by processing executed by the email application on the arithmetic device. Also, for example, the mistransmission prevention processing unit 102 may be realized by processing executed by a mistransmission prevention application program different from the email application, or may be realized by processing executed by a program added or attached to the email application on the arithmetic device. The display control unit 103 may be realized by processing executed by the above mistransmission prevention application program on the arithmetic device, or may be realized by processing executed by the above added or attached program on the arithmetic device, or may be realized by processing executed by a program such as a web browser on the arithmetic device.

[0017] In addition, the email sending terminal 10 according to this embodiment includes a setting information storage unit 104. The setting information storage unit 104 is realized by various storage devices such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), and a flash memory, for example. However, the setting information storage unit 104 may be realized by a storage device (for example, a database server, etc.) connected to the email sending terminal 10 via a communication network.

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

[0019] The mail creation unit 101 creates a mail (for example, a mail in which the storage destination URL of a file in the storage service 20 is described). Here, the storage service 20 is, for example, a service that lends out storage (storage 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 mail sender or mail recipient (or the organization to which the mail sender belongs, the organization to which the mail recipient belongs, etc.).

[0020] The mistransmission prevention processing unit 102 generates a screen (such as a transmission confirmation screen or an important information confirmation screen) for preventing mistransmission of the mail created by the mail creation unit 101, or transmits the mail to the mail server 30 according to the user's operation. Here, the mistransmission prevention processing unit 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 a URL is included in the mail.

[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 to be included in the mail by the URL determination unit 111 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 important information is included in a file (especially, a file stored in the above storage service 20).

[0024] If the storage determination unit 112 determines that a URL for a predetermined storage service 20 is included in the email, the screen generation unit 114 generates a sending confirmation screen that notifies the user that the URL is included in the email. Also, if 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] If the user performs the email sending operation on the sending confirmation screen, the sending unit 115 sends the email created by the email creation unit 101 to the mail server 30. In addition, even if the sending confirmation screen is not generated, the sending unit 115 also sends the email created by the email creation unit 101 to the mail 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. In addition, 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 configuration information storage unit 104 stores configuration information that is referenced by the URL determination unit 111, storage determination unit 112, and important information determination unit 113, which are included in the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102. Here, the configuration information includes canonical URL information used to determine whether or not a URL is included in the email, storage URL information for determining whether or not it is a URL of a predetermined storage service 20, and matching information for determining whether or not important information is included in the file. Note that the configuration information includes one or more storage URL information and one or more matching information.

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

[0029] Storage URL information is information used to determine whether a given URL is the URL of a predetermined storage service 20, and is, for example, information consisting of characteristic strings and wildcards found in the URL of the storage service 20.

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

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

[0032] Matching information is used to determine whether or not a file contains important information through pattern matching, and is composed of information such as keywords or special symbols.

[0033] For example, when determining whether or not a personal name is included in a file as important information, the matching information could consist of surnames and wildcards such as "Suzuki*", "Sato*", "Yamada*", etc.

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

[0035] Furthermore, for example, when determining whether or not a phone number is included in a file as important information, the matching information can consist of information such as "03-####-####" or "06-####-####" consisting of an area code and a symbol "#" representing any single digit.

[0036] The matching information described above is merely an example; any information can be used as long as it can be determined by pattern matching whether or not the specified important information is contained within the file. Furthermore, the important information may not only be personal names, addresses, and telephone numbers, but may also include, for example, email addresses or My Number (social security number), or various other types of confidential information that can be arbitrarily set (e.g., user IDs, passwords, etc.).

[0037] <Email sending process> The email sending process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 2. In this email sending process, when sending an email, if the URL of a predetermined storage service 20 is included in the email, a sending confirmation screen is displayed on the display (in particular, the icon 1101, which will be described later, is displayed on this sending confirmation screen). If there are other confirmation items (for example, the recipient or the content of the email body), display components for allowing 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 the user's operation (step S101). Here, for example, the user creates a desired email and then performs the operation to send the email. As a result, the email is sent to the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102.

[0039] Next, the URL determination unit 111 of the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 uses the legitimate URL information contained in the setting information stored in the 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, the URL determination unit 111 uses the legitimate URL information to determine whether or not a string in URL format (i.e., an alphanumeric string of arbitrary length starting with "http: / / " without regard to uppercase or lowercase letters) is included in the email. Note that "within the email" refers to the body of the email, but may also include the subject line of the email, etc.

[0040] If it is determined in step S102 that the email contains a URL (YES in step S103), the storage determination unit 112 of the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 uses the storage URL information contained in the configuration information stored in the configuration information storage unit 104 to determine whether the URL determined to be contained in the email in step S102 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 the email contains a destination URL that uses the predetermined storage service 20 as the file storage destination.

[0041] If it is not determined in step S102 that the email contains a URL (NO in step S103) or if it is not determined in step S104 that the URL contained in the email is the URL of the predetermined storage service 20 (NO in step S105), the sending unit 115 of the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 sends the email created in step S101 to the mail server 30 (step S106). In other words, in this case, the sending unit 115 of the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 sends the email to the mail server 30 without displaying a sending confirmation screen. The email is then sent to the recipient when it is sent to the mail server 30. However, if there are other confirmation items besides the URL of the predetermined storage service 20, a sending confirmation screen including display components for the user to confirm those confirmation items may be displayed. Furthermore, in this case, a display component indicating that the URL of the specified storage service 20 is not included in the email may be displayed separately from other display components that prompt the user to confirm other items, and the email may be automatically sent only if all confirmation items, including the item confirming whether or not 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 that the URL included in the email is the URL of a predetermined storage service 20 (YES in step S105), the screen generation unit 114 of the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 generates a sending confirmation screen that at least notifies the recipient that the URL of the predetermined storage service 20 is included 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 allows the user to be notified before sending the email that the email contains a destination URL where the file will be stored in a predetermined storage service 20. This prompts the user to reconfirm the contents of the file, thus preventing accidental transmission.

[0044] <<Confirmation screen for sending>> Here, an example of the sending confirmation screen displayed in step S107 above is shown in Figure 3. The sending confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3 is an example of when an email is created in step S101 above with the subject line "Regarding the Quotation", the URL of the storage service A in the body, and "Quotation.pdf" and "Schedule.xlsx" as attachments.

[0045] In the attachment display area 1100 of the sending confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3, icons 1101 to 1103 are displayed. Icon 1101 is a display component that indicates that a URL with storage service A as the storage destination is included in the email. Icon 1102 is a display component that indicates that "Quotation.pdf" is attached, and icon 1103 is a display component that indicates that "Schedule.xlsx" is attached. This allows the user to be notified that an attachment is included, as well as that a URL with a storage destination of the specified storage service 20 as the file storage destination is included in the email.

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

[0047] If icon 1101 is selected, the important information determination process may be omitted, and the file may be downloaded from the storage service 20's URL corresponding to icon 1101, and its contents may be displayed. Similarly, if icon 1102 is selected, the contents of "Quotation.pdf" may be displayed, and if icon 1103 is selected, the contents of "Schedule.xlsx" may be displayed.

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

[0049] The subject line field 1200 displays the subject of the email created in step S101 above, "Regarding your quote".

[0050] The recipient display field 1300 displays the email address set as the recipient of the email created in step S101 above. In the example shown in Figure 3, the recipient email address is set to "usere1@expop1.abc.gr.jp". In this case, icon 1301 displays the domain "abc.gr.jp" of the recipient email address, and icon 1302 displays the recipient email address. Icon 1301 is displayed in a different manner depending on whether or not it is a domain to which an email has been sent in the past. Similarly, icon 1302 is displayed in a different manner depending on whether or not it is an email address to which an email has been sent in the past. Note that the example shown in Figure 3 is an example where the domain "abc.gr.jp" has been sent in the past, but "usere1" of that domain "abc.gr.jp" has never been sent in the past.

[0051] The body of the email created in step S101 above will be displayed in the body display field 1400. The user may also edit (add, delete, etc.) the content of the email body in this body display field 1400.

[0052] The transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3 includes a send button 1500 and a cancel send button 1600. When the user selects the send button 1500, the email created in step S101 is actually sent. That is, when the user selects the send button 1500, the transmission unit 115 of the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 sends the email to the mail server 30. On the other hand, the user can cancel sending the email by selecting the cancel send button 1600.

[0053] Note that the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3 is just an example, and in addition to the display components shown, it may also include buttons for executing judgment processes for each confirmation item, such as whether or not the URL of a predetermined storage service 20 is included in the email (i.e., the processes in steps S102 to S105 above, or existing misdelivery prevention processes). Furthermore, these judgment processes for each confirmation item may be executed automatically, for example, when the subject, recipient, email body, or attachments (including files stored at the storage service 20's destination URL) are changed.

[0054] Furthermore, the display elements within the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3 (such as icons 1101 to 1103 in the attachment display field 1100, the subject display field 1200, the recipient display field 1300, and the body display field 1400) may be changed in their display manner when the user confirms the corresponding confirmation item. Note that changes in the display manner may include not only changing the color, but also displaying a checkmark in text or checkboxes.

[0055] For example, when "Quotation.pdf" is opened, the display of icon 1102 may be changed to indicate that it has been confirmed (for example, by changing its color to green, or by displaying the text "Confirmed"). Similarly, when "Schedule.xlsx" is opened, the display of icon 1103 may be changed to indicate that it has been confirmed. Also, similarly, for example, when a file stored at the storage destination URL of storage service A is opened (or downloaded and opened), the display of icon 1101 may be changed to indicate 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 Figure 4. In this important information determination process, if important information is found in the file, an important information confirmation screen is displayed on the display. In the following, as an example, it will be assumed that icon 1101 is selected by the user on the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3.

[0057] First, the important information determination unit 113 of the mistransmission prevention processing unit 102 retrieves the file stored at the storage destination indicated by the storage destination URL of the storage service 20 (storage service A in the example shown in Figure 3) corresponding to the icon 1101 selected by the user (step S201). Here, the important information determination unit 113 may retrieve the file by automatically downloading it from the storage destination URL, or it may retrieve the file downloaded by the user's operation from the storage destination URL. If the file is downloaded by the user's operation, for example, the file download screen of storage service A is displayed by the display control unit 103 according to the selection of icon 1101, and the user performs the file download operation on this file download screen.

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

[0059] If step S202 does not determine that the file contains important information (the result in step S203 is NO), the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 terminates the important information determination process.

[0060] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S202 that the file contains important information (YES in step S203), the screen generation unit 114 of the erroneous transmission prevention processing unit 102 generates an important information confirmation screen that notifies 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 allows the user to be notified before sending the email that the file (especially a file stored in the predetermined storage service 20) contains important information. This prompts the user to reconfirm the contents of the file, thereby preventing the leakage of important information such as personal information.

[0062] Note that the important information determination process shown in Figure 4 determines whether or not important information is contained in a file stored in a predetermined storage service 20, but it is not limited to this, and it may also determine whether or not important information is contained in a file attached to an email (for example, in the example shown in Figure 3, "Quotation.pdf" and "Schedule.xlsx"). When determining whether or not important information is contained in a file attached to an email, it is not necessary to perform step S201 above, and it is sufficient to determine whether or not important information is contained in the file attached to the email in step S202 above.

[0063] ≪Important Information Confirmation Screen≫ Here, an example of the important information confirmation screen displayed in step S205 above is shown in Figure 5. The important information confirmation screen 2000 shown in Figure 5 is an example where it is determined in step S202 above that the phone number, password, and three personal names are included.

[0064] In the important information display section 2100 of the important information confirmation screen 2000 shown in Figure 5, icons 2101 to 2103 are displayed. 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] In this case, for example, if the user selects icon 2101, the phone number contained in that file may be displayed. Similarly, if the user selects icon 2102, the password may be displayed, and if icon 2103 is selected, three personal names may be displayed. However, confidential information such as passwords may be hidden or displayed in a masked state.

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

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

[0068] <Variation> The following describes some modified examples of this embodiment.

[0069] ≪Extreme Variation 1≫ In this embodiment, we have described a case where the email sending terminal 10 has an email creation unit 101, a misdelivery prevention processing unit 102, a display control unit 103, and a setting information storage unit 104. However, the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 and the setting information storage unit 104 may be located on a server between the email sending terminal 10 and the email server 30. That is, as shown in Figure 6, a misdelivery prevention server 40 may exist between the email sending terminal 10 and the email server 30, and this misdelivery prevention server 40 may have the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 and the setting information storage unit 104. This eliminates the need to install a program to implement the misdelivery prevention processing unit 102 on the email sending terminal 10, which is effective, for example, when there are many email sending terminals 10.

[0070] <<Variation 2>> In the above modified example 1, it was assumed that the email sending terminal 10 has an email creation unit 101, but the email sending terminal 10 does not necessarily have to have an email creation unit 101. For example, if the email creation unit 101 is implemented by webmail, the email sending terminal 10 only needs to have a web browser and does not need to have an email creation unit 101. In this case, the server providing the webmail will have the email creation unit 101.

[0071] <<Variation 3>> In step S102 of Figure 2, it was determined whether or not the email contains a URL, but for example, it may also be determined whether or not the email attachment contains a URL. This would allow the sending confirmation screen to be displayed in step S108 of Figure 2 even if the URL of the storage location of a file stored in a predetermined storage service 20 is written in the attachment.

[0072] Furthermore, when a user replies to an email they have received, this reply email may contain quoted text (for example, text preceded by the symbol ">"). In this case, even if the email contains a URL, if that URL is included in the quoted text, it may be determined in step S102 of Figure 2 that the email does not contain a URL. In this series of determinations from steps S102 to S104, each determination unit may be provided with information such as regular URL information, the URL of a predetermined storage service 20, and information regarding determination conditions such as whether or not to exclude the quoted text, so that the determination can be made without referring to the configuration information stored in the configuration information storage unit 104.

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

[0074] Furthermore, before uploading the above file to the storage service 20, the important information determination unit 113 of the misdelivery 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 canceled. This makes it possible to prevent the uploading of files containing important information when email attachments are automatically uploaded to the storage service 20.

[0075] ≪Variation 5≫ In the attachment display area 1100 of the transmission confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3, icons 1101 to 1103 are displayed, but the display order of these icons 1101 to 1103 may be changed according to some criteria.

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

[0077] In this case, the score should be a value calculated or determined according to the importance of the file corresponding to the icon, the level of security risk in the event of accidental transmission, etc. For example, it is conceivable to calculate the score according to the important information contained in the file corresponding to the icon. Specifically, for example, the number of types of important information could be i (1 ≤ i ≤ I, where I is the number of types), and the weight of type i of important information could be w. i n is the number of important pieces of information of type i contained within the file. i The score for the file in question is w1n1+···+w I n I One possible calculation method is as follows. In addition to this, the score may also be calculated by considering information such as the nature of the file (for example, whether or not it is confidential). This will result in a score being calculated according to the type and number of important information contained in the file, the nature of the file, etc., and icons corresponding to each file will be displayed in order of highest score.

[0078] Furthermore, the display of each icon may be varied according to the above score. For example, icons corresponding to files with a score above a predetermined threshold may be highlighted by changing their color or making them blink.

[0079] Furthermore, when changing the display order or display method, the type of file corresponding to the icon and the storage service 20 where the file is stored may be taken into consideration. For example, if there is a rule that "quotations should be sent as PDF files," then if the quotation is not a PDF file, the icon corresponding to that file may be placed higher in the display order or highlighted. Also, for example, if there is a rule that "when sending a storage URL to a specific recipient, the file should be stored in a specific storage service 20 and that storage URL should be included," then the icon corresponding to that file may be placed higher in the display order or highlighted. The type of file can be identified from the string or file name written within the file.

[0080] Thus, if there are any rules or conventions that apply to sending files (attachments, destination URLs), and a file deviates from those rules or conventions, the icon corresponding to that file may be displayed higher in the display order or highlighted.

[0081] <<Differentiation Example 6>> In the confirmation screen 1000 shown in Figure 3, checkboxes may be provided for each display component (such as icons 1101 to 1103 in the attachment display field 1100, the subject display field 1200, the recipient display field 1300, and the body display field 1400). For example, if all checkboxes are not checked, the send button 1500 may be disabled. Also, for example, if the attachment (including files stored at the storage service 20's destination URL) has not been checked, the checkbox may be disabled, and the send button 1500 may be disabled. Furthermore, if the confirmation screen 1000 includes buttons for executing judgment processes for each confirmation item, such as whether or not the storage service 20's URL is included in the email, these buttons may be disabled if all checkboxes are not checked (or if the attachment has not been checked).

[0082] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments specifically disclosed above, 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 terminals 20 Storage Services 30 Mail Servers 101 Email Creation Department 102 Mistransmission Prevention Processing Unit 103 Display Control Unit 104 Configuration Information Storage Unit 111 URL determination section 112 Storage determination unit 113 Important Information Judgment Department 114 Screen generation section 115 Transmitter

Claims

1. If the message to be sent has an attachment, a determination unit determines whether or not the attachment contains predetermined important information. If it is determined that the attached file does not contain the important information, the storage unit stores the attached file in a predetermined storage service, If it is determined that the attached file contains the important information, a display control unit displays a screen for the user to confirm the important information, A creation unit that creates a message in which the attached file is deleted and the storage location of the attached file in the storage service is specified, A device for preventing accidental transmission.

2. If the message to be sent has an attachment, a determination unit determines whether or not the attachment contains predetermined important information. If it is determined that the attached file does not contain the important information, the storage unit stores the attached file in a predetermined storage service, If it is determined that the attached file contains the important information, the display control unit will not store the attached file in the storage service, but will instead display a screen for the user to confirm the important information. A device for preventing accidental transmission.

3. If the message to be sent has an attachment, a determination procedure for determining whether the attachment contains predetermined important information, If it is determined that the attached file does not contain the important information, a storage procedure is performed to store the attached file in a predetermined storage service. If it is determined that the attached file contains the important information, a display control procedure is provided to display a screen for confirming the important information. A creation procedure for creating a message that deletes the attached file and specifies the storage location of the attached file in the storage service, A method used by computers to prevent accidental transmissions.

4. If the message to be sent has an attachment, a determination procedure for determining whether the attachment contains predetermined important information, If it is determined that the attached file does not contain the important information, a storage procedure is performed to store the attached file in a predetermined storage service. If it is determined that the attached file contains the important information, a display control procedure is performed to display a screen for viewing the important information without storing the attached file in the storage service, A method used by computers to prevent accidental transmissions.

5. A program that causes a computer to function as a device to prevent erroneous transmission as described in claim 1 or 2.

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