EVALUATION DEVICE, COMPANY TERMINAL, EVALUATION SYSTEM, EVALUATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM

Abstract

An evaluation device according to the present disclosure comprises: an evaluation indicator acquiring means that acquires a trust evaluation indicator for evaluating trustworthiness corresponding to a user business operator; an apparatus information acquiring means that acquires apparatus information about a network apparatus to be evaluated; an inspecting means that uses the apparatus information to inspect the network apparatus on the basis of the trust evaluation indicator; an evaluating means that evaluates the trustworthiness on the basis of the inspection result; and an output means that outputs the evaluation result of the trustworthiness.

Description

Evaluation device, business operator terminal, evaluation system, evaluation method, and recording medium

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an evaluation device, a business operator terminal, an evaluation system, an evaluation method, and a recording medium.

[0002] The safety and reliability performance of network equipment delivered by network equipment developers is uniformly evaluated in accordance with pre-determined guidelines.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for individually quantifying the vulnerability of at least one network device based on the results of attacks on the network device, and deriving a vulnerability score.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-064046

[0005] However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, a vulnerability score is calculated based on criteria from the perspective of the vulnerability assessor. The criteria for the trustworthiness (reliability) of a network device vary depending on the assessor's perspective and way of thinking, and a uniform standard cannot be used to properly assess the trustworthiness. The assessment must be based on indicators determined by the user business operator who introduces the network device into their system.

[0006] An example of a purpose of the present disclosure is to provide an evaluation device that can evaluate the trustworthiness required by each user business operator.

[0007] An evaluation device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes an evaluation index acquisition means for acquiring a trust evaluation index for evaluating trustworthiness according to a user business operator, a device information acquisition means for acquiring device information of a network device to be evaluated, an inspection means for inspecting the network device using the device information based on the trust evaluation index, an evaluation means for evaluating trustworthiness based on the inspection results, and an output means for outputting the evaluation results of trustworthiness.

[0008] An evaluation system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is an evaluation system having a device information storage device that stores device information of network devices, and the evaluation device described above. The evaluation device includes an evaluation index acquisition means that acquires a trust evaluation index for evaluating the trustworthiness of a user business, an information acquisition means that acquires device information of the network device to be evaluated from the device information storage device, an inspection means that inspects the network device using the device information based on the trust evaluation index, an evaluation means that evaluates the trustworthiness of the network device based on the inspection results, and an output means that issues a certificate to certify the trustworthiness evaluation result, affixes a digital signature to the certificate, and stores it in the device information storage device.

[0009] In one aspect of the evaluation method of the present disclosure, a computer obtains a trust evaluation index for evaluating trustworthiness according to a user operator, obtains device information for a network device to be evaluated, inspects the network device using the device information based on the trust evaluation index, evaluates trustworthiness based on the inspection results, and outputs the trust evaluation result.

[0010] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a recording medium stores a program that causes a computer to acquire a trust evaluation index for evaluating trustworthiness according to a user business operator, acquire device information of a network device to be evaluated, inspect the network device using the device information based on the trust evaluation index, evaluate trustworthiness based on the inspection results, and output the trust evaluation results.

[0011] One example of the effect of the present disclosure is that an evaluation device can be provided that can evaluate the trustworthiness required by user businesses.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an evaluation system according to a first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration in which an evaluation device according to the first embodiment is realized by a computer device and its peripheral devices. Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the evaluation system according to the first embodiment.

[0013] Next, an embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0014] [First Embodiment] The evaluation device 100 in the first embodiment is a device for evaluating the trustworthiness of a network device, for example, for a user business operator who is considering introducing a specific network device into their own system. The evaluation device 100 may evaluate the trustworthiness not only when the user business operator purchases a new specific network device, but also when the configuration of the network device is changed, for example, when the software of the network device is upgraded. The network device is, for example, a device for relaying or transferring data on a network, such as a router, hub, gateway, or switch.

[0015] The evaluation system 10 in this embodiment includes an evaluation device 100, an operator terminal 200 of a user operator that requests the evaluation device 100 to inspect network devices, and a device information storage device 300 that stores device information for each network device. The device information storage device 300 is owned by a platform operator that manages device information for each network device. The user operator may, for example, request a third-party evaluation agency through the platform operator to evaluate the trustworthiness of the network device.

[0016] The business operator terminal 200 includes an evaluation index sending unit 201 that sends the trust evaluation index adopted by the user business operator, a collating unit 202, and a determining unit 203.

[0017] The device information storage device 300 stores at least configuration information and inspection information of the network devices as device information. The device information stored in the device information storage device 300 is updated in accordance with version upgrades of the network devices.

[0018] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an evaluation device 100 according to the first embodiment. Referring to Fig. 1, the evaluation device 100 includes an evaluation index acquisition unit 101, a device information acquisition unit 102, an inspection unit 103, an evaluation unit 104, and an output unit 105. The evaluation device 100, which is an essential component of this embodiment, will be described in detail below.

[0019] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration in which the evaluation device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure is realized by a computer device 500 including a processor. As shown in FIG. 2, the evaluation device 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 501, memories such as a read-only memory (ROM) 502 and a random access memory (RAM) 503, a storage device 505 such as a hard disk for storing a program 504, a communication interface (I / F) 508 for network connection, and an input / output interface 511 for inputting and outputting data. In the first embodiment, the trust evaluation index acquired by the evaluation index acquisition unit 101 is input to the evaluation device 100 via the communication I / F 508, for example.

[0020] The CPU 501 runs an operating system to control the entire evaluation device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The CPU 501 also reads programs and data into memory from a recording medium 506 attached to, for example, a drive device 507. The CPU 501 also functions as the evaluation index acquisition unit 101, device information acquisition unit 102, inspection unit 103, evaluation unit 104, output unit 105, or parts of these units in the first embodiment, and executes processing or commands in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, which will be described later, based on the program.

[0021] The recording medium 506 is, for example, an optical disk, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, an external hard disk, or a semiconductor memory. A part of the recording medium in the storage device is a non-volatile storage device, and the program is recorded therein. The program may also be downloaded from an external computer (not shown) connected to a communication network.

[0022] The input device 509 is realized by, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, built-in key buttons, etc., and is used for input operations. The input device 509 is not limited to a mouse, a keyboard, or built-in key buttons, and may be, for example, a touch panel. The output device 510 is realized by, for example, a display, and is used to check output.

[0023] As described above, the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the computer hardware shown in FIG. 2. However, the means for realizing each unit of the evaluation device 100 in FIG. 1 is not limited to the configuration described above. The evaluation device 100 may be realized by a single physically coupled device, or by two or more physically separated devices connected by wire or wirelessly. For example, the input device 509 and the output device 510 may be connected to the computer device 500 via a network. The evaluation device 100 in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 may also be configured using cloud computing or the like.

[0024] 1, an evaluation index acquisition unit 101 is a means for acquiring a trust evaluation index for evaluating the trustworthiness of a user company. In this embodiment, the evaluation index acquisition unit 101 acquires the trust evaluation index from an evaluation index transmission unit 201 via a network.

[0025] Trustworthiness refers to the reliability of an entire network consisting of multiple network devices, for example, reliability in maintaining stable operation of the entire network. Trust evaluation indicators are perspectives for evaluating trustworthiness, and include the presence or absence of unauthorized functions in network devices, inspection status, and visualization status of configuration information.

[0026] Examples of trust evaluation indicators include the following (1) to (4): (1) the presence or absence of backdoors, (2) the status of risk assessment inspections, (3) visibility of network device developers, and (4) the status of inspections along the supply chain.

[0027] In the above examples (1) to (4), the evaluation criteria for the trust evaluation index may be different. For example, regarding the presence or absence of a backdoor (1), the evaluation criteria may be that the binary code is analyzed and no backdoor functions or processes are included, or that the source code is analyzed and no backdoor is included. Note that a backdoor is a hidden function or additional function that the user is not aware of, and refers to an unauthorized function in software.

[0028] (2) Regarding the status of risk assessment inspections, the evaluation criteria may be based on eliminating all detected vulnerabilities, or on understanding the risks and countermeasures for vulnerabilities. These evaluation criteria may also be set based on the impact that a system incorporating network devices would have on a user business if it were to go down. For example, if a system outage poses a risk to confidential information or to human life, stricter evaluation criteria may be applied. Note that a vulnerability refers to a security flaw in the hardware or software of a network device that occurs due to design errors, program malfunctions, etc., and includes publicly available information.

[0029] (3) Regarding visualization of developers of network devices, the evaluation criteria may be set to clarify all developer attributes, or the evaluation criteria may be met if only unclear developer information is identified. Furthermore, the evaluation criteria may be set to whether the developer attributes are a specific country or business, or whether they are not a specific country or business.

[0030] (4) Regarding the inspection status in the supply chain, the evaluation criterion may be to clarify the inspection results of all business operators in the supply chain of network devices, or to identify areas with no inspection results or uninspected areas. In addition, the number of inspections at the development stage, rather than the final product, may be included in the trust evaluation index.

[0031] The trust evaluation index is an evaluation index for evaluating the trustworthiness of network devices that meets the needs of user businesses. For example, the trust evaluation index is an evaluation index for the above-mentioned trust items, such as "presence or absence of a backdoor." The trust evaluation index may be a single evaluation index, a collection of multiple evaluation indexes, an integration of multiple evaluation indexes, or an evaluation index calculated using multiple evaluation indexes, such as an average. The user business may create a trust evaluation index in accordance with the trust required for the network composed of the network devices to be introduced, or may obtain a trust evaluation index from a third-party organization or a platform business. The evaluation index acquisition unit 101 outputs the acquired trust evaluation index to the inspection unit 103.

[0032] The device information acquisition unit 102 is a means for acquiring device information of a network device to be evaluated. The device information acquisition unit 102 acquires the device information of the network device to be evaluated, for example, from the device information storage device 300. The device information is information necessary for evaluating the trustworthiness of the network device, and includes configuration information and inspection information. The device information storage device 300 stores, for example, the configuration information and inspection information associated with each network device.

[0033] Configuration information is, for example, hardware information and software information of network devices. Hardware information includes developer information, model numbers of chips, boards, ports, etc. that make up the hardware, and identifiers assigned to the hardware. Software information includes developer information, the OS (Operating System) that processes the hardware, software names such as libraries or applications, version information of the software, and code information of the software. Configuration information is updated when the configuration information is updated, such as when the software is upgraded.

[0034] The inspection information is information about the results of inspections based on the configuration information of network devices conducted by businesses along the supply chain from the procurement of network device components to delivery. The inspection information includes the backdoor inspection or risk assessment inspection described above. After acquiring the device information of the network device to be evaluated, the device information acquisition unit 102 outputs the device information to the inspection unit 103.

[0035] The inspection unit 103 is a means for inspecting network devices using device information based on trust evaluation indexes. A specific inspection method is as follows. That is, the inspection unit 103 creates inspection items for network devices to evaluate the trustworthiness of the network based on configuration information and trust evaluation indexes. For example, the inspection unit 103 creates inspection items for evaluating the trust evaluation indexes for the network devices to be evaluated.

[0036] For example, if the trust evaluation index is the presence or absence of a backdoor, the inspection unit 103 creates an inspection item to inspect the possibility of a backdoor in the device to be inspected. The inspection unit 103 may create multiple inspection items for one trust evaluation index, or may create one inspection item for multiple trust evaluation indexes.

[0037] Next, the inspection unit 103 inspects the network device using the evaluation criteria of the trust evaluation index for each created inspection item. The inspection unit 103 may indicate the inspection result for each trust evaluation index as a binary value of 0 or 100, or may indicate it as a specific rank such as A to C. Furthermore, the inspection unit 103 may indicate the inspection result for each trust evaluation index as a numerical value (score) such as 0 to 100%.

[0038] The evaluation unit 104 is a means for evaluating the trustworthiness based on the test results, and evaluates the trustworthiness of the network device comprehensively based on the test results of the trust evaluation indexes.

[0039] The evaluation unit 104 evaluates the trustworthiness by, for example, calculating the sum or average value of the test results of each trust evaluation index. Furthermore, the evaluation unit 104 may determine that the trustworthiness is not satisfied if the test result of any of the trust evaluation indexes is 0, or may determine that the trustworthiness is not satisfied if the test result of a predetermined trust evaluation index is equal to or less than a predetermined value. However, the method of evaluating the trustworthiness by the evaluation unit 104 is not limited to these.

[0040] The output unit 105 is a means for outputting the evaluation result of the trustworthiness of the network device. For example, the output unit 105 displays the evaluation result of the trustworthiness on an output device 510 such as a display. The output unit 105 may also output the evaluation result of the trustworthiness of the network device to the user operator. The output unit 105 may also issue a certificate to certify the evaluation result of the trustworthiness. The certificate is issued to certify the evaluation result of the trustworthiness of the network device to third parties, including the user operator. In this case, the output unit 105 affixes a digital signature to the certificate describing the evaluation result of the trustworthiness, and stores the certificate together with the public key in the device information storage device 300.

[0041] Next, the configuration of the operator terminal 200 will be described. When the output unit 105 issues a certificate representing the results of the trust evaluation, the operator terminal 200 performs processing up to determining the operation of the network device. The comparison unit 202 is a means for using the issued certificate after the network device is delivered to verify whether the delivered network device is identical to the evaluated network device. Specifically, the comparison unit 202 decrypts the hash value of the digital signature included in the certificate in the device information storage device 300 using a public key and compares it with the hash value distributed by the developer of the network device to verify its identity with the network device delivered by the developer. If the two network devices are not identical, the comparison unit 202 requests the developer to deliver a network device identical to the evaluated network device.

[0042] The determination unit 203 is a means for determining the operation of a network device based on the evaluation result of the trustworthiness. The determination unit 203 may determine the operation of a network device when the evaluation result of the trustworthiness is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Furthermore, the determination unit 203 may determine the operation of a network device having the highest evaluation result of the trustworthiness from among a plurality of network devices.

[0043] The operation of the evaluation device 100 configured as above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0044] 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the evaluation device 100 according to the first embodiment. Note that the processing according to this flowchart may be executed based on program control by the processor described above.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 3 , first, the evaluation index sending unit 201 in the operator terminal 200 sends a trust evaluation index for evaluating trustworthiness to the evaluation device 100 (step S101). Next, the evaluation index acquiring unit 101 in the evaluation device 100 acquires the trust evaluation index from the operator terminal 200 (step S102). Next, the device information acquiring unit 102 acquires device information of the network device to be evaluated (step S103). Next, the inspection unit 103 inspects the network device based on the trust evaluation index (step S104). Next, the evaluation unit 104 evaluates trustworthiness based on the inspection result (step S105). Next, the output unit 105 issues a certificate to certify the trust evaluation result (step S106).

[0046] On the other hand, after the network device is delivered, the verification unit 202 in the operator terminal 200 verifies whether the delivered network device is the same as the evaluated network device using the issued certificate (step S107). Finally, after the verification, the determination unit 203 determines the operation of the network device based on the trust evaluation result (step S108). With this, the evaluation device 100 ends its operation.

[0047] In the evaluation device 100 of this embodiment, the evaluation index acquisition unit 101 acquires trust evaluation indexes from user businesses, the inspection unit 103 inspects network devices based on the trust evaluation indexes, and the evaluation unit 104 evaluates the trustworthiness based on the inspection results. This makes it possible to evaluate the trustworthiness required by the user businesses.

[0048] In this embodiment, the output unit 105 issues a certificate by attaching a digital signature to the trust evaluation result. This ensures the legitimacy of the trust evaluation result. A user business that obtains a trust certificate can use the valid trust evaluation result, and can consider introducing network devices based on the highly reliable trust evaluation result.

[0049] A modified example of this embodiment will be described, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the evaluation index acquisition unit 101 acquires trust evaluation indexes from the user enterprise. In contrast, in the modified example, the evaluation index acquisition unit 101 may evaluate the validity of the trust evaluation index acquired from the user enterprise, and use the trust evaluation index if it is valid. In other words, if the trust evaluation index acquired from the user enterprise is valid, the evaluation index acquisition unit 101 outputs the trust evaluation index to the inspection unit 103.

[0050] The evaluation index acquiring unit 101 may also acquire trust evaluation indexes created by analyzing trends in trust evaluation indexes adopted by other businesses similar to the user business in terms of size, business type, industry, or business type. These trust evaluation indexes are created by analyzing trends for each user company's size, business type, industry, or business type based on trust evaluation indexes submitted by other user businesses, and are stored, for example, in the storage device 505. An example of the created trust evaluation index may include, for example, a trust evaluation index that is used by businesses in the same industry at a predetermined rate or higher to evaluate trustworthiness. More specifically, if a specific industry places importance on visibility of network device developers and uses developer attributes other than those of a specific country as an evaluation criterion, the created trust evaluation index may include such a trust evaluation index. The evaluation index acquiring unit 101 may present the above-described trust evaluation index to the user business and adopt it, particularly when the trust evaluation index acquired from the user business is inappropriate.

[0051] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

[0052] For example, although multiple operations are described in order in the form of a flowchart, the order of description does not limit the order in which the multiple operations are performed. Therefore, when implementing each embodiment, the order of the multiple operations can be changed to the extent that it does not interfere with the content. In the flowchart of FIG. 3, in step S106, the output unit 105 issues a certificate to certify the trust evaluation result. However, the output unit 105 may simply output the trust evaluation result to the output device 510. In this case, subsequent processing in the operator terminal 200 is not performed.

[0053] 10 Evaluation system 100 Evaluation device 101 Evaluation index acquisition unit 102 Device information acquisition unit 103 Inspection unit 104 Evaluation unit 105 Output unit 200 Business operator terminal 300 Device information storage device

Claims

1. An evaluation index acquisition means for acquiring a trust evaluation index for evaluating the trustworthiness of a user company; A device information acquisition means for acquiring device information of a network device to be evaluated; an inspection means for inspecting a network device using the device information based on the trust evaluation index; An evaluation means for evaluating the trustworthiness based on the result of the inspection; and an output unit for outputting the evaluation result of the trustworthiness.

2. The evaluation device according to claim 1 , wherein the output means issues a certificate for certifying the result of the evaluation of the trustworthiness.

3. The evaluation device according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation index acquisition means acquires a trust evaluation index from the user company.

4. The evaluation index acquisition means further evaluates the validity of the trust evaluation index acquired from the user company, 4. The evaluation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the inspection means inspects the network device based on the trust evaluation index when the trust evaluation index is valid.

5. The evaluation device according to claim 1 , wherein the trust evaluation index is a trust evaluation index created by performing a trend analysis of trust evaluation indexes adopted by another business that is similar to the user business in terms of size, business format, industry, or business type.

6. The evaluation device according to claim 1 , wherein the device information includes configuration information and inspection information of the network device.

7. A verification means for verifying whether a delivered network device is identical to an evaluated network device based on a certificate issued by the evaluation device according to any one of claims 2 to 6; and a determination means for determining operation of the network device based on a result of the evaluation of the trustworthiness after the matching.

8. a device information storage device that stores device information of the network device; An evaluation system comprising the evaluation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The evaluation device includes an evaluation index acquisition means for acquiring a trust evaluation index for evaluating a trustworthiness according to a user company; an information acquiring means for acquiring device information of the network device to be evaluated from the device information storage device; an inspection means for inspecting a network device using the device information based on the trust evaluation index; An evaluation means for evaluating the trustworthiness based on the result of the inspection; an output means for issuing a certificate for attesting to the evaluation result of the trustworthiness, and storing the certificate in the device information storage device with an electronic signature attached thereto.

9. The computer Obtain a trust evaluation index for evaluating the trustworthiness of user businesses, Acquire device information of the network device to be evaluated, Inspecting a network device using device information based on the trust evaluation index; Evaluating the reliability based on the results of the inspection; and outputting the evaluation result of the trust.

10. Obtain a trust evaluation index for evaluating the trustworthiness of user businesses, Acquire device information of the network device to be evaluated, Inspecting a network device using device information based on the trust evaluation index; Evaluating the reliability based on the results of the inspection; A program for causing a computer to execute the process of outputting the evaluation result of the trust.