Information processing system, information processing method, and program

Abstract

[Problem] To enable secure authentication. [Solution] An information processing system characterized by comprising: a contact address setting unit that sets a contact address for each of user IDs identifying users; a confirmation code issuing unit that issues a confirmation code in association with a user ID; a contact address notifying unit that notifies a medical facility of the user ID and an associated contact address; a confirmation code transmitting unit that transmits the associated confirmation code to the contact address; an authentication information inputting unit that receives input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code; and an authentication processing unit that authenticates a user on the basis of the received confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code.

Description

Information processing system, information processing method and program

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program.

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a method of transmitting a one-time password to a portable information terminal to perform authentication.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-249726

[0004] However, in order to send a one-time password to a mobile information terminal, it is necessary to obtain a recipient's personal information, such as an email address.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and has an object to provide a technique that enables secure authentication.

[0006] The main invention of the present invention for solving the above problem is an information processing system comprising: a contact setting unit that sets contact information for each subject ID that identifies the subject; a confirmation code issuing unit that issues a confirmation code in association with the subject ID; a contact notification unit that notifies a medical institution of the subject ID and the corresponding contact information; a confirmation code sending unit that sends the corresponding confirmation code to the contact information; an authentication information input unit that accepts input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code; and an authentication processing unit that authenticates the subject based on the accepted confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code.

[0007] Other problems and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the section on preferred embodiments of the invention and the drawings.

[0008] According to the present invention, a business can perform authentication safely without acquiring personal information.

[0009] It is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system. It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a management server 2. It is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of a management server 2. It is a diagram explaining the flow of authentication processing.

[0010] <System Overview> An information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The information processing system of this embodiment is intended to authenticate users when providing applications to clinical trials without acquiring or managing the users' personal information. Users of this information processing system include subjects in clinical trials and patients in treatment. In the following embodiment, an example will be described in which this information processing system is used between a medical institution and a subject in a clinical trial.

[0011] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system. The information processing system of this embodiment is configured to include a management server 2. The management server 2 is communicably connected to a user terminal 1, a medical institution terminal 4, and a mail server 5 via a communication network 3. The communication network 3 is, for example, the Internet, and is constructed using a public telephone line network, a mobile phone line network, a wireless communication path, Ethernet (registered trademark), or the like.

[0012] The user terminal 1 is a computer operated by a user. The user terminal 1 can be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer. The user can use the user terminal 1 to access the management server 2 and view or input information related to the clinical trial. When the user uses the web application, the user is authenticated by the management server 2.

[0013] The management server 2 is a computer managed by a web application provider. The management server 2 may be a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

[0014] The medical institution terminal 4 is a computer operated by an employee of the medical institution that conducts the clinical trial.

[0015] <Management Server> FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 2. Note that the illustrated configuration is an example, and other configurations may also be used. The management server 2 includes a CPU 201, memory 202, storage device 203, communication interface 204, input device 205, and output device 206. The storage device 203 stores various data and programs, and is, for example, a hard disk drive, solid state drive, or flash memory. The communication interface 204 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 3, and is, for example, an adapter for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark), a modem for connecting to a public telephone network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector, or an RS232C connector for serial communication. The input device 205 is, for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, button, microphone, or the like for inputting data. The output device 206 is, for example, a display, printer, speaker, or the like for outputting data. Each functional unit of the management server 2 described below is realized by the CPU 201 reading a program stored in the storage device 203 into the memory 202 and executing it, and each storage unit of the management server 2 is realized as part of the storage area provided by the memory 202 and the storage device 203.

[0016] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the management server 2. The management server 2 includes an authentication code storage unit 231, a confirmation code storage unit 232, a subject ID storage unit 233, a contact information setting unit 211, a confirmation code issuing unit 212, a contact information notification unit 213, a confirmation code sending unit 214, an authentication information input unit 215, an authentication processing unit 216, an authentication code creation unit 217, and a clinical trial application providing unit 218.

[0017] <Storage Unit> The authentication code storage unit 231 stores information for identifying a user (subject ID), the user's contact information created by the management server 2, and a code corresponding to the contact information (hereinafter referred to as an authentication code), in association with each other. In this embodiment, the user's contact information is an email address (hereinafter referred to as a clinical trial email address) newly issued for the user. Note that a chat service ID or the like may also be used as the contact information. The authentication code storage unit 231 also stores a flag (authentication code valid flag) indicating whether the authentication code is valid or not, in association with the contact information and the authentication code. The subject ID uniquely identifies a user within the system, but is not linked to the user's personal information.

[0018] The confirmation code storage unit 232 stores a code (hereinafter referred to as a confirmation code) for confirming that the user is a subject (i.e., for authenticating the user). The confirmation code storage unit 232 stores the confirmation code in association with a subject ID that identifies the subject. The confirmation code storage unit 232 also stores a flag (confirmation code valid flag) that indicates whether the confirmation code is valid.

[0019] The subject ID storage unit 233 stores the subject ID. The subject ID storage unit 233 stores the subject ID and contact information (clinical trial email address) in association with each other. The subject ID storage unit 233 may also store the password (initial password) for the clinical trial email address.

[0020] <Functional Unit> The contact setting unit 211 sets a contact linked to a subject ID. In this embodiment, the contact setting unit 211 issues a new email address (clinical trial email address) corresponding to the subject ID. The contact setting unit 211 can, for example, access the mail server 5 to create a new clinical trial email address. A general process can be used for issuing a new email address. The contact setting unit 211 can register a contact (clinical trial email address) in association with the subject ID in the subject ID storage unit 233. The contact setting unit 211 can, for example, set a contact in response to receiving a subject ID from an administrator.

[0021] The confirmation code issuing unit 212 issues a confirmation code. The confirmation code issuing unit 212 can issue a confirmation code in association with a subject ID. The confirmation code can be, for example, a random character string of a predetermined number of characters. The confirmation code issuing unit 212 registers the confirmation code in association with the subject ID in the confirmation code storage unit 232. At this time, the confirmation code valid flag can be set to true. The confirmation code issuing unit 212 may store the result of applying the confirmation code to a predetermined function (e.g., a hash function). The confirmation code issuing unit 212 can create a confirmation code in response to, for example, receiving a subject ID from an administrator.

[0022] The contact information notification unit 213 notifies the medical institution of the subject ID and the corresponding contact information. The contact information notification unit 213 can read the subject ID and the clinical trial email address from the subject ID storage unit 233 and transmit them to the medical institution terminal 4. If an initial password has been set, the contact information notification unit 213 may also transmit the initial password.

[0023] The confirmation code sending unit 214 sends a confirmation code to the user. When a subject ID is given, the confirmation code sending unit 214 can read out the confirmation code corresponding to the subject ID from the confirmation code storage unit 232, read out the clinical trial email address corresponding to the subject ID from the subject ID storage unit 233, and send the confirmation code to the clinical trial email address.

[0024] The authentication information input unit 215 accepts information (authentication information) necessary for user authentication. The authentication information input unit 215 can accept a confirmation code as authentication information.

[0025] The authentication processing unit 216 authenticates the user. For example, the authentication processing unit 216 can authenticate the user based on whether or not a confirmation code received from the user matches a confirmation code stored in the confirmation code storage unit 232. Furthermore, if the confirmation code storage unit 231 stores a result of applying the confirmation code to a predetermined function, the authentication processing unit 216 can also perform authentication based on whether or not the result of applying the confirmation code received from the user to the predetermined function matches the information stored in the confirmation code storage unit 232.

[0026] The authentication code generation unit 217 generates an authentication code corresponding to the contact information. The authentication code generation unit 217 generates an authentication code so that valid authentication codes within the system are unique. For example, the authentication code generation unit 217 can generate an authentication code by incrementing numbers to form a four-digit number. In this case, the numbers can be rotated (for example, 9999 followed by 0). The four-digit number may be a hexadecimal number. It may also be a four-character string using ASCII code. Note that if an authentication code identical to the incremented authentication code is stored in the authentication code storage unit 231 and the corresponding authentication code valid flag is true, the authentication code generation unit 217 can skip that authentication code and increment it again.

[0027] The contact means notification unit can notify the medical institution of the subject ID, the corresponding contact information, and the corresponding authentication code.

[0028] In this case, the confirmation code transmission unit 214 can accept input of an authentication code from the subject, read out the contact information corresponding to the accepted authentication code (and for which the authentication code valid flag is true) from the authentication code storage unit 231, and transmit the confirmation code to the read out contact information. When the confirmation code transmission unit 214 reads out the contact information corresponding to the authentication code from the authentication code storage unit 231, it can update the authentication code valid flag corresponding to the authentication code to false.

[0029] The clinical trial application provider 218 provides a web application that provides information about clinical trials and allows information input and management, etc. Details of the web application will not be described here.

[0030] <Authentication Processing> Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the flow of authentication processing. In the information processing system of this embodiment, it is assumed that a web app provided by the management server 2 is accessed from a smartphone (user terminal 1) owned by a user who is a subject, and that when the user starts using the web app, authentication of the user is performed using this user terminal 1. Note that the user terminal 1 may be a single smartphone, or may include other terminals (whether singular or plural) owned by the subject 13.

[0031] (1) First, researcher R (including an employee of the web application provider, a medical institution employee 12, or someone with access to the management server 2) accesses the management server 2 through a specified terminal (not shown) and performs an operation to issue a subject ID, authentication code, and clinical trial email address. This operation causes the contact setting unit 211 of the management server 2 to issue a new clinical trial email address in the mail server 5, and the authentication code generation unit 217 issues a subject ID that identifies the subject and a unique authentication code linked to the subject ID. At this point, the management server 2 manages the clinical trial email address and its password, and they are not linked to the user, so the management server 2 does not know the user's personal information. (2) The contact notification unit 213 sends the issued subject ID, authentication code, clinical trial email address, and URL for accessing the web application (hereinafter referred to as the clinical trial URL) to the medical institution terminal 4.

[0032] (3) At the medical institution, a medical institution employee 12 links the subject ID received by the medical institution terminal 4 with personal information of the user who is the actual subject (e.g., information written in the medical record information). The medical institution employee 12 may include medical institution staff such as doctors and nurses, or external personnel such as clinical research associates (CRAs).

[0033] (4) The medical institution employee 12 transmits the subject ID, authentication code, clinical trial email address (and initial setting password), and clinical trial URL to the subject 13 (user). For example, the employee 12 can send this information to an email address (hereinafter referred to as a personal email address) managed by the subject 13 and obtained from the medical institution. In this case, the personal email address is not transmitted to the operator of the management server 2. The subject ID, authentication code, issued clinical trial email address, and clinical trial URL may be handed over as printed information, for example, on paper. In this case, the clinical trial URL may be provided as a QR code (registered trademark).

[0034] (5) The subject 13 operates the user terminal 1 to log in to the mail server 5 to make the clinical trial email address available so that emails delivered to the clinical trial email address can be viewed on the user terminal 1. (6) The subject 13 also accesses the web app using the clinical trial URL from the user terminal 1. (7) In response to a request from the web app, the subject 13 inputs at least an authentication code into the web app via the user terminal 1. Note that both the subject ID and the authentication code may be input.

[0035] (8) The user terminal 1 transmits the input authentication code to the management server 2 via the web application. (9) The confirmation code transmission unit 214 of the management server 2 reads out the clinical trial email address that corresponds to the authentication code and for which the authentication code valid flag is true from the authentication code storage unit 231. (10) The confirmation code issuing unit 212 issues a confirmation code that corresponds to the subject ID and registers it in the confirmation code storage unit 232. Here, the confirmation code valid flag is set to true. (11) The confirmation code transmission unit 214 transmits the issued confirmation code to the read clinical trial email address.

[0036] (12) The subject 13 accesses the mail server 5 via the user terminal 1, retrieves the email sent to the clinical trial email address, and obtains the confirmation code. (12a) The confirmation code may be provided by push notification to the user terminal 1, SMS transmission, voice call, or by an authentication service or application (token software or token device) provided by a third party. (13) The subject 13 enters the confirmed confirmation code into the web app.

[0037] (14) The user terminal 1 transmits the input confirmation code to the management server 2. (15) The authentication processing unit 216 of the management server 2 authenticates the user based on whether the confirmation code received from the user terminal 1 matches a confirmation code stored in the confirmation code storage unit 232 that corresponds to the subject ID and has a confirmation code valid flag set to true.

[0038] As described above, the information processing system of this embodiment can authenticate a subject by sending a confirmation code to the subject without acquiring or managing the subject's personal information on the management server 2 side. The information processing system of this embodiment can be used not only for subjects but also for actual patients, i.e., for treatment using an application. Even in this case, the patient's personal email address and other personal information are not transmitted to the operator of the management server 2.

[0039] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the above embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit thereof, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention.

[0040] For example, in this embodiment, an authentication code is input, but contact information such as a clinical trial email address may be input instead of inputting an authentication code. In this case, the management server 2 simply sends a confirmation code to the clinical trial email address received from the user. Note that the management server 2 may check whether the contact information received from the user is issued by the management server 2, and may avoid collecting personal information of the user.

[0041] Furthermore, in this embodiment, user authentication is performed based on whether the confirmation code entered by the user matches the confirmation code stored in the management server 2, but authentication may also be performed using information based on the confirmation code. For example, the result of applying the confirmation code to a predetermined function (e.g., a hash function) may be stored in the confirmation code storage unit 214, and the confirmation code received from the user may be applied to the predetermined function to determine whether it matches the result stored in the confirmation code storage unit 214. Alternatively, the user terminal 1 may obtain the result of applying the confirmation code to the predetermined function and send that result to the management server 2, and the management server 2 may authenticate the user based on whether the result received from the user matches the result stored in the management server 2.

[0042] Alternatively, for example, authentication may be performed using a passcode corresponding to a timestamp used for two-step authentication. In this case, the confirmation code may be provided as a QR code (registered trademark), for example, to provide information for configuring the authentication app registered in the user terminal 1.

[0043] Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is assumed that a user is authenticated when using a web application provided by the management server 2, but this can also be applied to an application installed on the user terminal 1. In this case, the application installed on the user terminal 1 may accept input of a subject ID, an authentication code, and a confirmation code from the user and transmit them to the management server 2.

[0044] <Disclosure Matters> The present disclosure also includes the following configurations. [Item 1] An information processing system comprising: a contact setting unit that sets contact information for each subject ID that identifies a subject; a confirmation code issuing unit that issues a confirmation code in association with the subject ID; a contact information notifying unit that notifies a medical institution of the subject ID and the corresponding contact information; a confirmation code sending unit that sends the corresponding confirmation code to the contact information; an authentication information input unit that accepts input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code; and an authentication processing unit that authenticates the subject based on the accepted confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code. [Item 2] The information processing system according to item 1, wherein the contact setting unit issues an email address corresponding to the subject ID. [Item 3] The information processing system according to Item 1, comprising: an authentication code creation unit that creates an authentication code corresponding to the contact information; and an authentication code storage unit that stores the contact information and the authentication code in association with each other, wherein the contact means notification unit notifies the medical institution of the subject ID, the corresponding contact information, and the corresponding authentication code, and the confirmation code transmission unit accepts input of the authentication code from the subject, reads out the contact information corresponding to the accepted authentication code from the authentication code storage unit, and transmits the confirmation code to the read contact information. [Item 4] An information processing method, wherein a computer executes the steps of: setting a contact point for each subject ID that identifies a subject, issuing a confirmation code in association with the subject ID, notifying a medical institution of the subject ID and the corresponding contact information, transmitting the corresponding confirmation code to the contact information, accepting input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code, and authenticating the subject based on the accepted confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code.[Item 5] A program for causing a computer to execute the steps of: setting a contact point for each subject ID that identifies a subject; issuing a confirmation code in association with the subject ID; notifying a medical institution of the subject ID and the corresponding contact point; sending the corresponding confirmation code to the contact point; accepting input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code; and authenticating the subject based on the accepted confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code.

[0045] 1 User terminal 2 Management server 4 Medical institution terminal 5 Mail server

Claims

1. An information processing system comprising: a contact setting unit that sets contact points for each user ID that identifies a user; a confirmation code issuing unit that issues a confirmation code corresponding to the user ID; a contact point notification unit that notifies a medical institution of the user ID and the corresponding contact points; a confirmation code sending unit that sends the corresponding confirmation code to the contact points; an authentication information input unit that accepts input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code; and an authentication processing unit that authenticates the user based on the received confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the contact setting unit issues an email address corresponding to the user ID.

3. An information processing system as described in claim 1, comprising: an authentication code creation unit that creates an authentication code corresponding to the contact information; and an authentication code storage unit that stores the contact information and the authentication code in association with each other; wherein the contact means notification unit notifies the medical institution of the user ID, the corresponding contact information, and the corresponding authentication code; and the confirmation code sending unit accepts input of the authentication code from the user, reads out the contact information corresponding to the accepted authentication code from the authentication code storage unit, and sends the confirmation code to the read contact information.

4. An information processing method characterized in that a computer executes the steps of: setting contact information for each user ID that identifies a user; issuing a confirmation code corresponding to the user ID; notifying a medical institution of the user ID and the corresponding contact information; sending the corresponding confirmation code to the contact information; accepting input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code; and authenticating the user based on the accepted confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code.

5. A program for causing a computer to execute the steps of: setting contact information for each user ID that identifies a user; issuing a confirmation code corresponding to the user ID; notifying a medical institution of the user ID and the corresponding contact information; sending the corresponding confirmation code to the contact information; accepting input of the confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code; and authenticating the user based on the accepted confirmation code or information based on the confirmation code.

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