License management system, license management method, and program

Abstract

A license management system 100 includes a first device (terminal device 1) and a second device (terminal management server 2). An analysis program operates on the first device. The first device has a first key (key K11) associated with device-specific information of the first device, and is not communicatively connected to at least the second device. The second device includes an encryption unit (control unit 21) that encrypts analysis program-related information related to the analysis program on the basis of the first key.

Description

License management system, license management method and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a license management system, a license management method, and a program.

[0002] In recent years, AI (artificial intelligence) technology has been used in a wide range of fields, and an environment in which AI technology can be used easily and quickly is required. For example, one way of using AI technology is to run a program (analysis program) that provides AI technology on a user's terminal (edge ​​device). Note that this type of use is not limited to AI technology, and various analytical technologies can also be used. The following describes an example of AI technology that is often used in this manner. Here, AI technology is encrypted to prevent unauthorized use and is decrypted when used. Specifically, when a user purchases a license to use AI technology, a key for decrypting the encrypted AI technology may be issued. In the following, the key for decrypting the encrypted AI technology will be described as an AI key. When issuing an AI key, it is necessary to verify that the user is an authorized user. In an online environment, it is common to access a terminal management server and issue an AI key only after verifying that the user is an authorized user. On the other hand, some users may want to use AI technology on a device in an offline environment. For example, such cases include a manufacturing site that does not have a network environment or where network connections are not permitted for security reasons. In such cases, in order to enable the use of AI technology on users' devices, a means is needed to allow only authorized devices to use AI technology even in offline situations.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes the following: First, a device receives a certificate from a service system as proof of the legitimacy of using the service system. After storing the confidential information included in the certificate, the device encrypts the confidential information using device-specific information, and when using the confidential information, decrypts the confidential information using the device-specific information. As a result, even if the certificate is leaked, only the device that encrypted the confidential information can decrypt it, preventing unauthorized use.

[0004] Patent Document 2 describes a method in which security keys for encrypting or decrypting information stored in a device are centrally managed by a management device, as follows: The management server creates a security key by linking it to unique information sent from the device and returns the security key to the device. The device encrypts its own data with the security key. The device then erases the security key to prevent data leakage. In other words, the device does not retain the security key. This makes it possible to prevent data leakage even if the device is stolen. Furthermore, when the device uses data, it requests the management server to send the security key, and the management server returns a security key that matches the unique information. The device then decrypts the data with the security key and uses it, and erases the security key to prevent data leakage.

[0005] JP 2015-222552 A JP 2012-147506 A

[0006] However, Patent Documents 1 and 2 have the following problems. In Patent Document 1, encryption is performed after the device receives the confidential information. Therefore, if the path up to when the device receives the confidential information is unreliable, for example, if a user copies the confidential information to the device using a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory in an offline environment, there is a risk of information leakage. In Patent Document 2, assuming an offline environment, it is assumed that the device key will be sent to the management server via a storage medium (such as a USB memory), which is a burden. In addition, since the management server needs to store the unique information and the security key as a set, it is necessary to prepare a storage device to store this information, and to back it up and take security measures, which is a burden on the administrator.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to preferably realize license management that allows only authorized devices to use various analytical technologies such as AI technology in devices in an offline environment.

[0008] In order to solve the above problem, the license management system of the present invention is a management system comprising a first device and a second device, wherein an analysis program runs on the first device, the first device has a first key linked to device-specific information of the first device, and is not communicatively connected to at least the second device, and the second device has an encryption unit that encrypts analysis program-related information regarding the analysis program based on the first key.

[0009] Furthermore, the license management method of the present invention includes a first device and a second device, an analysis program running on the first device, the first device having a first key linked to device-specific information of the first device, and not being communicatively connected to at least the second device, in a management system, wherein the second device executes an encryption step of encrypting analysis program-related information relating to the analysis program based on the first key.

[0010] Furthermore, a program according to the present invention causes a computer of a first device, on which an analysis program is running and which has a first key linked to device-specific information, to function as: an acquisition unit that acquires analysis-program-related information regarding the analysis program encrypted by a second device based on the first key, and a decryption unit that decrypts the acquired analysis-program-related information with the first key. Further, a program according to the present invention causes a computer of a second device, on which an analysis program is running and which is not communicatively connected to a first device having a first key linked to device-specific information, to function as: an encryption unit that encrypts analysis-program-related information regarding the analysis program based on the first key.

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to preferably realize license management that allows only authorized devices to use various analytical technologies such as AI technology in devices in an offline environment.

[0012] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a license management system; FIG. 2 is a ladder diagram of a license management process;

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and drawings.

[0014] <License Management System 100> First, the configuration of the license management system 100 (management system) will be described using Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, the license management system 100 includes a terminal device 1 (first device) and a terminal management server 2 (second device). The terminal device 1 and the terminal management server 2 are offline. Information is exchanged between the terminal device 1 and the terminal management server 2 by a user using a storage medium (such as a USB memory). Information may also be exchanged between the terminal device 1 and the terminal management server 2 by a user via a shared file server that is communicatively connected to either the terminal device 1 or the terminal management server 2.

[0015] The terminal device 1 is an information processing device that performs analytical processing (such as AI processing) on ​​predetermined information generated by a sensor unit 16 such as a camera using an inference model included in an analysis program. The terminal management server 2 is an information processing device that manages the terminal devices 1 that are capable of executing the above-mentioned analytical processing. The terminal management server 2 is operated by a provider of the analysis program. The terminal management server 2 may be a cloud server or an on-premise device.

[0016] <Terminal Device 1> Next, the configuration of the terminal device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the terminal device 1 includes a control unit 11, an operation unit 12, a communication unit 13, a storage unit 14, a display unit 15, and a sensor unit 16.

[0017] The control unit 11 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The CPU of the control unit 11 reads various programs stored in the storage unit 14, expands them in the RAM, executes various processes according to the expanded programs, and controls the operation of each unit of the terminal device 1. The control unit 11 functions as a first acquisition unit that acquires device-specific information. The device-specific information is information unique to each terminal device 1. Examples of the device-specific information include a MAC (Media Access Control) address, a serial number, HW (hardware) configuration information, and a device ID. The control unit 11 functions as a generation unit that generates a first key (key K11) based on the read device-specific information. Specifically, the first key is a Hash key, which is a Hash value calculated using an arbitrary algorithm based on the device-specific information. The first key may be a direct combination of character strings of device-specific information. The control unit 11 functions as a first output unit that outputs the first key. The control unit 11 outputs the first key, for example, to a storage medium or a shared file server as described above. The control unit 11 functions as a second acquisition unit that acquires encrypted analysis program-related information from outside the terminal device 1. "Acquisition from outside the terminal device 1" refers to acquisition from a storage medium or a shared file server as described above. The analysis program-related information includes the second key (key K31) used to encrypt the analysis program, the analysis program itself, and peripheral information used in executing the analysis program (such as a machine learning model for analyzing input data and returning output). The control unit 11 functions as a decryption unit that uses the first key to decrypt the encrypted analysis program-related information.

[0018] The operation unit 12 is a keyboard equipped with cursor keys, numeric input keys, various function keys, etc., a pointing device such as a mouse, a touch panel laminated on the surface of the display unit 15, etc. The operation unit 12 is configured to be operable by an operator, and outputs various signals to the control unit 11 based on operations performed by the operator.

[0019] The communication unit 13 is capable of transmitting and receiving various signals and various data to and from other devices and the like that are connected for communication via the communication network N.

[0020] The storage unit 14 is configured with a non-volatile semiconductor memory, a hard disk, etc., and stores various programs executed by the control unit 11, parameters required for executing the programs, various data, etc. For example, the storage unit 14 stores device-specific information. Also, for example, the storage unit 14 stores the above-mentioned key K11. Also, for example, the storage unit 14 stores the below-described public key K21.

[0021] The display unit 15 is configured with a monitor such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and displays various screens and the like in accordance with instructions of a display signal input from the control unit 11 .

[0022] The sensor unit 16 is a sensor device that acquires various data such as images and sounds, etc. The sensor unit 16 is, for example, a camera or a microphone.

[0023] <Terminal Management Server 2> Next, the configuration of the terminal management server 2 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the terminal management server 2 includes a control unit 21, an operation unit 22, a communication unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a display unit 25.

[0024] The control unit 21 is composed of a CPU, RAM, etc. The CPU of the control unit 21 reads out various programs stored in the storage unit 24, expands them into the RAM, executes various processes according to the expanded programs, and controls the operation of each unit of the terminal management server 2. The control unit 21 functions as an encryption unit that encrypts analysis program-related information related to the analysis program based on a first key (key K11). The control unit 21 functions as a third acquisition unit that acquires the first key output by the terminal device 1. "Acquisition" here refers to acquisition from a storage medium or shared file server as described above. The control unit 21 functions as a second output unit that outputs the encrypted analysis program-related information.

[0025] The operation unit 22 is a keyboard equipped with cursor keys, numeric input keys, various function keys, etc., a pointing device such as a mouse, a touch panel laminated on the surface of the display unit 25, etc. The operation unit 22 is configured to be operable by an operator, and outputs various signals to the control unit 21 based on operations performed by the operator.

[0026] The communication unit 23 is capable of transmitting and receiving various signals and various data to and from other devices and the like that are connected for communication via the communication network N.

[0027] The storage unit 24 is configured with a non-volatile semiconductor memory, a hard disk, etc., and stores various programs executed by the control unit 21, parameters required for executing the programs, various data, etc. For example, the storage unit 24 stores the above-mentioned key K31. The storage unit 24 also stores, for example, a private key K22, which will be described later.

[0028] The display unit 25 is configured with a monitor such as an LCD, and displays various screens and the like in accordance with instructions of a display signal input from the control unit 21 .

[0029] <License Management Process> Next, the license management process in the terminal device 1 and the terminal management server 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The license management process is a process for managing the terminal device 1 so that only users of the terminal device 1 who have purchased a license to use the analysis process can execute the analysis process on the terminal device 1. Specifically, in the license management process, a key (second key, key K31) for decrypting the encrypted analysis program is issued to users of the terminal device 1 who have purchased a license to use the analysis process. The user operates an agent on the terminal device 1 to perform various operations (steps S1 to S5, S11 to S13). Here, it is assumed that the agent is provided by the provider of the analysis program and has been installed on the terminal device 1 in advance by the user.

[0030] First, the control unit 11 acquires device-specific information from the storage unit 14 (step S1; first acquisition step).

[0031] Next, the control unit 11 generates a key K11 (first key) using the device-specific information (step S2; generation step). Specifically, the agent reads the device-specific information, calculates a hash value of the device information according to a predetermined algorithm, and sets this as a hash key (key K11).

[0032] Next, the control unit 11 generates device-related information (device-specific information and key K11) (step S3). Specifically, the agent generates a device-related information file having device-specific information and a hash key (key K11).

[0033] Next, the control unit 11 encrypts the device-related information with the public key K21 (step S4). Specifically, the agent encrypts the device-related information file with the public key K21 for protecting the device-related information file. Encryption prevents information in the device-related information file from being leaked. It is assumed that the public key K21 is stored in the terminal device 1 before the license management process begins. For example, it is assumed that the public key K21 is copied to the terminal device 1 together with the agent when the agent is installed.

[0034] Next, the control unit 11 outputs the device-related information (step S5; first output step). Here, the control unit 11 outputs the device-related information to a storage medium. The user sends the storage medium on which the device-related information is recorded to the provider of the analysis program. It is assumed that the user has already purchased a license for the analysis program to be used by this point. Note that, in the above example, the control unit 11 outputs the hash key (key K11) as device-related information along with device information such as a device ID that can be read by the user, but the control unit 11 may output only the hash key (key K11).

[0035] Next, the control unit 21 acquires the device-related information (step S6). Here, it is assumed that the control unit 21 acquires the device-related information from a storage medium.

[0036] Next, the control unit 21 decrypts the device-related information with the private key K22 that is paired with the public key K21 (step S7).

[0037] Next, the control unit 21 acquires the key K11 from the decrypted device-related information (step S8; third acquisition step).

[0038] Next, the control unit 21 encrypts the analysis program-related information (key K31, analysis program, etc.) with key K11 (step S9; encryption step). It is assumed that the analysis program has already been encrypted with key K31. In other words, key K31 is the second key used to encrypt the analysis program. Note that the control unit 21 only needs to encrypt at least key K31 with key K11. In other words, since the analysis program is encrypted with key K31, it is not necessary to encrypt it with key K11. It is also assumed that the control unit 21 has acquired the analysis program-related information, for example, from an external repository that manages analysis program-related information, via the communication unit 23.

[0039] Next, the control unit 21 outputs the analysis program-related information (step S10; second output step). Here, the control unit 11 outputs the analysis program-related information to a storage medium. The provider of the analysis program sends the storage medium on which the analysis program-related information is recorded to the user.

[0040] Next, the control unit 11 acquires the analysis program related information (step S11; second acquisition step). Here, it is assumed that the control unit 21 acquires the analysis program related information from a storage medium.

[0041] Next, the control unit 11 decrypts the analysis program related information with the key K11 (step S12; decryption step).

[0042] Next, the control unit 11 obtains the key K31, the analysis program, etc. from the decrypted analysis program-related information, and decrypts the analysis program with the key K31 (step S13). The terminal device 1 is now in a state where the analysis program can be used by the user.

[0043] <Others> In the above description, the terminal device 1 and the terminal management server 2 are offline, but the present invention can also be used when the terminal device 1 and the terminal management server 2 are online.

[0044] In the above example, the key K31 and the analysis program are output as analysis program-related information in step S10, but this is not limiting. For example, the analysis program encrypted with the key K31 and peripheral information used in executing the analysis program may be installed in the terminal device 1 before the start of the license management process, and only the key K31 encrypted with the key K11 may be output in step S10.

[0045] <Effects> As described above, the license management system 100 is a management system including a first device (terminal device 1) and a second device (terminal management server 2). An analysis program runs on the first device. The first device has a first key (key K11) associated with device-specific information of the first device and is not connected to at least a second device. The second device has an encryption unit (control unit 21) that encrypts analysis program-related information related to the analysis program based on the first key. This enables license management in an offline environment that allows only authorized devices to use various analysis technologies, such as AI technology. Specifically, the present invention encrypts the key K31, which is confidential information, and sends it to the terminal device 1, thereby eliminating the risk of information leakage due to the removal of a recording medium, which is a problem in Patent Document 1. Furthermore, the present invention decrypts the key K31, which is confidential information, on the terminal device 1 side using device-specific information, thereby eliminating the burden described above, which is a problem in Patent Document 2.

[0046] The license management method includes a first device and a second device, an analysis program running on the first device, the first device having a first key associated with device-specific information of the first device, and a management system that is not connected to at least the second device, and an encryption step (step S9) in which the second device encrypts analysis-program-related information related to the analysis program based on the first key. This makes it possible to preferably realize license management that allows only authorized devices to use various analysis technologies, such as AI technology, in devices in an offline environment.

[0047] The program also causes a computer of a first device (terminal apparatus 1) running an analysis program and having a first key (key K11) linked to device-specific information to function as an acquisition unit (control unit 11) that acquires analysis-program-related information about the analysis program encrypted by a second device (terminal management server 2) using the first key, and a decryption unit (control unit 11) that decrypts the acquired analysis-program-related information using the first key. The program also causes a computer of a second device (terminal management server 2) running an analysis program and not connected to the first device (terminal apparatus 1) using the first key (key K11) linked to device-specific information to function as an encryption unit (control unit 21) that encrypts analysis-program-related information about the analysis program using the first key. This makes it possible to effectively implement license management that allows only authorized devices to use various analysis technologies, such as AI technology, in offline devices.

[0048] While the present invention has been specifically described above based on the embodiments, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the above description discloses an example in which a hard disk or a semiconductor nonvolatile memory is used as a computer-readable medium for the program according to the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this example. Portable recording media such as a CD-ROM can also be used as other computer-readable media.

[0049] In addition, the detailed configuration and operation of each device can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0050] The present invention can be used in a license management system, a license management method, and a program.

[0051] 100 License management system 1 Terminal device 11 Control unit (first acquisition unit, generation unit, first output unit, second acquisition unit, decryption unit, acquisition unit) 12 Operation unit 13 Communication unit 14 Storage unit 15 Display unit 16 Sensor unit 2 Terminal management server 21 Control unit (encryption unit, third acquisition unit, second output unit) 22 Operation unit 23 Communication unit 24 Storage unit 25 Display unit

Claims

1. A license management system comprising a first device and a second device, wherein an analysis program runs on the first device, the first device has a first key linked to device-specific information of the first device, and is not communicatively connected to at least the second device, and the second device has an encryption unit that encrypts analysis program-related information relating to the analysis program based on the first key.

2. The license management system of claim 1, wherein the first device has: a first acquisition unit that acquires the device-specific information; a generation unit that generates the first key based on the read device-specific information; and a first output unit that outputs the first key.

3. The license management system of claim 1, wherein the first device has: a second acquisition unit that acquires the encrypted analysis program-related information from outside the first device; and a decryption unit that uses the first key to decrypt the encrypted analysis program-related information.

4. The license management system of claim 1, wherein the second device has a third acquisition unit that acquires the first key output by the first device, and a second output unit that outputs the encrypted analysis program-related information.

5. The license management system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis program related information includes a second key used to encrypt the analysis program.

6. The license management system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis program related information is the analysis program or peripheral information used in the execution of the analysis program.

7. A license management method in a management system comprising a first device and a second device, an analysis program running on the first device, the first device having a first key linked to device-specific information of the first device, and not being connected to at least the second device, wherein the second device executes an encryption step of encrypting analysis program-related information relating to the analysis program based on the first key.

8. A program that causes a computer of a first device running an analysis program and having a first key linked to device-specific information to function as: an acquisition unit that acquires analysis program-related information about the analysis program encrypted by a second device based on the first key; and a decryption unit that decrypts the acquired analysis program-related information using the first key.

9. A program that causes a computer of a second device that is not connected to a first device, on which an analysis program is running and that has a first key linked to device-specific information, to function as an encryption unit that encrypts analysis program-related information related to the analysis program based on the first key.

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