Print Log Management via Public Key Encoding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In shared office settings, image forming apparatuses face challenges in securely managing print logs, as administrators may inadvertently expose confidential information while calculating user charges, and existing solutions are cumbersome to set up and manage.
Innovation Solution
An image forming system that uses an ID terminal to authenticate users, encoding image data with a public key for secure logging, and decoding with a secret key for authorized users, ensuring only the user who printed the document can access the encoded portion of the log.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If image data is stored in print logs for detailed record-keeping, then logging completeness is improved, but confidential information leakage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the image data from the original print log and stores it separately in an image storage unit. The print log contains only metadata (printing date, time, user ID, number of sheets), while the actual image data is stored in a separate location. This separation allows the system to maintain complete logging information while reducing the risk of confidential information leakage in the main log that administrators access for billing purposes.
2Reliability
If encoding is applied to conceal confidential portions in image logs, then information security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service encoding system where the image forming apparatus automatically encodes the image data using its own public key when creating the print log. The encoded image data is then stored in the image storage unit. This eliminates the need for external encoding services or manual encoding processes, reducing system complexity while maintaining strong security through automatic cryptographic encoding.
3Ease of operation
If individual encoding settings are configured for each user to allow users to view their own logs, then user accessibility is improved, but operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal encoding mechanism where a single public key in the image forming apparatus serves all users. The public key is used to encode image data for all print jobs, and the corresponding private key stored in each user's ID terminal can decode their respective encoded images. This eliminates the need for individual encoding configurations for each user while still allowing each user to access and view their own encoded log images.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming system includes: an ID terminal that stores a public key and a secret key and that outputs the public key and the secret key to an external device when the ID terminal authenticates a user; an image forming apparatus that prepares a log data relating to printing; a storing device that stores the log data prepared by the image forming apparatus; an information processing device that authenticates the user by using the ID terminal; and a log viewing device that authenticates the user by using the ID terminal. When the information processing device receives a print instruction for printing a predetermined print data from the authenticated user, the information processing device transmits a print job to which the public key obtained from the ID terminal is added, to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus receives the print job to which the public key is added.