IMAGE READING APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT

Abstract

A recording unit records an operation log. A storing unit included in a temper-resistant chip stores therein a secret key unique to an image reading apparatus. An encrypting unit included in the temper-resistant chip encrypts recorded operation log with stored secret key. A transmitting unit transmits information including encrypted operation log to a server.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic for explaining a general concept according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic for explaining a general concept of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic for explaining a general concept according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic for explaining a general concept of the second embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a TPM chip according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a server and a time server according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for an operation according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for an operation according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for an operation performed by the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for an operation according to the second embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for an operation according to the second embodiment.

Claims

1. An image reading apparatus that is connected to a server via a network, the image reading apparatus comprising: a recording unit that records an operation log;a tamper-resistant chip including a storing unit that stores therein a secret key unique to the image reading apparatus; andan encrypting unit that encrypts recorded operation log with stored secret key; anda transmitting unit that transmits information including encrypted operation log to the server.

2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an acquiring unit that acquires time information from a time server that is connected to the image reading apparatus via the network, whereinthe chip further includes an attaching unit that attaches acquired time information to the recorded operation log, andthe encrypting unit encrypts time-information-attached operation log with the stored secret key.

3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and an altitude sensor.

4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation log includes at least one of document reading parameter, number of read documents, document reading time, error code, error occurrence time, user-identification information, room temperature, apparatus temperature, humidity, and altitude.

5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a generating unit that generates image identification information for identifying image data read by the image reading apparatus, whereinthe chip further includes an identification-information attaching unit that attaches generated image identification information to read image data, andthe encrypting unit further encrypts image-identification-information-attached image data with the stored secret key.

6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the operation log includes at least one of document reading parameter, number of read documents, document reading time, error code, error occurrence time, and user-identification information.

7. The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: at least one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and an altitude sensor, whereinthe operation log includes at least one of room temperature detected by the temperature sensor, apparatus temperature detected by the temperature sensor, humidity detected by the humidity sensor, and altitude detected by the altitude sensor.

8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: either one of an acquiring unit that acquires time information from a time server that is connected to the image reading apparatus via the network; andan updating unit that updates a serial number stored of the image reading apparatus every time the image reading apparatus reads the image data, whereinthe image identification information includes apparatus-specific information unique to the image reading apparatus and either one of acquired time information and updated serial number.

9. An image reading apparatus that is connected to a server via a network, the image reading apparatus comprising: a recording unit that records an operation log;a generating unit that generates a hash value corresponding to recorded operation log;a tamper-resistant chip including a storing unit that stores a secret key unique to the image reading apparatus; andan encrypting unit that encrypts generated hash value with stored secret key; anda transmitting unit that transmits information including encrypted hash value and the recorded operation log to the server.

10. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: an acquiring unit that acquires time information from a time server that is connected to the image reading apparatus via the network, whereinthe chip further includes an attaching unit that attaches acquired time information to the recorded operation log, andthe generating unit generates the hash value corresponding to time-information-attached operation log.

11. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: at least one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and an altitude sensor.

12. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the operation log includes at least one of document reading parameter, number of read documents, document reading time, error code, error occurrence time, user-identification information, room temperature, apparatus temperature, humidity, and altitude.

13. The image reading apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a generating unit that generates image identification information for identifying image data read by the image reading apparatus, whereinthe chip further includes an identification-information attaching unit that attaches generated image identification information to read image data, andthe generating unit generates the hash value corresponding to image-identification-information-attached image data.

14. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the operation log includes at least one of document reading parameter, number of read documents, document reading time, error code, error occurrence time, and user-identification information.

15. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising: at least one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and an altitude sensor, whereinthe operation log includes at least one of room temperature detected by the temperature sensor, apparatus temperature detected by the temperature sensor, humidity detected by the humidity sensor, and altitude detected by the altitude sensor.

16. The image reading apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising: either one of an acquiring unit that acquires time information from a time server that is connected to the image reading apparatus via the network; andan updating unit that updates a serial number stored of the image reading apparatus every time the image reading apparatus reads the image data, whereinthe image identification information includes apparatus-specific information unique to the image reading apparatus and either one of acquired time information and updated serial number.

17. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program codes embodied in the medium that when executed cause a computer to execute: recording an operation log;encrypting recorded operation log with a secret key that is unique to an image reading apparatus, the secret key being stored in a tamper-resistant chip installed in the image reading apparatus; andtransmitting encrypted operation log to a server that is connected to the image reading apparatus via a network.

18. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein the computer readable program codes further cause the computer to execute: reading image data;generating image identification information for identifying read image data; andattaching generated image identification information to the read image data,the encrypting includes encrypting image-identification-information-attached image data with stored secret key, andthe transmitting includes transmitting encrypted image data to the server.

19. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program codes embodied in the medium that when executed cause a computer to execute: recording an operation log;generating a hash value corresponding to recorded operation log;encrypting generated hash value with a secret key that is unique to an image reading apparatus, the secret key being stored in a tamper-resistant chip installed in the image reading apparatus; andtransmitting encrypted hash value and the recorded operation log to a server that is connected to the image reading apparatus via a network.

20. The computer program product according to claim 19, wherein the computer readable program codes further cause the computer to execute:reading image data;generating image identification information for identifying read image data; andattaching generated image identification information to the read image data,the generating includes generating the hash value corresponding to image-identification-information-attached image data, andthe transmitting includes transmitting the encrypted hash value and the image-identification-information-attached image data to the server.