JP3227536B2 - Keyboard device and password authentication method using the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a keyboard device and a password authentication method using the keyboard device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional password authentication system is led by software. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when a user starts the password authentication system, an authentication software 11 is operated by a CPU and the software is used to set the user. The secret code table 12 is generated via the authentication software 11 based on the password 10 obtained.

The authentication software 12 requests a password 10A every time a user uses the system. When the user enters the password 10A via the keyboard device, the authentication software 11 enters the entered password 1A.
0A and the secret code table 12 are compared. If the comparison results in a match, the user is entitled to use the system, and the information is accessed and processed in a storage means such as a hard disk. However, during the entire password authentication process, a trespasser can see the procedure of the process, the trespasser can replace the secret code table 12 very easily, or put temporary information in the comparison result of the password 11. Can be That is, the system is not secure.

For example, if the password set by the user is "abc", this password is encoded to "* &1", and the encoded password is sent to the memory and stored.

[0005]

However, since the information in the memory is not protected by the authentication software 11, the storage position of the password in the memory can be easily checked by software such as soft ICE, so that an intruder can be prevented. If the original "* &1" is replaced with a string of the same length (for example, "cde" is encoded into "xxx") during the authentication process, the authentication can be easily passed.
In such cases, trespassers can access and use the stored information on the system.

In the password authentication process, both the input of the password of the user and the input of the password of the unauthorized intruder are performed.
All are performed via input means such as a keyboard. A conventional keyboard includes a keyboard array and a keyboard controller as shown in FIG. 3, and communication between the computer and the keyboard is executed via a keyboard buffer. That is, the method of inputting a password through a keyboard is the same as the conventional method of inputting a character stream. A password is input to a computer system through the same keyboard buffer, and then the user is authenticated by a CPU. Identify.

[0007] The conventional processing procedure has the following problems. 1. Since the keyboard buffer is open to all users, an unauthorized user can obtain a password message that has not been cleared from the keyboard buffer by an illegal means without clearing after use. 2. Since the authentication process is executed by the CPU, an unauthorized intruder can intrude into the CPU and execute the process to easily obtain the password message. 3. What is stored in the system is information that is not confidential, and there is a risk that the authentication software may be altered by an intruder as described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a keyboard device for preventing illegal users and improving system security, and a password authentication method using the keyboard device. The purpose is. Another object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard device for authenticating a password by hardware and a password authentication method using the same.

[0009]

According to the keyboard apparatus and the password authentication method using the same according to the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object, an authentication buffer having a protection function for the keyboard apparatus, an authentication controller, and an authentication controller are provided. Authentication table. The authentication buffer and the keyboard buffer process the character stream input from the keyboard device, send a password message to the authentication buffer, and the authentication controller automatically retrieves the message from the authentication buffer and compares it with the message in the authentication table. Do. If the comparison is successful,
The user can use the computer system. Further, the present invention provides a means for clearing the authentication buffer after the authentication so that password information left in the keyboard device cannot be obtained.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 2, the keyboard device 20 having the password authentication unit according to the present embodiment
An input unit 30 and an authentication unit 40 are provided.

The input unit 30 has a conventional keyboard controller 31, a keyboard array 32, a keyboard buffer 33, and an authentication buffer 34. The keyboard controller 31, the keyboard array 32, and the keyboard buffer 33 are the same as those of the related art, and will not be described in detail. The authentication unit 40 includes a CPU 41, a system controller 42, an authentication controller 43, and an authentication table 4
4 and associated software 45.

The input unit 30 and the authentication unit 40 are, for example, a PC
Communication is performed via a bus 50 such as I or ISA. The keyboard controller 31 identifies information input from the keyboard array 32, and stores the information in the keyboard buffer 33 if the stream is a general character stream,
If the message is a password message, the information is stored in the authentication buffer 34. The system controller 42 acquires general messages from the keyboard buffer 33 and transmits them to the CPU 41 to perform general processing.

The authentication controller 43 is a single unit installed in the system controller 42, and
4 and the authentication buffer 34
Is compared with the password information stored in the authentication table 44 in advance to confirm whether the user is correct.

The authentication table 44 is set by the software 45 when the system is used for the first time.
The software 45 allows the user to set password information and stores the information in the authentication table 44. The next time the system is started up, the authentication controller 43 has control of the authentication unless an update operation such as increasing the number of users or changing a password is performed.

As shown in FIG. 3, when starting up for the first time,
The software 45 is activated, and the setting of the authentication table 44 proceeds. According to the instruction of the software 45, the user sets a password in the authentication table 44 (step a). At the next start-up, the user inputs a message via the keyboard array 32, and the keyboard controller 31 determines whether the input message is a general character stream or a password message PW (step b). ).

In the case of a general character stream, the input message is sent to the keyboard controller 3
1 and sent to the keyboard buffer 33 (step c), and a general process is performed by the system controller 42 (step d, which is the same as a conventional keyboard device and will not be described in detail).

If the password message is PW, the password message PW is sent to the keyboard controller 31.
Is sent to the authentication buffer 34 (step e). At this time, the user or the trespasser sends, for example, “**” corresponding to the number of bits of the password from the keyboard buffer 33.
Only the substitute string such as “***” can be read. The keyboard controller 31 sends the substitute string to the software 45 and the CPU 41 via the keyboard buffer 33 and the system controller 42. In such a case, only the substitute string can be read from the authentication buffer 34, the CPU 41, the software 45, and the like, and the password message cannot be obtained.

The authentication controller 43 includes an authentication buffer 3
Then, the password message is obtained from No. 4 and compared with the information stored in the authentication table 44 in advance (step f).
If the password message PW matches the stored information, the authentication is successful and the user can use the system. If they do not match, authentication fails and the system rejects all user requests. In this way, an unauthorized intruder is rejected and the system is protected.

After the authentication procedure is completed, the authentication controller 43
Clears the information in the authentication buffer 34 (step g). What is read is the surrogate string, and the authentication buffer 34 is unreadable. Since the clearing process is performed each time authentication is performed by using the above protection method, the system can strictly protect the user's password message. Also, the authentication of the system does not go through the software 45 and the CPU 41,
Independent authentication controller 4 of system controller 42
3 and the conventional software 45 and CPU 4
1 solved the problem of the password authentication system via.

[0020]

As described above, according to the keyboard device and the password authentication method using the same according to the present invention, the password is authenticated by an independent authentication controller without passing through the CPU and the authentication software. Further, since the substitute unreadable string is replaced with the original input password and the authentication buffer is cleared after the completion of the authentication, an unauthorized intruder cannot read the secret message from the keyboard buffer.

The embodiment described above is only one embodiment of the present invention. For example, the effects of the technology included in the claims of the present invention, modifications based on them, and those having similar functions are provided. Are all within the scope claimed by the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a software authentication method according to a conventional example.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a password authentication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a password authentication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 password 10A password 11 authentication software 12 secret code table 20 keyboard device 30 input unit 31 keyboard controller 32 keyboard array 33 keyboard buffer 34 authentication buffer 40 authentication unit 41 CPU 42 system controller 43 authentication controller 44 authentication table 45 software 50 bus

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/02 G06F 1/00 370

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] An input unit having a keyboard buffer, an authentication buffer, and a keyboard controller; and an authentication unit having an authentication table, a CPU, a system controller, and an authentication controller, wherein the keyboard controller receives an input from a keyboard array. Determining the information, temporarily storing the character stream in the keyboard buffer if the information is a general character stream, and temporarily storing the password message in the authentication buffer if the information is a password message; The authentication table stores password information set by a user as a basis for authentication. The system controller receives the character stream from the keyboard buffer,
The authentication controller is provided in the system controller, receives the password message from the authentication buffer, and compares the password message with the password information stored in the authentication table. And a keyboard device for determining the validity of the use qualification. 2. The keyboard device according to claim 1, further comprising software stored in the authentication table and guiding a user to set the password information. 3. The keyboard device according to claim 1, wherein the input unit and the authentication unit communicate via a bus. 4. A method of authenticating a password message input from the keyboard device by hardware in the keyboard device according to claim 1, wherein the step of setting an authentication table by software includes: Determine whether the stream is a general character stream or a password message.If the stream is a general character stream, send it to the keyboard buffer, process it by the system controller, and if it is the password message, send it to the authentication buffer. The process of transmitting and performing password processing by the authentication controller, comparing the password message with the information stored in the authentication table, and if they match, make the system available to the user; if they do not match, use the system. Person A password authentication method using a keyboard device, comprising: a step of rejecting all requests; and a step of clearing information in the authentication buffer. 5. The keyboard according to claim 4, wherein after the password message is input, the authentication controller includes a step of transmitting a substitute string corresponding to the number of bits of the password message to the keyboard buffer. A password authentication method using a device.