Patent ID: 7188086
Filing Date: 2007-03-06
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A confidential information management system, comprising: a confidential information managing server storing and managing confidential information files each in an encoded form in such a manner that each of the confidential information files is available to only an authorized user; an encoding/decoding software managing server storing and managing encoding/decoding software that encodes/decodes the individual confidential information files; and one or more information terminals each capable of having access to both said confidential information managing server and said encoding/decoding software managing server via a communications network, each said information terminal having an environment such as to operate said encoding/decoding software, said information terminal being operable, after an authorized user who intends to access an individual confidential information file is verified, to download the individual confidential information file and said encoding/decoding software from said confidential information managing server and said encoding/decoding software managing server, respectively, and to decode the downloaded confidential information file using said encoding/decoding software, wherein said encoding/decoding software managing server stores two or more types of encoding/decoding software so as to be downloaded to said information terminal, and said information terminal downloads a suitable one of such plural types of encoding/decoding software at a fixed time interval, and alters an encoding system currently used in the confidential information file stored in said confidential information managing server into another encoding system that is offered by the downloaded encoding/decoding software.