Patent ID: 8683589

Claim:
A method for providing protection against unauthorized access to a system including a plurality of information processing apparatuses, an authorized network configured to transfer authorized access to the plurality of information processing apparatuses from an external network, and a honeypot network configured to transfer unauthorized access to the plurality of information processing apparatuses from the external network, the method comprising: detecting, with a detection unit implemented in a computer, unauthorized access to a first of the plurality of information processing apparatuses that are virtually implemented by virtual machines executed by the computer; and connecting, with a control unit implemented in the computer, a second of the plurality of information processing apparatuses for which no unauthorized access has been detected to the authorized network, and connecting the first of the plurality of information processing apparatuses for which unauthorized access has been detected to the honeypot network; wherein, in response to detecting unauthorized access in the detection step, the first of the plurality of information processing apparatuses is shifted into a decoy mode in which the detected unauthorized access is disconnected from a normal operation; wherein the computer executes a first virtual machine and a second virtual machine that virtually implement the plurality of information processing apparatuses; on a condition that the system is operating normally, the control unit causes the information processing apparatus implemented by the first virtual machine to operate in a normal mode and causes the information processing apparatus implemented by the second virtual machine to operate in a standby mode in which the information processing apparatus is on standby to perform processing; and wherein, on a condition that unauthorized access to the information processing apparatus implemented by the first virtual machine is detected, the control unit shifts the information processing apparatus implemented by the first virtual machine from the normal mode into the decoy mode and shifts the information processing apparatus implemented by the second virtual machine from the standby mode into the normal mode.