CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-022523, filed on Feb. 9, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to a communication control method and a communication control device.

BACKGROUND

The Internet of Thing (IoT) services that collect a large amount of data by connecting communication devices such as sensors to the Internet and analyze/visualize the data or use the data for communication device control have been widely distributed recently. There are many IoT devices (hereinafter simply referred to as devices) with no security function.

There are also many devices with security functions that are being operated without changing an initial password. In recent years, malware that illegally logs in to the products of surveillance cameras and NW devices that had been operating with an initial password without changing the initial password has become popular. The initial password can be easily acquired by referring to the product manuals published on the Internet or by actually examining the products. In addition, since the information on the devices connected to the Internet is disclosed by search engines, it is easy to find out a device which is not being operated securely. Therefore, malicious third party may illegally and easily access the device to perform various attacks such as illegal use and tampering.

For example, in a case where a device used in an industrial field such as a manufacturing industry suffers from such an attack, there is a risk of, for example, stoppage of a production line or failure of a production facility. Therefore, there is a need for a way to prevent attacks against devices.

Thus, there has been recently known a method of arranging a Gateway (GW) that relays communication between an office area to which, for example, NW devices which have been securely managed are connected, and a field area to which devices which have not been securely managed are connected. For example, when an access from an application to a device is detected, the GW controls the illegal access to the device by executing a security function such as an authentication function on behalf of the device. As a result, the GW can substitute an advanced security function for existing commercial devices without requiring modification or special setting of the devices. The advanced security function substituted by the GW may include, for example, an authentication function such as an authentication certificate, a verification function for verifying the validity of a message, or a detailed log function for recording a detailed log.

Related techniques are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 2017-046179 and 2004-005170.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the embodiments, a communication control method executed by a processor included in a communication control device that controls communication with a communication device, the method includes, when a communication access to the communication device is detected, specifying a related characteristic corresponding to the communication device by referring to a first memory that stores communication device-related characteristics, determining a security function corresponding to the specified related characteristic by referring to a second memory that stores executable security functions for the communication device-related characteristics, and executing the security function determined at the determining for the communication device of the communication access.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

