Apparatus and method for securely realizing cooperative processing

Abstract

A system which allows each server in a network to verify the signature of a party issuing a service instruction in a system for providing a cooperative service by allowing servers to send and receive instruction data indicating instructions to each server and to execute the instruction written in the instruction data. An instruction input device receiving an instruction from a service requestor attaches an electronic signature (initiator signature ()) of the requestor or the instruction input device to an instruction which indicates process content of each server, to create a signed individual instruction (). The instruction input device further attaches an initiator signature () to data in which the signed individual instructions () for all servers involved in the service are merged, to create a collective instruction (). The collective instruction () is transmitted to a flow controller controlling the servers. The flow controller verifies the authenticity of the collective instruction () using the initiator signature (). When the verification is successful, the flow controller transmits the signed individual instruction () corresponding to each server.