Proposal for Trust Management in Coalition Environments

摘要

It is well-recognized that for large catastrophes such as tornadoes, earthquakes, disease outbreaks, or aftermath of a war, coalitions that can coordinate and exploit resources and capabilities of many organizations are required to respond effectively. It is our thesis that in such coalition environments, classical security policies and access-control mechanisms need to be augmented by incorporating the notion of risk and trustworthiness of the parties involved. In this paper, we systematically analyze what trust is, highlight challenges in incorporating the notion of trust in coalition environments, and put forward a proposal to address these challenges. It is well-recognized that for large catastrophes such as tornadoes, earthquakes, disease outbreaks, or aftermath of a war, resources and capabilities of many organizations need to be coordinated to respond effectively. In such situations, autonomous organizations form coalitions out of necessity and share their resources and capabilities with others to achieve common goals. The member organizations in such coalitions can be of all sizes and capabilities--ranging from well-trained and well-equipped national forces to small ad hoc groups of individuals having unsurpassed knowledge of local geography, culture, needs, etc. Members join and depart coalitions based on individual goals, objectives, and capabilities. There are two factors that contribute to the challenges in designing a workable trust management system for the kind of dynamic environment described above. First, when autonomous organizations have their own policies, risk postures, cultures that lead them to evaluate and perceive risk differently. Second, organizations may have relationships with one another outside the context of a coalition that need to be taken into account. A trust management system must provide flexibility to accommodate these needs and be responsive to the dynamic coalition environments.