Security and Trust in a Global Research Infrastructure

Complete Chapter List

Key Terms in this Chapter

Authentication: In the context of this chapter, authentication refers to the process of establishing that a usually remote entity is who or what they claim to be (cf. (Chokhani, S., et al, 2003), section 2.) Authentication of an entity to a verifier usually involves the presentation of an identity token, along with a verification by the verifier of the validity of the token, as well as a check that the entity is the one named in the token. A real-life example is presenting a passport to an immigration official, who will check that it is a valid passport and compare the picture with the person presenting the passport. Cf. identification, below.

Identification: “Establishing that a given name of an individual or organization corresponds to a real-world identity of an individual or organization, and establishing that an individual or organization applying for or seeking access to something under that name is, in fact, the named individual or organization” (Chokhani, S., et al, 2003, section 2.) As an example, consider an application for a passport: if you have had one before, it may be sufficient to show it; otherwise a documented process is used to verify your name and the likeness of a recent photo. (Once the passport is issued, another process needs to ensure that it is delivered to you, the applicant.) An example of the second half of the definition is if you pick up a package (in your name) at the post office, and use the passport to prove that you are the person to whom the package is addressed.

Policy: In the context of this chapter, a policy is a published statement describing any or all of infrastructure, community, participants, methods, obligations, requirements, jurisdictions, etc., sufficient for a participant to determine the trustworthiness of the publisher. For example, a federation of identity providers (a special case of the hub in section 3) may have a policy that all users shall have individual identity tokens (i.e. tokens must not be shared.) Some identity providers (i.e. token issuers) within the federation may further require that the tokens carry a reasonable resemblance of the token owner’s name. The policy of the federation, and possibly the individual providers, should be sufficient for a resource provider to determine the LoA (see above) of the federation and whether it is sufficient; possibly they will accept tokens only from the providers that issue named tokens. Of course, it is necessary that a participant with a policy follow the policy – an audit may be required to assuage the resource provider.

Level of Assurance: (LoA): The LoA is an attempt to measure of the overall strength of the assertions made in the infrastructure (section 2.5.3.) An infrastructure managing public data does not usually need a high LoA; if it manages personal data it needs a much higher one; if it manages state secrets, it needs a higher one still. See (Bolten, J.B., 2003) for an overview, and (Burr, Polk, & Dodson, 2006.) for further details.

Trusted Third Party: An intermediary whose role in the infrastructure is to establish or mediate trust, and, possibly, verify the trustworthiness (i.e. reputation) of other participants.

Trust: The word “trust” has several meanings (section 3); the ones relevant to this chapter are the belief in the honesty and reliability of, or confidence in, some other party. For example, Alice feels confident lending Bob her car because she trusts that he will return it and she has confidence he will drive well. See also

Scalability: Scalability refers to the ability of the trusted infrastructure to scale, usually in terms of the number of participants. A secondary aspect of scalability is scaling geographically, as scaling beyond national boundaries often poses certain problems. As discussed in section 3, scalability should be seen from the perspective of the individual participant making bilateral trust decisions, as well as the total scale of the infrastructure and its ability to grow. It is the purpose of this chapter to give guidelines for building trusted infrastructures that will grow to a global scale.