Implementing a Trust Overlay Framework for Digital Ecosystems

Digital Ecosystems, being decentralised in nature, are inherently untrustworthy environments. This is due to the fact that these environments lack a centralised gatekeeper and identity provider. In order for businesses to operate in these environments there is a need for security measures to support accountability and traceability. This paper describes a trust overlay network developed in the OPAALS project(1) to allow entities participating in digital ecosystems to share experience through the exchange of trust values and to leverage on this network to determine reputation based trustworthiness of unknown and initially untrusted entities. An overlay network is described together with sample algorithms and a discussion on implementation.