MODEL FOR TRUST AMONG PEERS IN ELECTRONIC MULTIPARTY TRANSACTIONS

We address the issue of trust among the principals in a multiparty transaction in a peer-to-peer system implementing a service-based architecture. We propose a model that allows peers to form instant federations and collectively consummate complex business transactions. A transaction is done in two phases. In the first phase services are selected and a federation is formed. In the second phase the services are executed based on the precedence relations defined in the transaction. The peers are ‘passionate’ entities during the first phase. For this phase a transitive trust model is used wherein trust among distant peers is established with each other using a chain of intermediaries via mutual acquaintances. Once the federation is formed, the entities become rational and a secure environment is created to execute the transaction. For this phase a distributed trust model using simple public key infrastructure is proposed.