Mathematical Mesh Part VI: The Trust Mesh
draft-hallambaker-mesh-trust-01

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Network Working Group                                    P. Hallam-Baker
Internet-Draft                                             April 4, 2019
Intended status: Informational
Expires: October 6, 2019

               Mathematical Mesh Part VI: The Trust Mesh
                    draft-hallambaker-mesh-trust-01

Abstract

   This paper extends Shannon's concept of a 'work factor' as applied to
   evaluation of cryptographic algorithms to provide an objective
   measure of the practical security offered by a protocol or
   infrastructure design.  Considering the hypothetical work factor
   based on an informed estimate of the probable capabilities of an
   attacker with unknown resources provides a better indication of the
   relative strength of protocol designs than the computational work
   factor of the best-known attack.

   The social work factor is a measure of the trustworthiness of a
   credential issued in a PKI based on the cost of having obtained the
   credential through fraud at a certain point in time.  Use of the
   social work factor allows evaluation of Certificate Authority based
   trust models and peer to peer (Web of Trust) models to be evaluated
   in the same framework.  The analysis demonstrates that both
   approaches have limitations and that in certain applications, a
   blended model is superior to either by itself.

   The final section of the paper describes a proposal to realize this
   blended model using the Mathematical Mesh.

   This document is also available online at
   http://mathmesh.com/Documents/draft-hallambaker-mesh-trust.html [1] .

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

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Hallam-Baker             Expires October 6, 2019                [Page 1]
Internet-Draft               The Trust Mesh                   April 2019

   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on October 6, 2019.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Work Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Computational Work Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.2.  Hypothetical Work Factor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     1.3.  Known Unknowns  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     1.4.  Defense in Depth  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     1.5.  Mutual Reinforcement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     1.6.  Safety in Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     1.7.  Cost Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     1.8.  Social Work Factor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
       1.8.1.  Related work  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   2.  The problem of trust  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     2.1.  Existing approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       2.1.1.  Trust After First Use (TAFU)  . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       2.1.2.  Direct Trust  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       2.1.3.  Certificate Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       2.1.4.  Web of Trust  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
       2.1.5.  Chained notary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
       2.1.6.  A blended approach  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
   3.  The Mesh of Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
     3.1.  Master Profile  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
     3.2.  Uniform Data Fingerprints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
     3.3.  Strong Internet Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     3.4.  Trust notary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     3.5.  Endorsement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     3.6.  Evaluating trust  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23