Trust Management Based on Fuzzy Sets Theory for P2P Networks

Because of the anonymity and dynamic characters of peer-to-peer(P2P) overlay networks, trust management plays a more and more role for information security and successful transaction. Although people have recognized the importance of security for their personal information, they remain uncertain when they have to define and enforce their own access control rules or have to handle indirect information. Indirect information and subjective judgment are the major sources of uncertainty in P2P trust management. This paper introduces fuzzy sets theory into the definition and evaluation of trust, and then provides a formal representation of fuzzy rules. It also offers a set of derivation rules based on improved-Einstein operators for analyzing and reasoning among fuzzy rules in order to enforce these rules with a certain level of uncertainty. Application of this model to autonomous interconnection in P2P networks environments provides a new method to handle uncertainty in trust management.