A Trust Framework for Peer-to-Peer Interaction in Ad Hoc Networks

As smarter mobile devices are increasingly adopted by the wider public, to access more diverse applications, the question of who to trust while on the move becomes a crucial one. When operating within ad-hoc type mobile networks, a trust framework is the logical solution to provide ways to distinguish the most trustworthy neighbours. This promotes reliable information transfer, promotes the use of local services and encourages content and resource sharing. This paper proposes a scheme to set up such a trust framework, based upon aggregating trust, based upon a trust decision process and upon the most trustworthy nodes. Furthermore, the impact of the trust framework is analysed by observing the evolution of trust over time, the overhead such a framework generates, and its effectiveness in limiting non-cooperation and malicious intent.