Network Trust Scoring Using Subjective Factors and Dynamic Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing zero-trust networking systems rely heavily on resource-intensive authentication and security checks, leading to network performance issues and inconsistencies due to ad hoc adjustments, which can undermine security and reliability.
Innovation Solution
Implement a trust controller that assesses network entities using both objective and subjective factors, calculating trust scores based on customizable trust score plans that consider stakeholder priorities, allowing for consistent and context-specific trust evaluations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If resource-intensive authentication and security checks are performed routinely on network entities, then security and reliability are improved, but network performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of trust assessment from binary (trusted/not trusted) to a continuous trust score with multiple levels. This allows the system to adjust the intensity of security checks based on the trust score, performing fewer checks for high-trust entities and more checks for low-trust entities, thereby resolving the contradiction between security and performance
Solution Approach 2:
The trust score is dynamically updated based on entity behavior, historical data, and contextual factors. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to adapt security check intensity in real-time, maintaining security for entities that may have changed their trustworthiness while avoiding unnecessary checks for consistently trusted entities
2Adaptability or versatility
If ad hoc adjustments are made to authentication checks, then flexibility is improved, but consistency and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments trust assessment into distinct components: prerequisite factors (must-be-satisfied conditions), subjective factors (stakeholder-specific priorities), and objective factors (measurable characteristics). This segmentation allows different adjustment mechanisms for different components, maintaining consistency in core security requirements while allowing flexibility in stakeholder-specific assessments
Solution Approach 2:
Different trust score plans can be applied to different stakeholders or contexts, each with customized weightings for various factors. This allows local customization for different organizational priorities while maintaining a consistent overall trust assessment framework
3Adaptability or versatility
If trust assessments are customized for different stakeholders with different priorities, then adaptability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The trust controller serves multiple functions: it calculates trust scores, manages trust score plans, evaluates entities, and provides recommendations. By consolidating these functions in a single system, the patent manages complexity while enabling stakeholder customization through configurable trust score plans
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes techniques that include assessing trust in a system based on subjective factors. In one example, this disclosure describes a method that includes determining, by the computing system, a prerequisite score for a network entity in a computer network; determining, by the computing system, a subjective score for the network entity based on one or more subjective factors for the network entity, wherein each of the one or more subjective factors for the network entity corresponds to a subjective characteristic of the network entity; determining, by a computing system, a trust score for the network entity based on the prerequisite score and the subjective score; and modifying, by the computing system, operation of the computer network based on the trust score for the network entity.