Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

Trust is essential among people who engage in business transactions, but on the Internet people are often required to trust someone they have never met. Likewise, business transactions often require that computers communicate with one another and exchange sensitive information. Trust must be established. The usual technique is to involve a third party that is trusted by both parties. A certificate authority is an example of a third party that issues digital certificates. Trust relationships are also important in the enterprise, where interdivision or interdepartment trust is required.

Trust relationships are established between systems so those systems can exchange information without the need for an administrator or other person to actively monitor and authorize those exchanges. Trust relationships also benefit users. Systems in trust relationships may trust the authentication performed by partner systems. Clients can log in once and access other trusted systems without the need to continually log in.

This topic continues in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications" with a discussion of the following:

• One-way and two-way trust models
• Trust relationships among Internet autonomous systems
• TTPs (Trusted Third Parties)
• Certificate authorities
• TTP service providers
• KeyNote Trust Management Systems
• "Web of Trust"
• EMBASSY E-Commerce System (EMBedded Application Security SYstem) by Wave Systems

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