TRUMMAR - A Trust Model for Mobile Agent Systems Based on Reputation

Abstract

In this paper we present TRUMMAR, a reputation-based trust model that mobile agent systems can use to protect agents from malicious hosts. TRUMMAR is unique in being a truly comprehensive model since it accounts, in a unified framework, for a multitude of concepts such as prior-derived reputation, first impression, loss of reputation information with time, hierarchy of host systems (neighbors, friends, and strangers), and the inclusion of interaction results in reputation calculation. TRUMMAR is also general enough to be applied to any distributed system. We show simulation results that verify the correctness of this model and the effects of its various parameters.