Agent information contracts within virtual private networks

Virtual enterprises are being built on an Internet backbone, for which security provisioning is an obvious first concern. However, additional services need provisioning as well. For instance, contracted arrangements for quality inspection, notification of delay, and other such coordinations can be provided by semi-autonomous agent-based services. We introduce information contracts, which specify the commitments of ContractAgents to each other. Based on human-readable contract templates with fill-in-the-black terms, ContractAgents manage the negotiation stage between user specialists and then operationalize and ensure these commitments during enactment. Building on the idea of an agent-based sphere of commitments (SoComs) to overcome weaknesses in extended transaction processing and traditional workflow management, we show how ContractAgents also need to be positioned within the security architecture of virtual private networks. The standardization of contracts, SoCom servers, and operationalized commitments can then provide a basis for compliance checks by trusted third parties and oversight authorities.