LFTM, linguistic fuzzy trust mechanism for distributed networks

Abstract

Trust is, in some cases, being considered as a requirement in highly distributed communication scenarios. Before accessing a particular service, a trust model is then being used in these scenarios to determine if the service provider can be trusted or not. It is done usually on behalf of the final user or service customer, and with a little intervention of him or her. This is usually happening with the main aim of automatizing the process and because trust models are normally making use of reasoning mechanisms and models difficult to understand by humans. In this paper, we propose the adaptation of a bio-inspired trust model to deal with linguistic fuzzy labels, which are closer to the human way of thinking. This Linguistic Fuzzy Trust Model also uses fuzzy reasoning. Results show that the new model keeps the accuracy of the underlying bio-inspired trust model and the level of client satisfaction, while enhancing the interpretability of the model and thus making it closer to the final user.