Academic discourse on trust is fractured along disciplinary lines. Security theorists routinely use a definition of trust which, apparently, has little in common with any of the definitions of trust that appear in the sociological and psychological literature. In this essay, we extend a recently-proposed framework for the technical analysis of secure systems, so that its notion of trust is roughly congruent with the sociological theories of Parsons, Luhmann, Barber, Lewis and Weigert. This congruent extension suggests some ways in which a computerised system might, appropriately, inspire trust in its non-technical users. Key words: Trust, security analysis, trust management
Clark D. Thomborson