Patent ID: 9003187
Filing Date: 2015-04-07
Classification: G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for supporting a reputation mechanism in a network, the network including one or more domains with one or more users being connected to said domains, one or more Identity Providers that manage identity information on behalf of said users, and at least one entity that functions as a Web Service Consumer for said users, the method comprising: requesting, by the Web Service Consumer, known Identity Providers of the Web Service Consumer regarding a recommendation of said Web Service Provider when a user requests the Web Service Consumer of one of the domains for a web service provided by a Web Service Provider of another of the domains; collecting, by the Identity Providers functioning as recommendation aggregators, reputation assessments of said Web Service Provider from entities registered on said Identity Providers, the entities being one or more of users and Web Service Consumers; and calculating at one or more processing devices at the Identity Providers an aggregated recommendation and returning the aggregated recommendation to said requested Web Service Consumer that, on the basis of said aggregated recommendation, determines a trust assessment about said Web Service Provider, wherein a privacy homomorphism is employed for providing an encrypted exchange of recommendation related information between said Identity Providers and said requested Web Service Consumer, and the aggregated recommendation is aggregated from encrypted recommendation related information without decrypting the recommendation related information prior to aggregation of the aggregated recommendation.