Patent ID: 8615789

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for access control by trust assertion using hierarchical weights, the computer-implemented method comprising: identifying a trust value for a set of paths from a start node to an end node, the set of paths being associated with an access request for an asset at the end node, wherein the identified trust value is inversely proportional to a trust distance of a trust assertion between the start and end nodes, and wherein the identified trust value is calculated by: determining a trust value for each path in the set of paths, wherein a positive trust value is assigned to each path in the set of paths having a positive trust assertion and a negative trust value is assigned to each path in the set of paths having a negative trust assertion; determining a summary path value for the set of paths by summing the trust values for each path in the set of paths; and determining a final trust value by dividing the summary path value by the number of the paths in the set of paths; comparing the identified trust value with a required trust value; determining whether the identified trust value is greater than or equal to the required trust value; and responsive to a determination that the identified trust value is greater than or equal to the required trust value, permitting access to the asset.