Patent ID: 8578445

Claim:
A method, comprising: interfacing, by a first local component of a local computing device entity, with an external computing device entity; receiving, by the first local component, a list of components from the external computing device entity, the list of components comprising one or more components of the external computing device entity; calculating, by the first local component, a first trust level between the local computing device entity and the external computing device entity; setting, by the first local component, a second trust level for each of the components of the external computing device entity equal to the first trust level; determining, by a second local component of the local computing device entity, a third trust level between the second local component of the local computing device entity and a component of the external computing device entity as a function of the second trust level set for the component of the external computing device entity; determining, by the second local component of the local computing device entity, a fourth trust level between the second local component of the local computing device entity and another component of the external computing device entity as a function of the second trust level set for the another component of the external computing device entity; and determining, by the second local component, whether to communicate with the component of the external computing device entity or the another component of the external computing device entity as a function of the third and fourth trust levels.