| Abstract: | The problem of network security is now heavily focused on user and agent authentication. In particular, higher levels of automated
management and autonomous behaviour are economically necessary within security services. This work focuses on a peer-to-peer
(P2P) network architecture in support of an authentication service application. The paper considers whether the key properties
of P2P systems, such as scalability, robustness and resilience, may be of significant value in the context of designing a
secure agent-based user authentication service.
The task of authenticating legitimate network users across distributed systems and services remains a challenging process.
The proposed solution is to use a distributed agent-based application to address the process of client authentication and
the maintenance of user credentials. Using an agent-to-agent platform, an autonomous and scalable defence mechanism has been
constructed. The agent architecture provides a number of security services with the goal of automating the process of user
authentication and trust management. In particular, the agents handle all password, encryption keys and certificate management.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
