Deferring trust in fluid replication

Abstract

Mobile nodes rely on external services to provide safety, sharing, and additional resources. Unfortunately, as mobile nodes move through the networking infrastructure, the costs of accessing servers change. Fluid replication allows mobile clients to create replicas where and when they are needed. Unfortunately, one must trust the nodes holding these replicas, and establishing trust in autonomously administered nodes is a difficult task. Instead, we argue that trust should be deferred. In this position paper, we present the design of Stonewall, a system that defers trust decisions through the use of two mechanisms: packages and receipts. The former ensure confidentiality and detect breaches of integrity; the latter detect breaches of non-repudiation.