APC: access pass certificate distrust certification model for large access in pervasive environment

The main future challenge of pervasive computing consists in offering access anywhere and anytime with any devices. However, before it becomes a reality, the problems of access control and authentication have to be solved, among others. Existing solutions are inadequate without adaptation to this specific environment. Among the promising approaches, the trust paradigm seems to be more flexible than others. We base this proposal on this paradigm to implement a distrust model, so-called APC (access pass certificate). The main objective of this model is to enable authorized user to roam and to access trusted hosts without being known locally. Each user can have an APC certificate from two kinds of hosts: the main host (where the user is member) and the trusted host (that trusts the user). Using these certificates, the user extends progressively his access scope. Moreover, this model implements a decentralized mapping policy, where correspondence between the user's home profile and its rights on the trusted hosts is determined as needed. This distrust model and its implementation are presented in this article where we exhibit its interests for large but controlled access in pervasive environments.