Trustworthiness of processed data

• US 10,063,563 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2017
• Issued: 08/28/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Arunkumar, Saritha, Pipes, Stephen D., Srivatsa, Mudhakar
• Primary Examiner(s): Siddiqi, Mohammad A
• Application Number:
  US15/397,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20170310680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 601 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/50 Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/60 Protecting data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security

Abstract

A method indicates a trustworthiness of data processed in accordance with a processing rule. A first trust weight is assigned to a data item to be processed to provide a weighted data item, the first trust weight representing a level of trust in the data item. A trust value is selected from a set of data trust values, the selected trust value being representative of a determined level of trust in the data item. The selected trust value is defined as the first trust weight which is associated with the data item. The first trust weight is assigned to a processing rule to provide a weighted processing rule, the first trust weight representing a level of trust in the processing rule. The weighted data item is processed in accordance with the weighted processing rule to generate a data output and an indication of a trust level for the data output.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for indicating a trustworthiness of data processed in accordance with a processing rule, the computer-implemented method comprising:

assigning, by one or more processors, a first trust weight to a data item to be processed to provide a weighted data item, the first trust weight representing a level of trust in the data item;

assigning, by one or more processors, the first trust weight to the processing rule to provide a weighted processing rule, the first trust weight representing a level of trust in the processing rule, wherein said assigning the first trust weight comprises;

selecting, by one or more processors, a trust value from a set of rule trust values representing a plurality of different levels of trust associated with processing rules, the selected trust value being representative of a determined level of trust in the processing rule;

defining, by one or more processors, the selected trust value as a second trust weight; and

associating, by one or more processors, the second trust weight with the processing rule; and

processing, by one or more processors, the weighted data item in accordance with the weighted processing rule to generate a data output and an indication of a level of trust for the data output.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing the weighted data item in accordance with the weighted processing rule comprises:

executing, by one or more processors, the first trust weight and the second trust weight in accordance with an algorithm to generate the indication of the level of trust in the data output.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

averaging, by one or more processors, the first trust weight and the second trust weight to derive an average trust weight; and

setting, by one or more processors, the average trust weight as the level of trust for the data output.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of assigning the first trust weight comprises:

determining, by one or more processors, the level of trust for the data item to be processed based on metadata associated with the data item to be processed.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the metadata associated with the data item to be processed comprises information regarding at least one of:

a source of the data item;

a time associated with the data item;

a date associated with the data item;

a creator of the data item; and

an age of the data item.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning, by one or more processors, the second trust weight, wherein said assigning the second trust weight comprises;

determining, by one or more processors, the level of trust in the processing rule based on metadata associated with the processing rule.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the metadata associated with the processing rule comprises information regarding:

an author of the processing rule;

a time associated with the processing rule;

a date associated with the processing rule;

a complexity of the processing rule; and

an age of the processing rule.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the level of trust is represented using Subjective Logic.

9. An apparatus for indicating a trustworthiness of data processed in accordance with a processing rule, the apparatus comprising:

a data weighting hardware unit adapted to assign a first trust weight to a data item to be processed to provide a weighted data item, the first trust weight representing a level of trust for the data item, wherein the first trust weight is determined based on metadata associated with the data item;

a processing rule weighting hardware unit adapted to assign a second trust weight to the processing rule to provide a weighted processing rule, the second trust weight representing a level of trust in the processing rule, wherein assigning the second trust weight comprises;

selecting, by one or more processors, a trust value from a set of rule trust values representing a plurality of different levels of trust associated with processing rules, the selected trust value being representative of a determined level of trust in the processing rule;

defining, by one or more processors, the selected trust value as the second trust weight; and

associating, by one or more processors, the second trust weight with the processing rule;

a processing hardware unit adapted to process the weighted data item in accordance with the weighted processing rule to generate a data output and an indication of a level of trust for the data output; and

one or more processors adapted to;

multiply the first trust weight by the second trust weight to derive a multiplied trust weight; and

set the multiplied trust weight as a trust level for the data output.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing hardware unit is adapted to execute the first and second trust weights in accordance with an algorithm to generate the indication of a level of trust for the data output.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the data weighting hardware unit is adapted to:

select a trust value from a set of data trust values representing a plurality of different levels of trust associated with data, the selected trust value being representative of a determined level of trust in the data item to be processed;

define the selected trust value as the first trust weight; and

associate the first trust weight with the data item to be processed.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the metadata associated with the data item to be processed comprises information regarding at least one of:

a source of the data item;

a time associated with the data item;

a date associated with the data item;

a creator of the data item; and

an age of the data item.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing rule weighting hardware unit is further adapted to:

determine a level of trust in the processing rule based on metadata associated with the processing rule.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the metadata associated with the processing rule comprises information regarding:

an author of the processing rule;

a time associated with the processing rule;

a date associated with the processing rule;

the complexity of the processing rule; and

an age of the processing rule.

15. A computer program product for indicating a trustworthiness of data processed in accordance with a processing rule, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, and wherein the program code is readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:

assigning a first trust weight to a data item to be processed to provide a weighted data item, the first trust weight representing a level of trust for the data item, wherein the first trust weight is determined based on metadata associated with the data item;

assigning a second trust weight to the processing rule to provide a weighted processing rule, the second trust weight representing a level of trust in the processing rule, wherein said assigning the second trust weight comprises;

selecting a trust value from a set of rule trust values representing a plurality of different levels of trust associated with processing rules, the selected trust value being representative of a determined level of trust in the processing rule;

defining the selected trust value as the second trust weight; and

associating the second trust weight with the processing rule;

processing the weighted data item in accordance with the weighted processing rule to generate a data output and an indication of a level of trust in the data output;

averaging the first trust weight and the second trust weight to derive an average trust weight; and

setting the average trust weight as the level of trust in the data output.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the step of processing the weighted data item in accordance with the weighted processing rule comprises:

executing the first and second trust weights in accordance with an algorithm to generate the indication of a level of trust in the data output.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the step of assigning a first trust weight comprises:

selecting a trust value from a set of data trust values representing a plurality of different levels of trust associated with data, the selected trust value being representative of a determined level of trust in the data item to be processed;

defining the selected trust value as the first trust weight; and

associating the first trust weight with the data item to be processed.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the step of assigning a first trust weight comprises:

determining a level of trust in the data item to be processed based on metadata associated with the data item to be processed.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the metadata associated with the data item to be processed comprises information regarding at least one of:

a source of the data item;

a time associated with the data item;

a date associated with the data item;

a creator of the data item; and

an age of the data item.