Why Trust is Bad for Security

We investigate how the term 'trust' has been used, and re-defined, in computer security, covering Trusted Computing Platforms, Trust Management, Trusted Computing, and Trusted Code. We conclude that trust is a dangerous word to use as it has manifold and sometimes contradictory meanings. There is no immediate problem when trust is used in a specific research area to denote some concept of interest. Difficulties arise when interfacing between communities that use this word differently, and with the general public which is unlikely to associate a word like trust with any specific technical definition adopted in a field of research. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved