Purdue News

June 30, 2003

Purdue computer scientist balances access and safety

Whom do you trust? Perhaps more importantly, how do you decide whether to trust them? These are serious questions, especially when it comes to authorizing access to your organization’s computer network, and a Purdue computer scientist has figured out pragmatic ways to answer them.

Bharat Bhargava, professor of computer science in Purdue’s School of Science, is concerned with how human beings develop feelings of trust with one another – and how those feelings can be translated into the decidedly non-emotional realm of computer network access.

"Trust involves more than simply how long you’ve known a person – it reflects a number of criteria," Bhargava said. "Just because you have a great, longstanding financial relationship with your neighborhood bank, it doesn’t mean you would trust their staff for stock market advice. These kinds of distinctions can be translated into a business’ computer-access procedure so that it would make the same decisions you would about what to share with an outsider."

Bhargava consults with businesses and other large organizations on fraud management, specializing in keeping computer networks accessible but safe. He can comment on the current state of computer-network security and how local organizations can profit by considering the trust issue more deeply.

CONTACT: Bhargava, (765) 494-6013, bbshail@purdue.edu.