Trust modelling for online transactions: a phishing scenario

Trust is an important component of online transactions. The increasing amount and sophistication of spam, phishing, and other semantic attacks increase users' uncertainty about the consequences of their actions and their distrust towards other online parties. In this paper, we highlight some key characteristics of a model that we are developing to represent and compare the online trust decision processes of "expert" and "non-expert" computer users. We also report on preliminary data we are gathering to validate, refine, and apply our model. This research is part of a broader project that aims at developing tools and training modules to help online users make good trust decisions.