How do you know who you are dealing with online? In the weeks ahead, I will be writing a series of blog posts that explores this problem -- and propose a solution.
I am working with a team of dedicated individuals who are working to build a solution. Initially assembled for a study at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, this team combines expertise from several different fields -- Internet Security, Social Network Analysis, Online Social Network Architecture and Product Management. We believe that we have a solution to The Problem of Online Trust -- and we have started a company, AssertID, for the purpose of building this solution.
In the coming weeks, I will post blog entries on the following topics:
- Introduction to The Problem of Online Trust
- The AssertID approach to solving this problem (part 1 and part 2)
- Specific use cases (e.g. age verification, online dating, spam filtering)
In the meantime, here is a description of the AssertID Team. Since September 2007, my colleagues and I have been building a verified online identity credential system at AssertID, an early-stage company based in San Francisco. We just made our first public disclosure at the Internet Safety Technical Task Force meeting at Harvard last September.
As Chief Scientist, I have been spearheading AssertID’s intellectual property and research efforts centering on social network analysis. This work is related to, but distinct from my academic research on social networks of trust in the economic and political spheres. I am joined by Kevin Trilli (Founder), who has an extensive product background in identity security and authentication from nearly 8 years at VeriSign. Also, Murali Vivekandan, who has extensive experience designing and implementing online community applications, is building our high availability consumer service.
We are advised by highly-experienced members of Silicon Valley’s online security and Web 2.0 communities. Nico Popp is currently VP Innovation at VeriSign responsible for new product initiatives for VeriSign’s corporate business units. Prior, Nico served as VP and General Manager, Authentication Services at VeriSign, where he was responsible for all authentication products. Stewart Bonn has been Senior VP and General Manager of Electronic Arts, the largest interactive media company in the world. Stewart also has experience being a serial entrepreneur, having founded startups purchased by Yahoo and other large Silicon Valley players. Francesco Zappacosta helped found BioQuiddity, a medical device startup focused on disposable infusion devices, and then worked as Director of Investment at an early-stage VC firm focused primarily on high-tech and consumer products. Jonathan Solomon also has an entrepreneurial background, having co-founded JD Logistics and the Tablogix Group, successful logistics companies overseas.
Please see our website for more details about our team.
My next blog post will take a deep look at The Problem of Online Trust -- something you are probably familiar with -- from sociological and security angles.
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