Authors :
Wajeha Zahra; Salman Ahmad; Dr. Usama Ahmad
Volume/Issue :
Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 6 - June
Google Scholar :
https://tinyurl.com/mr2pvjba
Scribd :
https://tinyurl.com/4z3tj9j8
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26jun2033
Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.
Abstract :
In the current era, collaborative cloud infrastructure has allowed organizations to share computing resources,
services and data in distributed systems. Abstract shows that this has allowed organizations to share computing resources,
services and data across distributed systems. This paradigm enhances scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, but it
also leads to substantial trust and security challenges associated with diverse community users, dynamic resource allocation,
multi-tenant designs, and interactions across organizations. Existing trust management systems are based on static trust
relationships and fixed access policies, which are unsuitable to deal with the dynamic environment of collaborative cloud
computing. This study introduces a novel approach to address these shortcomings by proposing a Context-Aware Trust
Framework (CATF) that dynamically assesses trustworthiness based on cloud entities' behaviors and contextual data. The
proposed framework relies on several trust parameters, such as user behaviors, device reputation, spatial context, temporal
context, history of interactions and level of sensitivity of the resources, to derive adaptive trust scores for granting access
and sharing resources. The framework includes context acquisition layer, trust evaluation engine, risk assessment module
and access decision component, all of which allow real-time trust assessment. A mathematical trust computation model is
designed to measure trust levels and aid in dynamic decision making in collaborative cloud. In addition, an evaluation
methodology based on simulations is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of the framework for the enhancement of trust
accuracy, reduction of unauthorized access attacks, and enhancement of security resilience. The results reveal that contextbased trust evaluation can be an effective way to enhance the security while maintaining the operational flexibility of
collaborative cloud-based systems. The suggested framework helps improve the development of intelligent trust
management mechanisms and offers a scalable base for secure and adaptive collaboration across cloud computing in modern
distributed computing environment.
Keywords :
Context-Aware Trust, Collaborative Cloud Infrastructure, Trust Management, Cloud Security, Access Control.
References :
- Liu, G., Liu, Y., Liu, A., Li, Z., Zheng, K., Wang, Y., & Zhou, X. (2018). Context-aware trust network extraction in large-scale trust-oriented social networks. World Wide Web, 21(3), 713–738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11280-017-0485-6
- Karthik, N., & Ananthanarayana, V. S. (2019). Context Aware Trust Management Scheme for Pervasive Healthcare. Wireless Personal Communications, 105(3), 725–763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-018-6091-9
- Alhanahnah, M., Bertok, P., Tari, Z., & Alouneh, S. (2018). Context-Aware Multifaceted Trust Framework For Evaluating Trustworthiness of Cloud Providers. Future Generation Computer Systems, 79, 488–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2017.09.071
- Rehman, A., Hassan, M. F., Hooi, Y. K., Qureshi, M. A., Shukla, S., Susanto, E., … Abdel-Aty, A. H. (2022). CTMF: Context-Aware Trust Management Framework for Internet of Vehicles. IEEE Access, 10, 73685–73701. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3189349
- Wang, Y., Chen, I. R., Cho, J. H., Swami, A., Lu, Y. C., Lu, C. T., & Tsai, J. J. P. (2018). CATrust: Context-aware trust management for service-oriented Ad Hoc networks. IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, 11(6), 908–921. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSC.2016.2587259
- Li, N., Varadharajan, V., & Nepal, S. (2019). Context-aware trust management system for IoT applications with multiple domains. In Proceedings - International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (Vol. 2019-July, pp. 1138–1148). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDCS.2019.00116
- Jang, S. Y., Park, S. K., Cho, J. H., & Lee, D. (2022). CARES: Context-Aware Trust Estimation for Realtime Crowdsensing Services in Vehicular Edge Networks. ACM Transactions on Internet Technology, 22(4). https://doi.org/10.1145/3514243
- Lewis, C., Li, N., & Varadharajan, V. (2023). Targeted Context-Based Attacks on Trust Management Systems in IoT. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 10(14), 12186–12203. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2023.3245605
- Aldini, A., Curzi, G., Graziani, P., & Tagliaferri, M. (2024). A probabilistic modal logic for context-aware trust based on evidence. International Journal of Approximate Reasoning, 169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijar.2024.109167
- Hasan, A. A., Fang, X., Latif, S., & Iqbal, A. (2025). Context-Aware Trust Prediction for Optimal Routing in Opportunistic IoT Systems. Sensors, 25(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/s25123672
- He, Y., Han, G., Jiang, J., Cheng, X., & Xu, P. (2025). CADTR: Context-Aware Trust Routing Algorithm Based on Priority Sampling DDPG for UASNs. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 24(11), 11688–11702. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMC.2025.3581512
- Siddiqui, S. A., Mahmood, A., Sheng, Q. Z., Suzuki, H., & Ni, W. (2023). Trust in Vehicles: Toward Context-Aware Trust and Attack Resistance for the Internet of Vehicles. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 24(9), 9546–9560. https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2023.3268301
- Wang, Y., Li, L., & Liu, G. (2015). Social context-aware trust inference for trust enhancement in social network based recommendations on service providers. World Wide Web, 18(1), 159–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11280-013-0241-5
- Singh, J., Dhurandher, S. K., Woungang, I., & Chao, H. C. (2024). Context-Aware Trust and Reputation Routing Protocol for Opportunistic IoT Networks. Sensors, 24(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/s24237650
- Ahmed, W., Di, W., & Mukathe, D. (2023). Blockchain-Assisted Privacy-Preserving and Context-Aware Trust Management Framework for Secure Communications in VANETs. Sensors, 23(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125766
- Hussain, Y., Zhiqiu, H., Akbar, M. A., Alsanad, A., Alsanad, A. A. A., Nawaz, A., … Khan, Z. U. (2020). Context-Aware Trust and Reputation Model for Fog-Based IoT. IEEE Access, 8, 31622–31632. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2972968
- Wang, Q., Zhao, W., Yang, J., Wu, J., Xue, S., Xing, Q., & Yu, P. S. (2023). C-DeepTrust: A Context-Aware Deep Trust Prediction Model in Online Social Networks. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, 34(6), 2767–2780. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNNLS.2021.3107948
- Gupta, S., Modgil, S., Kumar, A., Sivarajah, U., & Irani, Z. (2022). Artificial intelligence and cloud-based Collaborative Platforms for Managing Disaster, extreme weather and emergency operations. International Journal of Production Economics, 254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2022.108642
- Batchu, S. (2025). BEYOND AUTOMATION: AI-HUMAN COLLABORATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR OPTIMIZING CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, 16(1), 1893–1908. https://doi.org/10.34218/ijcet_16_01_137
- Kim, H. W., Kang, J., & Jeong, Y. S. (2019, August 1). Simulator considering modeling and performance evaluation for high-performance computing of collaborative-based mobile cloud infrastructure. Journal of Supercomputing. Springer Science and Business Media, LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-019-02882-x
- Bao, G., & Guo, P. (2022, December 1). Federated learning in cloud-edge collaborative architecture: key technologies, applications and challenges. Journal of Cloud Computing. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13677-022-00377-4
- Chen, Z., Chen, J., Shen, F., & Lee, Y. (2015). Collaborative Mobile-Cloud Computing for Civil Infrastructure Condition Inspection. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 29(5). https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)cp.1943-5487.0000377
- Natsos, D., & L. Symeonidis, A. (2026). Towards a Defense-in-Depth Approach for Securing Collaborative Cloud Infrastructures. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 16083 LNCS, pp. 409–418). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-04207-1_27
- Tyagi, H., Kumar, R., & Pandey, S. K. (2023). A detailed study on trust management techniques for security and privacy in IoT: challenges, trends, and research directions. High-Confidence Computing, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hcc.2023.100127
- Chahal, R. K., Kumar, N., & Batra, S. (2020, January 15). Trust management in social Internet of Things: A taxonomy, open issues, and challenges. Computer Communications. Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comcom.2019.10.034
- Liu, Y., Wang, J., Yan, Z., Wan, Z., & Jantti, R. (2023). A Survey on Blockchain-Based Trust Management for Internet of Things. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 10(7), 5898–5922. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2023.3237893
- Gangwani, P., Perez-Pons, A., & Upadhyay, H. (2024). Evaluating Trust Management Frameworks for Wireless Sensor Networks. Sensors, 24(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/s24092852
- Ud Din, I., Guizani, M., Kim, B. S., Hassan, S., & Khan, M. K. (2019). Trust management techniques for the internet of things: A survey. IEEE Access, 7, 29763–29787. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2880838
- Arshad, Q. ul A., Khan, W. Z., Azam, F., Khan, M. K., Yu, H., & Zikria, Y. B. (2023). Blockchain-based decentralized trust management in IoT: systems, requirements and challenges. Complex and Intelligent Systems, 9(6), 6155–6176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40747-023-01058-8
- Um, T. W., Kim, J., Lim, S., & Lee, G. M. (2022). Trust Management for Artificial Intelligence: A Standardization Perspective. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 12(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/app12126022
- Hou, M., Banbury, S., Cain, B., Fang, S., Willoughby, H., Foley, L., … Rudas, I. J. (2025). IMPACTS Homeostasis Trust Management System: Optimizing Trust in Human-AI Teams. ACM Computing Surveys, 57(6). https://doi.org/10.1145/3649446
- Yan, Z., Zhang, P., & Vasilakos, A. V. (2014). A survey on trust management for Internet of Things. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 42, 120–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2014.01.014
- Konsta, A. M., Lafuente, A. L., & Dragoni, N. (2023). A Survey of Trust Management for Internet of Things. IEEE Access, 11, 122175–122204. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3327335
- Feng, D. G., Zhang, M., Zhang, Y., & Xu, Z. (2011). Study on Cloud Computing security. Ruan Jian Xue Bao/Journal of Software, 22(1), 71–83. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1001.2011.03958
- Khalil, I. M., Khreishah, A., & Azeem, M. (2014). Cloud computing security: A survey. Computers, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/computers3010001
- Kumar, R., & Goyal, R. (2019). On cloud security requirements, threats, vulnerabilities and countermeasures: A survey. Computer Science Review. Elsevier Ireland Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosrev.2019.05.002
- Lombardi, F., Di Pietro, R., & Signorini, M. (2024). Cloud Security. In Computer and Information Security Handbook, Fourth Edition: Volumes 1-2 (Vol. 2, pp. 1081–1092). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-13223-0.00065-5
- Ali, T., Al-Khalidi, M., & Al-Zaidi, R. (2026). Information Security Risk Assessment Methods in Cloud Computing: Comprehensive Review. Journal of Computer Information Systems. Taylor and Francis Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2024.2329985
- Alzoubi, Y. I., Mishra, A., & Topcu, A. E. (2024). Research trends in deep learning and machine learning for cloud computing security. Artificial Intelligence Review, 57(5). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10462-024-10776-5
- Singh, A., & Chatterjee, K. (2017, February 1). Cloud security issues and challenges: A survey. Journal of Network and Computer Applications. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2016.11.027
- Pitkar, H. (2025). Cloud Security Automation Through Symmetry: Threat Detection and Response. Symmetry, 17(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/sym17060859
- Nassif, A. B., Talib, M. A., Nasir, Q., Albadani, H., & Dakalbab, F. M. (2021). Machine Learning for Cloud Security: A Systematic Review. IEEE Access. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3054129
- Chauhan, M., & Shiaeles, S. (2023, September 1). An Analysis of Cloud Security Frameworks, Problems and Proposed Solutions. Network. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). https://doi.org/10.3390/network3030018
- Singh, I., & Singh, B. (2023). Access management of IoT devices using access control mechanism and decentralized authentication: A review. Measurement: Sensors, 25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measen.2022.100591
- Uddin, M., Islam, S., & Al-Nemrat, A. (2019). A Dynamic Access Control Model Using Authorising Workflow and Task-Role-Based Access Control. IEEE Access, 7, 166676–166689. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2947377
- Mohamed, A. K. Y. S., Auer, D., Hofer, D., & Küng, J. (2022, October 25). A systematic literature review for authorization and access control: definitions, strategies and models. International Journal of Web Information Systems. Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWIS-04-2022-0077
- Punia, A., Gulia, P., Gill, N. S., Ibeke, E., Iwendi, C., & Shukla, P. K. (2024, December 1). A systematic review on blockchain-based access control systems in cloud environment. Journal of Cloud Computing. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13677-024-00697-7
- Collins, L. (2024). Access Controls. In Computer and Information Security Handbook, Fourth Edition: Volumes 1-2 (Vol. 2, pp. 1267–1273). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-13223-0.00079-5
- Wang, R., Li, C., Zhang, K., & Tu, B. (2025). Zero-trust based dynamic access control for cloud computing. Cybersecurity, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42400-024-00320-x
- Farhadighalati, N., Estrada-Jimenez, L. A., Nikghadam-Hojjati, S., & Barata, J. (2025). A Systematic Review of Access Control Models: Background, Existing Research, and Challenges. IEEE Access. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3533145
- Penelova, M. (2021). Access Control Models. Cybernetics and Information Technologies, 21(4), 77–104. https://doi.org/10.2478/cait-2021-0044
- Osborn, S., Sandhu, R., & Munawer, Q. (2000). Configuring Role-Based Access Control to Enforce Mandatory and Discretionary Access Control Policies. ACM Transactions on Information and System Security, 3(2), 85–106. https://doi.org/10.1145/354876.354878
- Golightly, L., Modesti, P., Garcia, R., & Chang, V. (2023, December 1). Securing distributed systems: A survey on access control techniques for cloud, blockchain, IoT and SDN. Cyber Security and Applications. KeAi Communications Co. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csa.2023.100015
- Ragothaman, K., Wang, Y., Rimal, B., & Lawrence, M. (2023, February 1). Access Control for IoT: A Survey of Existing Research, Dynamic Policies and Future Directions. Sensors. MDPI. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23041805
- Kalaria, R., Kayes, A. S. M., Rahayu, W., Pardede, E., & Salehi Shahraki, A. (2024). Adaptive context-aware access control for IoT environments leveraging fog computing. International Journal of Information Security, 23(4), 3089–3107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10207-024-00866-4
In the current era, collaborative cloud infrastructure has allowed organizations to share computing resources,
services and data in distributed systems. Abstract shows that this has allowed organizations to share computing resources,
services and data across distributed systems. This paradigm enhances scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, but it
also leads to substantial trust and security challenges associated with diverse community users, dynamic resource allocation,
multi-tenant designs, and interactions across organizations. Existing trust management systems are based on static trust
relationships and fixed access policies, which are unsuitable to deal with the dynamic environment of collaborative cloud
computing. This study introduces a novel approach to address these shortcomings by proposing a Context-Aware Trust
Framework (CATF) that dynamically assesses trustworthiness based on cloud entities' behaviors and contextual data. The
proposed framework relies on several trust parameters, such as user behaviors, device reputation, spatial context, temporal
context, history of interactions and level of sensitivity of the resources, to derive adaptive trust scores for granting access
and sharing resources. The framework includes context acquisition layer, trust evaluation engine, risk assessment module
and access decision component, all of which allow real-time trust assessment. A mathematical trust computation model is
designed to measure trust levels and aid in dynamic decision making in collaborative cloud. In addition, an evaluation
methodology based on simulations is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of the framework for the enhancement of trust
accuracy, reduction of unauthorized access attacks, and enhancement of security resilience. The results reveal that contextbased trust evaluation can be an effective way to enhance the security while maintaining the operational flexibility of
collaborative cloud-based systems. The suggested framework helps improve the development of intelligent trust
management mechanisms and offers a scalable base for secure and adaptive collaboration across cloud computing in modern
distributed computing environment.
Keywords :
Context-Aware Trust, Collaborative Cloud Infrastructure, Trust Management, Cloud Security, Access Control.