Most of us rarely think about digital trust. We open a banking app and assume we are communicating with our bank. We install a software update and assume it came from the company that created the software. We connect a device to a network and assume the device is what it claims to be. These interactions happen billions of times every day, usually without us giving them a second thought. That is digital trust at work.

People can assume trust. Digital systems have to establish it. Behind that process is a complex technological infrastructure designed to establish identity, authenticate devices and systems, verify information, and protect the integrity of digital interactions. Cryptography, digital signatures, certificates, authentication protocols, and cryptographic keys all help make that trust possible.

So what happens when some of the technologies we rely on to establish that trust begin to change?

In my previous article, I argued that quantum security is about more than replacing encryption. Post-quantum cryptography is essential, but protecting the digital world also requires us to trust the identities, devices, keys, platforms, and infrastructure on which cryptography depends.

That raises a larger question: what does it actually mean to trust something in the digital world?

To answer that, it helps to think about how trust works in the physical world.

In the physical world, trust is often based on things we can see or experience. We recognize a person. We know a building. We see a signature. We hold a physical document. The digital world works differently. In the digital world, trust is largely invisible. Yet it is part of the infrastructure that makes almost every digital interaction possible.

A bank server does not recognize your face when you log in. A device joining a network cannot look around the room to determine whether it belongs there. A computer........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)