of our electrical based infrastructures: the power grid, the telephone network and of course, the Internet.

As envisioned by the Open Systems Interconnection model, built upon the constructs of networks are two distinct protocol levels whose direct purpose is to effect interactions between connected elements. The first such protocol level is a connection, a moderately short-lived pathway relative to the circuit elements that make up the network segments, that can be made to exist during some time interval. Within the Open Systems Interconnection model, transport protocols are used to establish connections between specific elements. A session, in turn, is an even shorter duration pathway that builds on a connection and whose effectuation is generally well formed as to beginning and ending. A telephone call from one subscriber to another comprises a session. A session allows the higher-level protocols to establish an application level connection between two entities. Of course, in order to establish a session within a network context, it must be possible to establish the identity of the entity at each end of the session.

“Everyone knows everyone in a small town.” More to the point, as the Cross Canadian Ragweed, a music group that, like one of the authors, made its way to Texas by way of Stillwater, Oklahoma, song tells us, “You’re always seventeen in your hometown.” Such homilies express a truism of relatively small groups, groups such as small communities, or clans, or perhaps even tribes, that such groups derive a significant strength from the aspect of their very natures that provides for the detailed identification of their members. Only by knowing who is a full-fledged member of a group can it be discerned who is not a member. This demarcation will help to delineate the threat from the ally. Moreover, through such identification it is possible to apply specific rules, or aspects of the rules, to specific individuals, thus establishing the specialization of responsibilities that benefits the group as a whole. Of course, in modern society, which is to say within larger and more complex social ecosystems, the concepts of identity and identification have become quite complex in their own right. In particular, as the size and geographical extent of the group grows, the mechanisms used to establish individual identity must be enhanced beyond those used in small groups.

As a general mechanism, identification means distinguishing one person relative to all other persons within some group. In the most general case, of course, identification means distinguishing one person relative to all other existing persons; and, in the extreme, it means distinguishing one person relative to all other persons who have ever existed. A general system can be established for providing identification services; a system termed an identity system. An identity system provides, at a minimum, at least two distinct services: enrollment and authentication. These two services can also be termed identification and verification. We will consider the intricacies of an identity system in much more detail in Chapter 9. For the moment, let us consider some of the more basic characteristics involved.

Enrollment is the seminal step through which a person is distinguished from all other persons within a group. Two steps, each requiring a specific protocol, are necessary to enroll a person in an identity system. First, it must be ascertained that the person in question is not already contained in the identity system. Second, a unique marker must be divined for the person; all persons within the group must have unique markers. The level of trust that can be established in the identity of a person through any particular identity system is dependent on the connection between the marker and the person. The United States Social Security System provides for an enrollment process in which people sort of present themselves to the system for enrollment and, in return they receive a number as their marker within that system. Since no rigorous validation can be made as to whether any particular person is already represented within the system and since the marker issued, that is

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