Windows Server 2003 Security: A Technical Reference

Chapter 8. Trust

The concept of trust is an ancient one. On a personal level, it evokes relationships in which we give another person access to secrets, use of our belongings, even the very safety of our family and ourselves. The meaning of trust is often extended to nation-states when they write treaties or businesses when they form partnerships. Each agrees to some sort of goal sharing, perhaps resources and knowledge. The use of the term “trust” in describing relationships between computers and collections of computers on a network is sound, as long as we understand exactly what various kinds of “trust” mean.

In a Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 network, trust relationships enable powerful interactivity between domains. Users in one domain ...