Cloud computing is one of the latest appealing technological trends to emerge in the Information Technology (IT) industry. However, despite the surge in activity and interest, there are significant and persistent concerns about cloud computing, particularly with regard to trusting the platform in terms of confidentiality, integrity and availability of user data stored through these applications. These factors are significant in determining trust in cloud computing and thus provide the foundation for this study. The significant role that trust plays in the use of cloud computing was considered in relation to various trust models, theories and frameworks. Cloud computing is still considered to be a new technology in the business world, therefore minimal work and academic research has been done on enhancing trust in cloud computing. Academic research which focuses on the adoption of cloud computing and, in particular, the building of user trust has been minimal. The available trust models, frameworks and cloud computing adoption strategies that exist mainly focus on cost reduction and the various benefits that are associated with migrating to a cloud computing platform. Available work on cloud computing does not provide clear guidelines for establishing user trust in a cloud computing application. The issue of establishing a reliable trust context for data and security within cloud computing is, up to this point, not well defined. This study investigates the impact that a lack of user trust has on the use of cloud computing. Strategies for enhancing user trust in cloud computing are required to overcome the data security concerns. This study focused on establishing methods to enhance user trust in cloud computing applications through the theoretical contributions of the Proposed Trust Model by Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman (1995) and the Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability (CIA) Triad by Steichen (2010). A questionnaire was used as a means of gathering data on trust-related perceptions of the use of cloud computing. The findings of this questionnaire administered to users and potential users of cloud computing applications are reported in this study. The questionnaire primarily investigates key concerns which result in self-moderation of cloud computing use and factors which would improve trust in cloud computing. Additionally, results relating to user awareness of potential confidentiality, integrity and availability risks are described. An initial cloud computing adoption model was proposed based on a content analysis of existing cloud computing literature. This initial model, empirically tested through the questionnaire, was an important foundation for the establishment of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and therefore the framework to enhance user trust in cloud computing applications. The framework proposed by this study aims to assist new cloud computing users to determine the appropriateness of a cloud computing service, thereby enhancing their trust in cloud computing applications.

Thesis (M.M. (Strategic Marketing))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. / The remarkable and apparent growth in the use of mobile technology in society is eccentric. Mobile technology brought about a swift change on how business is conducted and how individual communicate and interact. The increasing number of mobile applications available in app stores could be a challenge for developers as they will be required to stay innovative in order to acquire and maintain a competitive edge. For the mobile application businesses to succeed, owners of these applications need to know and understand their customers and their requirements to be able to meet their demands. Due to the currency of this trend, there seems to be scarcity in terms of academic literature and information intelligence for businesses on the subject. The purpose of the study is therefore to investigate the influence of systems quality, user trust and user satisfaction on purchase intention of mobile applications users in South African. A quantitative survey was conducted using a sample of 500 internet user in Gauteng Province. The survey questionnaire was designed on Qualtrics. A project manager was appointed to roll out the project that lasted two weeks. After collecting 353 responses, the survey was closed. The results were statistically analysed using the IBM SPSS to draw descriptive statistics. The construct reliability and validity was assessed by conducting Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using AMOS version 22. The model fit was also assessed by conducting path modelling. The results of the study indicated some level of significance on all the relationships. However, the results showed a very weak significance level between user satisfaction and purchase intention. In the concluding chapter, a number of recommendations are provided where it was suggested that business should invest and channel their resources towards building trust and reliance with their customers. The limitations of the study were highlighted and the chapter concluded by making suggestions for future research. Key Words: System Quality, user trust, satisfaction, purchase intension, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

A personal health record (PHR) contains health data about a patient, which is maintained by the patient. Patients may share their PHR data with a wide range of users such as healthcare providers and researchers through the use of a third party such as a cloud service provider. To protect the confidentiality of the data and to facilitate access by authorized users, patients use Attribute-Based Encryption (ABE) to encrypt the data before uploading it onto the cloud servers. With ABE, an access policy is defined based on users' attributes such as a doctor in a particular hospital, or a researcher in a particular university, and the encrypted data can only be decrypted if and only if a user's attributes comply with the access policy attached to a data object. Our critical analysis of the related work in the literature shows that existing ABE based access control frameworks used for sharing PHRs in a storage cloud can be enhanced in terms of scalability and security. With regard to scalability, most existing ABE based access control frameworks rely on the use of a single attribute authority to manage all users, making the attribute authority into a potential bottleneck regarding performance and security. With regard to security, the existing ABE based access control frameworks assume that all users have the same level of trust (i.e. they are equally trustworthy) and all PHR data files have the same sensitivity level, which means that the same protection level is provided. However, in our analysis of the problem context, we have observed that this assumption may not always be valid. Some data, such as patients' personal details and certain diseases, is more sensitive than other data, such as anonymised data. Access to more sensitive data should be governed by more stringent access control measures. This thesis presents our work in rectifying the two limitations highlighted above. In doing so, we have made two novel contributions. The first is the design and evaluation of a Hierarchical Attribute-Based Encryption (HABE) framework for sharing PHRs in a storage cloud. The HABE framework can spread the key management overheads imposed on a single attribute authority tasked with the management of all the users into multiple attribute authorities. This is achieved by (1) classifying users into different groups (called domains) such as healthcare, education, etc., (2) making use of multiple attribute authorities in each domain, (3) structuring the multiple attribute authorities in each domain in a hierarchical manner, and (4) allowing each attribute authority to be responsible for managing particular users in a specific domain, e.g. a hospital or a university. The HABE framework has been analyzed and evaluated in term of security and performance. The security analysis demonstrates that the HABE framework is resistant to a host of security attacks including user collusions. The performance has been analyzed in terms of computational and communication overheads and the results show that the HABE framework is more efficient and scalable than the most relevant comparable work. The second novel contribution is the design and evaluation of a Trust-Aware HABE (Trust+HABE) framework, which is an extension of the HABE framework. This framework is also intended for sharing PHRs in a storage cloud. The Trust+HABE framework is designed to enhance security in terms of protecting access to sensitive PHR data while keeping the overhead costs as low as possible. The idea used here is that we classify PHR data into different groups, each with a distinctive sensitivity level. A user requesting data from a particular group (with a given sensitivity level) must demonstrate that his/her trust level is not lower than the data sensitivity level (i.e. trust value vs data sensitivity verification). A user's trust level is derived based on a number of trust-affecting factors, such as his/her behaviour history and the authentication token type used to identify him/herself etc. For accessing data at the highest sensitivity level, users are required to get special permissions from the data owners (i.e. the patients who own the data), in addition to trust value vs data sensitivity verification. In this way, the framework not only adapts its protection level (in imposing access control) in response to the data sensitivity levels, but also provides patients with more fine-grained access control to their PHR data. The Trust+HABE framework is also analysed and evaluated in term of security and performance. The performance results from the Trust+HABE framework are compared against the HABE framework. The comparison shows that the additional computational, communication, and access delay costs introduced as the result of using the trust-aware approach to access control in this context are not significant compared with computational, communication, and access delay costs of the HABE framework.

<p>Tekniken kring mobiltelefoni är under ständig utveckling och mobiltelefonen har idag fått nya funktioner utöver dess grundfunktion röstsamtal. Efterfrågan efter nya mobila tjänster drivs hela tiden framåt då mobilen får allt större kapacitet och prestanda. Bland de tjänster som växts fram märks möjligheten att utföra monetära transaktioner. Detta innebär helt enkelt att använda sin mobiltelefon för att betala och utföra allehanda tjänster kopplade till användarens monetära tillgångar. Överföringen av pengar kräver dock hög säkerhet. Vad vet egentligen konsumenterna om säkerheten kring dessa tjänster? Många betalningar och transaktioner sker idag över Internet och bankerna förmedlar budskapet om att säkerheten runt deras Internettjänster är mycket hög, men vad säger de om säkerheten för deras mobila alternativ? Finns den höga säkerheten även för de mobila tjänsterna och har användarna förtroende fullt ut för dessa? Finns inte användarnas förtroende för säkerheten hos de nya mobila tjänsterna kommer de troligtvis inte heller användas. Vi ämnar därför i denna uppsats utreda om säkerheten i en mobil betalningstjänst motsvarar den som finns när den utförs på en dator i hemmet och har detta i slutändan användarnas förtroende? </p><p>Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka vilket förtroende användarna har för säkerheten hos mobila betalningstjänster samt om dessa tjänster uppfyller samma säkerhetskrav som när de används via normal datoranvändning. Studien påbörjades med en genomgång av befintlig litteratur inom säkerheten för mobilt Internet samt Internetanvändande vid hemdatorn. Sedan genomfördes intervjuer av personer med stor kunskap kring säkerheten hos mobilt Internet. För att få reda på användarnas förtroende kring mobila betaltjänster genomförde vi sedan en webbaserad surveyundersökning varvid en fokusgrupps-undersökning användes till hjälp gällande framtagningen av frågorna. Utfallen från intervjuerna samt surveyundersökningen analyserades sedan tillsammans med utvald teori.</p><p>Våra resultat visar att majoriteten av respondenterna inte känner förtroende för säkerheten hos mobila betalningstjänster. De flesta anser att det inte är lika säkert att surfa via mobilen som via datorn i hemmet. Däremot kan hälften av individerna i populationen tänka sig att betala över Internet med mobiltelefonen och en betydande del kan även tänka sig att utföra finansiella affärer med hjälp av mobiltelefonen. Vi anser också att en mobiltelefon inte når upp till samma säkerhetsnivå som hos en stationär dator med fast Internet.</p> / <p>The mobile technology is under constant development and the mobile phone today has many other functions besides just talking. The demand for new mobile services is constantly getting stronger since the mobile phone becomes more and more powerful. Among these services is the possibility to perform transactions of money. With this we mean using the mobile phone to pay bills and other services that is connected to a user’s assets. The transaction of money of course requires high security. What do the consumers know about the security surrounding these kinds of services? Today many payments and transactions that involve money takes place over the Internet from the home computer and the banks that offers these services claims that this is safe. But what do they say about the security surrounding their mobile alternatives? Does the necessary security exist for these mobile services and does it have the consumers trust? If the users do not trust the security surrounding the mobile service, they will probably not use them. We will therefore with this thesis try to investigate if the security that surrounds the mobile payment services is equivalent to when the services is used on a home computer and if the services has the users trust?</p><p>The purpose with this thesis is to investigate the users trust regarding mobile payment services and if these services fulfil the same security demands as when they are used normally at the home computer. The study began with a review of existing theories regarding the security for mobile Internet and Internet usage on the home computer. Thereafter interviews took place with experts having great knowledge regarding mobile Internet security. We then performed a web-based survey to get information about the users trust for the security surrounding mobile payment services. We used a focus group with the aim of helping us selecting relevant questions for the survey. The results from the interviews and the survey study were then analyzed with the chosen theory.</p><p>On the basis of our survey we can draw the conclusion that the majority of respondents do not trust the security that surrounds mobile payment services. The majority is of the opinion that it is not as safe to use mobile Internet services as to use the corresponding service from the computer at home. However half of the population could very well consider paying bills with the mobile phone and a large part of the respondents would also like to use financial transactions with this kind of media. We also conclude that a mobile phone does not reach the security standard of a home computer.</p>

Tekniken kring mobiltelefoni är under ständig utveckling och mobiltelefonen har idag fått nya funktioner utöver dess grundfunktion röstsamtal. Efterfrågan efter nya mobila tjänster drivs hela tiden framåt då mobilen får allt större kapacitet och prestanda. Bland de tjänster som växts fram märks möjligheten att utföra monetära transaktioner. Detta innebär helt enkelt att använda sin mobiltelefon för att betala och utföra allehanda tjänster kopplade till användarens monetära tillgångar. Överföringen av pengar kräver dock hög säkerhet. Vad vet egentligen konsumenterna om säkerheten kring dessa tjänster? Många betalningar och transaktioner sker idag över Internet och bankerna förmedlar budskapet om att säkerheten runt deras Internettjänster är mycket hög, men vad säger de om säkerheten för deras mobila alternativ? Finns den höga säkerheten även för de mobila tjänsterna och har användarna förtroende fullt ut för dessa? Finns inte användarnas förtroende för säkerheten hos de nya mobila tjänsterna kommer de troligtvis inte heller användas. Vi ämnar därför i denna uppsats utreda om säkerheten i en mobil betalningstjänst motsvarar den som finns när den utförs på en dator i hemmet och har detta i slutändan användarnas förtroende? Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka vilket förtroende användarna har för säkerheten hos mobila betalningstjänster samt om dessa tjänster uppfyller samma säkerhetskrav som när de används via normal datoranvändning. Studien påbörjades med en genomgång av befintlig litteratur inom säkerheten för mobilt Internet samt Internetanvändande vid hemdatorn. Sedan genomfördes intervjuer av personer med stor kunskap kring säkerheten hos mobilt Internet. För att få reda på användarnas förtroende kring mobila betaltjänster genomförde vi sedan en webbaserad surveyundersökning varvid en fokusgrupps-undersökning användes till hjälp gällande framtagningen av frågorna. Utfallen från intervjuerna samt surveyundersökningen analyserades sedan tillsammans med utvald teori. Våra resultat visar att majoriteten av respondenterna inte känner förtroende för säkerheten hos mobila betalningstjänster. De flesta anser att det inte är lika säkert att surfa via mobilen som via datorn i hemmet. Däremot kan hälften av individerna i populationen tänka sig att betala över Internet med mobiltelefonen och en betydande del kan även tänka sig att utföra finansiella affärer med hjälp av mobiltelefonen. Vi anser också att en mobiltelefon inte når upp till samma säkerhetsnivå som hos en stationär dator med fast Internet. / The mobile technology is under constant development and the mobile phone today has many other functions besides just talking. The demand for new mobile services is constantly getting stronger since the mobile phone becomes more and more powerful. Among these services is the possibility to perform transactions of money. With this we mean using the mobile phone to pay bills and other services that is connected to a user’s assets. The transaction of money of course requires high security. What do the consumers know about the security surrounding these kinds of services? Today many payments and transactions that involve money takes place over the Internet from the home computer and the banks that offers these services claims that this is safe. But what do they say about the security surrounding their mobile alternatives? Does the necessary security exist for these mobile services and does it have the consumers trust? If the users do not trust the security surrounding the mobile service, they will probably not use them. We will therefore with this thesis try to investigate if the security that surrounds the mobile payment services is equivalent to when the services is used on a home computer and if the services has the users trust? The purpose with this thesis is to investigate the users trust regarding mobile payment services and if these services fulfil the same security demands as when they are used normally at the home computer. The study began with a review of existing theories regarding the security for mobile Internet and Internet usage on the home computer. Thereafter interviews took place with experts having great knowledge regarding mobile Internet security. We then performed a web-based survey to get information about the users trust for the security surrounding mobile payment services. We used a focus group with the aim of helping us selecting relevant questions for the survey. The results from the interviews and the survey study were then analyzed with the chosen theory. On the basis of our survey we can draw the conclusion that the majority of respondents do not trust the security that surrounds mobile payment services. The majority is of the opinion that it is not as safe to use mobile Internet services as to use the corresponding service from the computer at home. However half of the population could very well consider paying bills with the mobile phone and a large part of the respondents would also like to use financial transactions with this kind of media. We also conclude that a mobile phone does not reach the security standard of a home computer.

The purpose of our research is to empirically test how system attributes of blockchain build trust through system and information components in blockchain food traceability systems. Findings showed that system attributes of blockchain are strong predictors of trust leading to intention to purchase. A sample of 358 responses were collected from college students through online survey. SmartPLS 3.0 is adopted for data analysis. We made contributions by building a new research model to guide future studies on trust formation in blockchain based systems as well as informing practice to adopt proven features of blockchain to create and capture values for customers.