Abstract: A method of providing varying levels of secure access to computer resources. A certificate is used to identify a particular data requester and the certificate is authenticated using asymmetrical encryption techniques, such as public-private key pairs. One or more trust authorities may be consulted to ascribe a trust level to the certificate, which is an indication of the veracity of the identity of the data requester. Individual system users may set differing levels of access to a number of shared system resources for a particular data requester. The authenticated and verified data requester is then provided with the pre-set level of access to the desired shared resource. The level of access to a particular shared system resource therefore depends upon the user the data is being accessed through, the authenticated identity of the data requester, and their ascribed trust level.