Secure gossip protocol for Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture
Haniye Mehraban · SHAREOK (University of Oklahoma; Oklahoma State University; Central Oklahoma University) · 2025
Modern network infrastructures are evolving toward distributed security models in which verification and control occur across interconnected, heterogeneous nodes. The concept of Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA) extends the principles of Zero Trust by decentralizing authentication, policy enforcement, and telemetry sharing. Although CSMA has been widely discussed conceptually, its success depends on the existence of a communication layer that can propagate trust and policy information securely and efficiently among semi-independent devices. At present, no dedicated low-overhead communication protocol has been established for this purpose. This dissertation addresses that gap by developing and experimentally validating a new framework for secure message dissemination within CSMA. The proposed method, termed Delta-RSSI, introduces a signal-difference–guided gossip protocol that converts variations in received signal strength (RSSI) into reliable spatial fingerprints. By comparing relative rather than absolute RSSI values across monitor nodes, Delta-RSSI removes dependence on device calibration and common-mode channel effects. Each node uses these fingerprints to decide whether to forward or suppress a packet, thereby reducing redundant transmissions while simultaneously identifying abnormal rebroadcast behavior. By introducing the first communication framework specifically designed for CSMA, this research bridges the theoretical principles of Zero Trust with the practical requirements of distributed, resource-constrained systems. The Delta-RSSI framework establishes a foundation for scalable and secure communication in next generation secure networks.