Using neighbor discovery to create trust information for other applications

Logic encoded in one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that includes code for execution and when executed by a processor is operable to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, at a local device, neighbor discovery packages from other devices, the neighbor discovery packages produced as part of a neighbor discovery protocol responsible for discovering the other devices at layer 2 or layer 3, wherein the neighbor discovery packages include validation data for communicating with the other devices, the received validation data comprising one or more authentication credentials and a type of neighbor discovery protocol used, wherein the one or more authentication credentials comprises one or more of:
• a certificate, cryptographic identification, a unique device identifier, a key, a token, shared information, a common trust anchor, domain membership, or a password;
• validating, at the local device, the one or more authentication credentials for each of the other devices, wherein an indication of whether each authentication credential of the one or more authentication credentials is valid and timing information indicative of when the indication was determined is added to the received validation data;
• generating, at the local device, a trust information database about the other devices using the received neighbor discovery packages and the validation data, wherein the trust information database includes:
• an identity of each of the other devices, the one or more authentication credentials for each of the other devices, the indication of whether each of the one or more authentication credentials is valid, the timing information indicative of when the indication was determined, and the type of neighbor discovery protocol;
• consulting the trust information database at the local device by applications running on the local device to determine a level of trust for the other devices;
• denying the local device from establishing a communication link to a first device of the other devices for a first of the applications based on the consulted trust information database;
• and
• allowing the local device to establish a communications link to a second device of the other devices for a second of the applications based on the consulted trust information database;
• wherein the communication link for the first of the applications requires a first level of required trust to establish communication authority and wherein the communication link for the second of the applications requires a second level of required trust to establish communication authority, the first level of required trust being different from the second level of required trust;
• and
• wherein the first level of required trust requires the first device to have at least one authentication credential of a first type stored in the trust information database, and the second level of required trust requires the second device to have at least two authentication credentials of different types stored in the trust information database.

An apparatus comprising:

• a memory operable to store trust information about a plurality of communicatively connected devices in a trust information database;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• receive neighbor discovery packages, the neighbor discovery packages including validation data for communicating with the plurality of communicatively connected devices, from the plurality of communicatively connected devices during initial neighbor discovery of the plurality of communicatively connected devices as part of a neighbor discovery protocol responsible for discovering the communicatively connected devices at each link from the apparatus, wherein the received validation data comprises one or more authentication credentials and a type of neighbor discovery protocol used to perform the neighbor discovery, wherein the one or more authentication credentials comprises one or more of:
• a certificate, cryptographic identification, a unique device identifier, a key, a token, shared information, a common trust anchor, domain membership, or a password;
• validate the one or more authentication credentials for each of the devices, wherein an indication of whether each authentication credential of the one or more authentication credentials is valid and timing information indicative of when the indication was determined is added to the received validation data;
• store in the trust information database, for each of the devices, an identity of the device, the one or more authentication credentials for the device, the indication of whether each of the one or more authentication credentials is valid, the timing information indicative of when the indication was determined, and the type of neighbor discovery protocol;
• perform a plurality of protocols that determine whether or not to communicate with individual ones of the devices using the trust information database to determine a level of trust for each of the devices, wherein each of the protocols requires a particular level of required trust to establish communication authority;
• wherein a first one of the protocols requires a first level of required trust to establish communication authority and a second one of the protocols requires a second level of required trust to establish communication authority, the first level of required trust being different from the second level of required trust;
• and
• wherein the first level of required trust requires a device to have at least one authentication credential of a first type stored in the trust information database, and the second level of required trust requires a device to have at least two authentication credentials of different types stored in the trust information database.