Negotiating trust degradation for a central entity by peers lacking direct communication with one another

An apparatus comprising:

• a message generator to generate, in response to a decrease in trustworthiness with respect to a controller, a notification message;
• an authentication component to generate a first message authentication code (MAC) based on the notification message and one or more locally stored keys;
• and
• a communications manager to send the notification message and the first MAC to the controller, wherein the notification message is to be directed to one or more peers in a network associated with the controller.

A method comprising:

• generating, in response to a decrease in trustworthiness with respect to a controller, a notification message;
• generating a first message authentication code (MAC) based on the notification message and one or more locally stored keys;
• and
• sending the notification message and the first MAC to the controller, wherein the notification message is directed to one or more peers in a network associated with the controller.

At least one computer readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:

• generate, in response to a decrease in trustworthiness with respect to a controller, a notification message;
• generate a first message authentication code (MAC) based on the notification message and one or more locally stored keys;
• and
• send the notification message and the first MAC to the controller, wherein the notification message is to be directed to one or more peers in a network associated with the controller.