Trust-Based Security Architecture for Edge Computing: A Simulation Study of Dynamic Trust Evolution and Attack Detection

This paper presents a comprehensive experimental study of a novel trust-based security architecture for edge computing environments. We introduce an adaptive security framework that combines dynamic trust evaluation with decentralized decision-making mechanisms to enhance threat detection and system resilience. Through extensive simulation experiments, we evaluate the architecture's performance across various network configurations, ranging from 20 to 100 nodes, with different operational parameters and security event patterns. The simulation framework implements a sophisticated spatial distribution model for edge nodes, incorporating computational constraints, memory limitations, and communication boundaries typical of edge computing environments. Our results demonstrate that the proposed architecture achieves an 83.0% threat detection rate while maintaining network resilience at 95.6%, significantly exceeding baseline security requirements. The trust management mechanism demonstrates robust adaptation to security events, maintaining average trust scores of 78.6% despite active security incidents. We provide detailed analysis of system behavior under various attack scenarios, including intrusion attempts, data leaks, DDoS attacks, and authentication failures. The architecture shows exceptional scalability characteristics, with improved detection rates and trust stability in larger network configurations. Performance metrics reveal consistent achievement above target thresholds across all evaluated dimensions, with minimum trust levels maintaining a 7.2 percentage point margin above requirements. Our findings provide empirical validation of the architecture's effectiveness while offering practical insights into deployment considerations for edge computing security. The study contributes to the field by establishing quantitative benchmarks for security performance in edge environments and demonstrating the viability of trust-based security mechanisms for distributed systems.