This repository contains all the materials and documentation for the research project on Service Mesh conducted as part of the Network and Cloud Security course.
The widespread adoption of microservices architectures has introduced complex security challenges that traditional perimeter-based security models cannot adequately address. Service mesh technologies have emerged as critical infrastructure solutions designed to provide comprehensive security, observability, and traffic management capabilities for distributed cloud-native environments. This research provides a comprehensive examination of service mesh technologies with particular emphasis on their security capabilities and implications for enterprise cybersecurity architectures.
This study analyzes service mesh architectural principles, security mechanisms, and deployment considerations. It also explores how service mesh can be integrated with Kubernetes environments, leveraging native orchestration capabilities for automated deployment and scaling.
Comparative analysis of leading implementations—Istio, Linkerd, and Consul Connect—reveals distinct approaches addressing different organizational requirements. The research identifies critical success factors for adoption, including organizational readiness assessment and integration planning with existing security infrastructure.
The findings demonstrate that service meshes represent a fundamental advancement in cybersecurity capabilities for distributed applications. Service meshes facilitate the implementation of zero-trust architectures by providing robust identity, encryption, and policy enforcement mechanisms that operate transparently to application code. While operational complexity requires careful management, the security benefits and automation capabilities justify adoption for organizations operating cloud-native microservices architectures.
If you use this work, please cite it as indicated in the CITATION.cff.
@misc{innocenti2025servicemesh,
author = {Elia Innocenti},
title = {Service Mesh Research},
year = {2025},
publisher = {Zenodo},
version = {v1.0},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.17108094},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17108094}
}
This repository contains material released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
The following files and directories are covered by this license:
- Report:
ServiceMesh_Innocenti.pdf - Lecture-format slides:
ServiceMesh_Innocenti_slides.pdf - Project presentation:
ServiceMesh_Innocenti_presentation.pdf - Source files: all LaTeX source files and support material in the
material/directory
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For the full license text, see the LICENSE file.
Elia Innocenti
Master's Degree in Cybersecurity
Politecnico di Torino
elia.innocenti@studenti.polito.it
This work was developed as part of the Network and Cloud Security course at Politecnico di Torino.