According to an example, a method and a secure element legitimacy verification of a node in a distributed network is provided. The distributed network comprises a plurality of nodes and a secure element, which are connected to a shared medium of the distributed network. Each of the plurality of nodes is provisioned with an identity certificate comprising a serial number. Each serial number is specific to the respective node. The secure element receives from one of the plurality of nodes a request for legitimacy verification including the serial number. The secure element compares the serial number included in the received request with a plurality of serial numbers comprises in a whitelist maintained at the secure element. The secure element transmits back to the requesting node a request response comprising an indication whether or not the serial number is comprised in the whitelist.