Remote Attestation

A secure, isolated area within a main processor that guarantees the confidentiality and integrity of code and data loaded inside it. TEEs are the hardware root of trust that makes remote attestation possible.

• Creates a hardware-enforced enclave inaccessible to the OS or hypervisor
• Protects agent logic even if the host system is fully compromised
• Examples: Intel SGX, AMD SEV, ARM TrustZone
• Attestation verifies that the correct code is running inside an authentic TEE

A tamper-evident, cryptographically signed digital attestation that an agent can present to prove specific attributes about its identity. After remote attestation establishes trust in an agent's stack, verifiable credentials encode what that agent is authorized to do.

• Follows W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model standard
• Enables selective disclosure of claims without revealing unnecessary data
• Can be revoked by the issuer without affecting other credentials
• Pairs with Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) for self-sovereign identity

A cryptographic method enabling one agent to prove a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the statement's validity. In attestation workflows, ZKPs allow an agent to prove it runs approved software without exposing the software's binary or configuration.

• zk-SNARKs and zk-STARKs are the dominant proof systems
• Enables privacy-preserving attestation in competitive multi-tenant environments
• Prover demonstrates knowledge of a valid attestation signature without revealing the signature itself
• Critical for confidential computing scenarios where even the verifier shouldn't learn the attested stack details

The property of a distributed system to reach consensus and continue operating correctly even when an arbitrary number of nodes act maliciously. Remote attestation strengthens BFT systems by cryptographically excluding compromised nodes from consensus participation.

• Classic BFT tolerates up to one-third faulty nodes
• Attestation failures can trigger automatic node ejection from the consensus group
• Prevents a compromised agent from casting votes or proposing blocks
• Combines with threshold signatures to ensure only attested agents co-sign transactions

A cryptographic protocol allowing a group of agents to jointly compute a function over their private inputs while keeping those inputs confidential. Remote attestation ensures each MPC participant is running the correct, untampered protocol implementation before secrets are shared.

• Prevents a malicious participant from deviating from the protocol to extract others' inputs
• Attestation verifies the exact binary hash of the MPC software stack
• Used in distributed key generation and threshold signing ceremonies
• Combines with TEEs for hardware-backed MPC with verifiable integrity

A globally unique, persistent identifier enabling verifiable, self-sovereign digital identity without a centralized registration authority. After attestation proves an agent's stack integrity, a DID binds that proof to a persistent, cryptographically verifiable identity.

• Resolves to a DID Document containing public keys and service endpoints
• Supports key rotation without identity loss
• Enables agents to maintain reputation across multiple attestation events
• W3C standard ensures interoperability across different agent frameworks