Validators, rollups, bridges, oracles, confidential contracts
Blockchains and decentralised networks
A network that trusts no one still trusts the machine each node runs on.
A blockchain replaces trust in an operator with rules everyone can check. Many of its newest parts step outside those rules. Validator keys sit in trusted hardware. Private transactions are processed inside enclaves. Rollups and bridges use hardware proofs beside cryptographic ones. In each case the network relies on a machine it cannot inspect, and attestation is how it checks that machine.
Who this is for
- Protocol and rollup teams, using trusted hardware for speed or privacy
- Validator and node operators, who must show they run the expected software
- Bridge, oracle and custody providers, holding keys for others
- Decentralised AI and compute networks, selling computation on machines they do not own
Where the problem shows
A node joins the networkIt should prove its hardware and software before it receives keys or work. Without that, anyone can join with modified software.
The node software is upgradedA network upgrade changes what every node should measure. Old measurements must stop being accepted on a set date.
A hardware flaw is publishedIn 2022 researchers showed that a flaw in processor hardware let them extract a network-wide secret from a privacy blockchain. Networks need a plan to refuse affected platforms and rotate keys.
A machine is physically reachable by its operatorAttacks on server memory in 2025 showed that a valid quote does not prove who can touch the machine. For open networks, where anyone can run a node, this changes the threat model.
A bridge or oracle signs with a protected keyUsers should be able to check that the key is bound to audited code and nothing else.
Source for the 2022 finding: SGX.Fail.
What we deliver
- An attestation design for nodes: what is measured, who verifies, on chain or off, and how results are recorded.
- Upgrade and revocation rules, so a network can move to new software and refuse old or broken platforms on schedule.
- A threat model that says plainly what trusted hardware does and does not protect when operators own the machines.
- Key release bound to measurements for bridges, oracles and custody.
Questions worth answering
- What stops a node operator from running modified software?
- When a processor flaw is announced, how fast can the network refuse affected nodes?
- Which of your security claims assume nobody can touch the hardware?
Across the life cycle
DesignBuildMake or deployOperateUpdateRetire
The stage that decides here: update. Network upgrades and key rotation are the hard part. Every node has to move at once, and old ones have to be refused. See attestation in the product life cycle.
Rules your buyers cite
DORANIS2
Our work in this industry
Attested cloud workloadsAttested AIAttested software supply chain
Go deeper
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