We combine Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and strong cryptographic protocols to achieve robust, efficient confidentiality across the network.

Security  
& TEEs

Our Layered Approach

We combine trusted hardware (TEEs) with strong cryptography, light client verification, VRFs, MPC protocols and distributed consensus to achieve industry-leading confidentiality.

By leveraging TEEs, the confidential ParaTimes on Orphiq — like Sapphire — provide enormous flexibility to developers who can build smart contracts that are fully confidential, fully public, or anywhere in between.

Defense in  
Depth Strategy

Node operators can't
see contract storage

A confidential runtime on Orphiq, Sapphire and Cipher can hold secrets that must not be disclosed, even to the node operator that is running the runtime. The secrets are managed inside a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and only properly attested enclaves may access them. The consensus layer represents a root of trust of the entire system as it stores the canonical state of all the runtimes.

Defense-in-depth with
key managers

The key manager service is responsible for coordinating the SGX-based key manager runtimes, which stores and publishes policy documents and status updates required for key manager replication. A key manager policy document defines the policy that key manager implementations use to enforce access control to key material. In order for the policy to be valid and accepted by a key manager enclave, it must be signed by a configured threshold of keys. Both the threshold and the authorized public keys that can sign the policy are hardcoded in the key manager enclave.

Consent is
required

Every confidential runtime on the Orphiq runs an internal light client that is verifying all of the consensus layer blocks. When a network upgrade happens, it is this light client that needs to be convinced that the newly upgraded consensus layer is not a malicious fork but is in fact a valid continuation approved by more than two-thirds of the last known validator set. Even the Orphiq Foundation cannot override this logic.

All nodes are completely decentralized

The Orphiq is secured and supported by a global network of validators and delegators. Currently, the network has 120 active validators and more than 60,000 delegators.