Distributed Attestation for Non-Human Identities: A Deep Dive

Understanding Attestation in the Context of Non-Human Identities

Non-Human Identities (NHIs) are everywhere now, right? (What Are Non-Human Identities and How to Secure Them | Okta). But how do we actually know they're who they say they are? That's where attestation comes in, it's pretty important for trusting these digital things.

Basically, attestation for NHIs is about checking if a workload or application is legit and hasn't been messed with. (Attestation - OASIS Security). Think of it like a digital ID check, making sure the NHI is running the right code in a safe place. They use crypto stuff to prove it.

• Integrity Verification: This makes sure the NHI's code is the original, un-tampered version. Super important to stop bad actors from sneaking in nasty code.
• Authenticity Confirmation: It confirms the NHI is actually who it claims to be, stopping fakes from pretending.
• Environment Validation: Attestation also checks that the NHI is running in a secure environment, free from known weak spots.

NHIs, unlike us humans, can't really vouch for themselves. They need these attestation systems to build trust, especially when things are spread out across different systems.

• Security: Attestation is a big deal for keeping sensitive data and critical systems safe. If an NHI isn't verified, it can't get into stuff it shouldn't.
• Compliance: Lots of industries have rules about data security and who can access what. Attestation helps meet those rules by giving you a record of verified identities.
• Trust in Distributed Systems: When you've got lots of systems talking to each other, attestation builds trust between them, letting them communicate and work together safely.

Attestation usually works with a challenge-response thing. The verifier (the one asking for the check) sends a challenge to the prover (the NHI being checked). The prover sends back evidence, like crypto signatures or hashes, and the verifier checks it against something it trusts.

Imagine a bunch of microservices in the cloud that need to talk securely. Each service can use attestation to check the identity and integrity of the others before they swap data.

This trust foundation is key as we move to distributed attestation.

The Challenges of Centralized Attestation

Centralized attestation, while it's the starting point, has some big problems in today's complicated world. It's kinda like having just one security guard for a huge building – eventually, they're gonna miss something.

The main issue is scalability. When you have tons of NHIs, the central attestation authority can get swamped, creating a bottleneck.

• Picture a big bank with thousands of automated trading programs. A centralized system might not be able to handle all the attestation requests fast enough, causing delays and messing with trading. Also, think about the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), where you've got tons of devices that are supposed to work for decades. Ira Ray Jenkins and Sean W. Smith, Dartmouth College

Plus, a centralized system is a single point of failure. If it gets hacked, the whole attestation process is toast.

• For example, in healthcare, if the central attestation server is breached, unauthorized NHIs could get to sensitive patient data, breaking HIPAA rules.

Centralized systems often rely on you just trusting them a lot. You gotta believe the central authority is fair and secure.

• This can lead to vendor lock-in, where you become dependent on one provider for attestation, limiting your options and possibly costing more.

Another thing is the lack of transparency. It's hard for people involved to actually check if the attestation process itself is on the up-and-up.

• In supply chain stuff, this lack of transparency could let fake NHIs sneak counterfeit parts into the system without anyone noticing.

Think about a company using a centralized attestation service for its cloud workloads. If that service goes down, all the workloads that need attestation will be affected, potentially stopping important business stuff.

It's pretty clear that as NHIs become more common, we need a tougher, more scalable solution, which brings us to distributed attestation.

Introducing Distributed Attestation

Distributed attestation is a way to get better security and trust for all the Non-Human Identities (NHIs) out there. It moves away from relying on just one authority and goes for a more cooperative approach.

Let's look at the main ideas behind distributed attestation:

• Decentralization: Unlike centralized systems, distributed attestation spreads the checking process across many different entities. This gets rid of the single point of failure and reduces bottlenecks, making the whole system more resilient.
• Collaboration: Lots of parties help verify the identity and integrity of NHIs. This teamwork makes things more transparent and means you don't have to put all your faith in just one entity.
• Scalability: Distributed systems can handle more NHIs more easily. As you get more NHIs, the attestation work gets spread out, so things don't slow down.
• Increased Security: By spreading out the trust, distributed attestation makes it harder for bad guys to mess with the whole system. Attackers would need to compromise a big chunk of the network to fake attestations.

1. An NHI asks a few verifiers for attestation.
2. Each verifier sends a unique challenge to the NHI.
3. The NHI sends back evidence to each verifier.
4. Each verifier checks the evidence on its own.
5. The verifiers share their attestation results, which can be combined to make a final decision.

In a supply chain, different companies (makers, distributors, stores) can independently verify that goods are real and haven't been tampered with. This helps catch fake products quickly.

Now that we've covered the basics of distributed attestation, let's look at the technologies that make it happen.

How Distributed Attestation Works

So, how does distributed attestation actually work? It involves a few steps, from asking for attestation to checking the results. Let's break it down and see how it keeps Non-Human Identities (NHIs) honest.

1. Requesting Attestation: Someone (the verifier) starts the process by asking a specific NHI (the prover) for attestation. This request is the trigger.

2. Issuing Challenges: The verifier sends a challenge to the prover. This is a unique request that the prover has to respond to by proving its integrity.

3. Generating Evidence: The prover answers the challenge by creating evidence. This could be things like cryptographic signatures, hashes of code, or other stuff that can be checked.

4. Validating Evidence: The verifier checks this evidence against a trusted source. This confirms that the NHI is who it says it is and is running the right code.

• Multiple Verifiers: In a distributed setup, several verifiers independently challenge and check the NHI. This redundancy makes it more secure and less reliant on just one source of trust.
• Consensus Mechanisms: The results from all the verifiers are often combined using consensus mechanisms. This helps create a single, trustworthy assessment of the NHI's identity and integrity.
• Immutable Logs: The attestation process and its results can be recorded in a log that can't be changed, like a blockchain. This gives you an audit trail and makes things more transparent.

Think about multiple microservices in the cloud needing to check each other's identities. Each microservice can act as a verifier, challenging the others and checking their evidence. This builds a network of trust, making sure only verified and authorized microservices can communicate.

Attestation documents can be created by the Nitro Hypervisor. AWS

Now that we've looked at how it works, let's dive into the technologies that make distributed attestation possible.

Technologies Enabling Distributed Attestation

It's pretty neat how different technologies come together to enable distributed attestation for Non-Human Identities (NHIs). Let's check out some of the main technologies behind this important security approach.

• Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs) give you a hardware root of trust. They have secure crypto functions and storage, and they're key for creating and checking attestations.
• Blockchain Technology makes the attestation process unchangeable and transparent. Ira Ray Jenkins and Sean W. Smith at Dartmouth College mention that blockchain can be used to store and share device info, creating a history of a device's life.
• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) sets up secure communication channels. It lets you swap crypto keys and certificates, which is vital for verifying attestations.
• Software-Based Attestation Techniques offer a way to do attestation without needing a TPM. These techniques check the integrity of code running on a device without needing physical access or special hardware.
• Remote Attestation Procedures use a challenge-response protocol. A verifier challenges the prover (the NHI) and checks the response against a trusted source, like we talked about before.

Think about using AWS KMS for crypto attestation. Attestation documents are given to AWS KMS, letting AWS KMS do things like Decrypt, GenerateDataKey, and GenerateRandom from inside the enclave.

$ openssl ecparam -name secp384r1 -genkey -out key_name.pem

As tech keeps evolving, new and creative ways to do distributed attestation will pop up. Next, we'll look at some specific ways distributed attestation is used for NHIs.

Use Cases for Distributed Attestation of NHIs

Distributed attestation isn't just theory; it's being used in the real world across different industries. Let's see how this tech is boosting security, ensuring compliance, and building trust in various sectors.

A big use case is securing Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Distributed attestation can check the integrity of firmware and software on these devices, stopping bad code from taking over the network.

• For example, in industrial control systems, attestation can make sure only approved software is running on critical equipment, preventing unauthorized access and sabotage.
• In healthcare, medical devices can use attestation to verify their software is intact, ensuring accurate data collection and stopping patient info from being tampered with.
• According to Ira Ray Jenkins and Sean W. Smith from Dartmouth College, controls and sensors made for the Industrial IoT (IIoT) are expected to work for decades, showing the need for strong security.

Distributed attestation can also be a big help in ensuring supply chain integrity. By checking that goods are authentic and have a clear history at every step, attestation can stop fake products from hitting the market.

• For instance, in the pharmaceutical industry, attestation can verify that drugs are real, protecting patients from getting fake or bad medicine.
• In aerospace, attestation can ensure only genuine parts are used in building planes, preventing potential safety issues.
• As we mentioned, blockchain tech helps keep attestation records unchangeable and transparent.

Distributed attestation is also useful in cloud security. It can verify the integrity of workloads and applications running in the cloud, making sure they haven't been messed with and are operating in a trusted environment.

• For example, in financial services, attestation can verify the security of trading programs and stop unauthorized access to sensitive financial data.
• In e-commerce, attestation can ensure payment systems are intact, protecting customer financial info from fraud.
• AWS uses attestation documents made by the Nitro Hypervisor.

Think about a situation where multiple microservices in the cloud need to check each other's identities. Each microservice can act as a verifier, challenging the others and checking their evidence. This creates a web of trust, making sure only authorized and verified microservices can communicate.

As you can see, distributed attestation offers a solid and flexible way to build trust in lots of different applications. Now, let's think about what's important when implementing such a system.

Implementing a Distributed Attestation System: Key Considerations

Setting up a distributed attestation system for Non-Human Identities (NHIs) is a bit tricky, but the better security and trust it gives you are totally worth it. So, what are the main things to keep in mind?

Before you start building, you need clear goals. What security risks are you trying to fix? How much assurance do you need for your NHIs?

• Knowing your goals will help you pick the right tech, rules, and procedures. For example, if your main worry is stopping unauthorized access to sensitive data, you might focus on attesting the identity and integrity of NHIs that handle that data.
• Consider setting specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to see how well your distributed attestation system is working. These could be things like how many attestations succeed, how long they take, and how many weird things get flagged.

Picking the right technologies is super important for a successful setup. Like we talked about, things like TPMs, blockchain, and PKI play big roles.

• Check the compatibility, scalability, and cost of different technologies. Think about how many NHIs you need to support, how fast they need to be attested, and how much security you need.
• You can use OpenSSL to create a private key and signing certificate to sign an enclave image file.

$ openssl ecparam -name secp384r1 -genkey -out key_name.pem

A distributed attestation system relies on a network of trust. You gotta carefully define the trust relationships between different parts of your system.

• Figure out who the trusted verifiers are and how you'll make sure they're trustworthy. You might use a mix of tech and organizational rules to ensure verifiers are reliable and fair.
• Think about setting up a reputation system for verifiers. This would let people judge how trustworthy verifiers are based on how they've performed before.

Building it technically is only part of it. You need clear policies and procedures for managing your distributed attestation system.

• Define clear roles and responsibilities for everyone involved. This helps make sure everyone knows what they're supposed to do and how to interact with the system.
• Put in place auditing and monitoring systems to track the attestation process and catch potential security problems. This helps you spot and deal with any issues that come up.

Lots of companies are already looking into distributed attestation. For instance, banks are using it to secure their cloud trading programs, and online stores are using it to protect customer financial info. The key is matching your specific needs with the right tech approach.

By carefully thinking about these important points, companies can successfully set up distributed attestation systems that make their NHIs more secure and trustworthy. This is crucial for keeping systems and data honest.