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Security Module (hierachain/security/*)

Overview

The Security module provides enterprise-grade security capabilities for HieraChain. Instead of relying on a single protection layer, HieraChain implements a Defense-in-Depth strategy, spanning identity authentication, access control, resource protection, and advanced technologies such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs.

6 Main Security Pillars

The security architecture consists of 6 main threads that work closely together:

  • Authorization & Access

    Identity management (MSP), API Key authentication, and attribute-based access control (ABAC). Details

  • Lockdown & Logging

    Emergency cluster lockdown mechanism and tamper-proof secure logging system. Details

  • Integrity & Guard

    Resource protection against DoS and integrity checks of source code/configuration at startup. Details

  • Risk & Sanitization

    Anomaly detection and input data sanitization against injection attacks. Details

  • Encryption & Keys

    Management of encryption key lifecycle (Ed25519, AES-GCM) and enterprise-standard digital certificates (X.509). Details

  • Zero-Knowledge Proofs

    Cross-chain private data security using zero-disclosure proof technology (ZKP). Details

System Integration

Every component of HieraChain is protected by these security layers:

  • API Server: Uses ResourceGuard and APIKeyVerifier as the first line of defense middleware.
  • Consensus: All consensus messages are digitally signed and integrity-checked.
  • Storage: Sensitive data is encrypted before storage and sanitized during queries.

Security Configuration

Key settings are centrally managed in hierachain/config/settings.py:

  • AUTH_ENABLED: Enable/disable API authentication.
  • HRC_CLUSTER_SECRET: Secret key for cluster control commands.
  • HRC_ENABLE_ZK_PROOFS: Enable ZK proof verification.