Post-Quantum Signature Readiness

Ensuring Long-Term Cryptographic Integrity Against Quantum-Capable Adversaries

9.3.1 Why Post-Quantum Security Is Mandatory

NSF is designed as sovereign-grade infrastructure supporting:

• Treaty execution

• Multilateral clause enforcement

• Cross-border capital flows

• Institutional simulation logs

• Verifiable AI outputs

Its trust assumptions must remain resilient not only today—but decades into the future. Quantum computers, even if years away from maturity, pose a fundamental threat to:

• ECDSA, Ed25519, and BLS signature schemes

• Credential authenticity

• Clause execution proofs

• DAO proposal integrity

• Enclave attestation chains

To ensure future-proof verifiability, NSF implements post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) readiness across all protocol layers.

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9.3.2 PQC Standards and Benchmark Alignment

NSF aligns with the latest standards from:

• NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Project

• CRYSTALS-Dilithium and Kyber for signature and key encapsulation

• FALCON for deterministic signature systems

• Sphincs+ for stateless hash-based verification

• Hybrid crypto guidelines combining classical and PQ primitives during transition

These standards are integrated into NSF’s key management, VC issuance, and execution attestation workflows.

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9.3.3 PQ-Ready Signature Schemes in NSF

Use Case	PQ Signature Scheme
VC Issuance and Verification	CRYSTALS-Dilithium + optional hybrid (Ed25519 + Dilithium)
DAO Proposal Signing	FALCON or XMSS with hybrid Merkle proof chain
Clause Deployment	SPHINCS+ signatures with 256-bit security equivalence
Simulation Proofs	PQ-hardened ZK transcripts (e.g., zk-STARK + Dilithium validation bundle)
TEE Attestation Chains	Dilithium-backed quote signatures + hash chains via Kyber KEM for enclave-channel encryption

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9.3.4 VC and Credential Layer Hardening

All Verifiable Credentials in NSF include:

• PQ signature fields

• Merkle root anchoring to quantum-resistant hash trees

• Issuer DID tags indicating PQ compliance

• Dual-mode verification pathways (legacy + PQ) for backward compatibility

• Post-quantum revocation registry signatures

Revocation lists, proof of issuance, and scope attestations are stored as SPHINCS+ validated Merkle bundles.

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9.3.5 Clause Hashing and Post-Quantum Anchoring

Clause artifacts include:

• PQ-hash commitments (e.g., SHA3-512, BLAKE3)

• Execution transcript anchoring via PQ-signed Merkle proofs

• Hash-domain separation between legacy and PQ clause formats

• Forward-secure clause signature chains to ensure survivability against retroactive decryption

This protects clause logic from quantum-era replay attacks or forgery at execution replay points.

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9.3.6 DAO and Governance Proposal Security

DAO proposals adopt:

• Hybrid signature formats (ECDSA + PQ until full PQ cutover)

• Quorum policy requiring at least two PQ-signed validators per vote

• Proposal state snapshots signed using FALCON + SHA3 hash digests

• DAO state commitments archived in ZK-STARK-enabled PQ bundles

This ensures quantum-resilient legitimacy of governance records and votes.

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9.3.7 Simulation Proof Integrity

Simulation outputs use:

• STARK-friendly transcripts with Kyber encryption for input obfuscation

• PQ-signatures over forecast delta hashes and simulation result bundles

• Time-sequenced proof headers with signed simulation model lineage

• Verifiable enclaves signing forecast outcomes via Dilithium + TEE metadata hash

This makes forecast-based clause triggers quantum-proof and tamper-resistant.

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9.3.8 TEE and Remote Attestation PQ Readiness

NSF enclave architecture transitions toward:

• PQ-verified attestation certificates

• Remote quote chains signed via hybrid PQ-classical stacks

• Enarx- or SGX-based enclave nodes using Kyber to encrypt session data

• Forward-secure storage of attestation reports in PQ-anchored audit logs

This ensures verifiable compute trust chains cannot be broken post-facto by quantum adversaries.

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9.3.9 Key Management and PQ Credential Rotations

• DID documents declare PQ-readiness level per key

• Smart clause execution workflows enforce automatic key rollover windows

• Backward-compatible signature trees support legacy clients

• Merkle tree rebasing and VC regeneration pipelines keep long-lived roles quantum-hardened

Credential rotation policies are programmable via DAO governance and simulation-gated trust decay models.

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9.3.10 NSF as a Post-Quantum-Resilient Protocol for Governance Infrastructure

NSF ensures:

• Verifiability under cryptographic threat evolution

• DAO governance integrity post-ECC

• Simulation credibility across decades of scientific development

• Clause security even under state-level quantum adversaries

• Credential survivability in intergenerational treaty contexts

NSF doesn’t simply upgrade for PQ—it is designed as a protocol-layer implementation of post-quantum trust for all risk-aware institutions.