NTS (Negative Trust Security)

Negative Trust Security (NTS) is the Paranet’s innovative security framework designed to ensure the integrity and safety of interactions among distributed actors in an autonomous computing environment, operating as an inside-the-network model that transcends traditional zero-trust approaches. Unlike external security mechanisms, NTS assumes no inherent trust and continuously verifies every actor’s action using node-specific Certificate Authorities (CAs), which issue unique certificates for each paranode hosting actors. Unlike the open Internet, the Paranet does not allow unsigned communication between any two actors. NTS enforces strict access control and detects anomalies (e.g., unauthorized skill requests), ensuring that only valid, predefined actions are executed, which is critical for maintaining deterministic outcomes.

NTS uses behavioral monitoring and dynamic isolation capabilities, enabled through PnCP and ledger observability. Hidden security actors, operating across the network, analyze patterns of skill requests and actor states (e.g., frequency, context) to identify deviations, such as an actor attempting an invalid action or exhibiting erratic behavior. When an anomaly is detected, NTS can isolate the compromised node by revoking its CA certificate, preventing further interactions while logging the incident for forensic review. This proactive, distributed approach, supported by PnCP’s semantic skill-matching (e.g., ensuring only authorized skills are invoked), protects the Paranet from cyber-physical threats more effectively than centralized security models, which rely on external protections vulnerable to attacks. By embedding security within the network’s overlay, NTS ensures robust, scalable, and autonomous operations, safeguarding the Paranet’s integrity in dynamic, multi-actor environments.