Agentic Attestation
Cryptographic verification framework that provides tamper-evident proof of an autonomous agent's identity, capabilities, policy compliance, and execution history.
What is Agentic Attestation?
Agentic attestation is a cryptographic mechanism that binds policy artifacts to autonomous agent behavior, creating verifiable receipts that prove an agent operated within its authorized constraints. Unlike traditional software attestation that only proves code integrity, agentic attestation extends verification to cover dynamic execution properties: what the agent was allowed to do, what it actually did, and cryptographic proof that these match.
See also: Glossary definition
Threat Model
Agentic attestation addresses the following threat categories:
- Agent Impersonation: Malicious actors deploying agents that claim false identities or capabilities
- Capability Escalation: Agents attempting to perform actions beyond their authorized scope
- Policy Bypass: Agents circumventing governance rules through prompt injection or exploitation
- Execution Tampering: Modification of agent execution traces or decision logs
- Action Repudiation: Denial that an agent performed specific actions
- Collusion Attacks: Multiple agents coordinating to bypass individual policy constraints
How Agentic Attestation Works
Policy Definition
Define agent constraints, capabilities, and governance rules in a policy document
Policy Artifact Sealing
Canonicalize and cryptographically seal the policy into an immutable policy artifact
Agent Binding
Bind the policy artifact to the agent identity using cryptographic commitment
Sentinel Deployment
Deploy enforcement sentinel that monitors agent actions against policy
Execution Monitoring
Sentinel intercepts agent actions and validates against policy constraints
Receipt Generation
Generate signed enforcement receipts for each action (allowed or blocked)
Chain Linkage
Link receipts into the continuity chain for tamper-evident history
Offline Verification
Any party can verify the complete chain without network trust
How Attested Intelligence Implements It
Attested Intelligence implements agentic attestation through three primary components:
Policy Artifacts
Immutable governance objects that define agent constraints using JSON Schema 2020-12. Sealed with BLAKE2b-256 hashing and Ed25519 signatures.
Learn about Policy Artifacts →Sentinel Enforcement
Runtime enforcement layer that validates agent actions against bound policies. Generates cryptographically signed receipts for audit trails.
SPECIFIEDContinuity Chain
Hash-linked receipt chain providing tamper-evident execution history. Verifiable offline without trusted infrastructure.
Learn about Continuity Chain →Claims Status
Frequently Asked Questions
What is agentic attestation?
Agentic attestation is a cryptographic verification framework that provides tamper-evident proof of an autonomous agent's identity, capabilities, policy compliance, and execution history. It binds policy artifacts to agent behavior, creating verifiable receipts that prove an agent operated within its authorized constraints.
Why do autonomous AI agents need attestation?
Autonomous AI agents make decisions and take actions without human intervention. Without attestation, there's no way to verify these agents operated correctly. Attestation provides cryptographic proof that enables trust without requiring real-time monitoring, supports regulatory compliance, and creates accountability for AI decision-making.
How does agentic attestation differ from traditional software attestation?
Traditional software attestation proves static properties like code integrity at build or boot time. Agentic attestation extends this to prove dynamic properties: that an agent followed its policy throughout execution, made decisions within authorized boundaries, and generated valid execution traces.
Can agents verify each other's attestations?
Yes. Agentic attestation is designed for multi-agent systems where agents need to establish trust before interacting. Each agent can cryptographically verify another agent's identity, capabilities, and current policy compliance using offline verification.
What threats does agentic attestation address?
Agentic attestation addresses: agent impersonation (fake agents claiming to be legitimate), capability escalation (agents exceeding authorized actions), policy violation (agents ignoring governance rules), execution tampering (modified execution traces), and repudiation (denial of agent actions).
How are policy violations detected?
Policy violations are detected through sentinel enforcement. The sentinel monitors agent actions against the bound policy artifact and generates enforcement receipts. Violations result in blocked actions and logged violations that become part of the continuity chain.
Is agentic attestation compatible with existing AI frameworks?
Agentic attestation is framework-agnostic. It operates at the governance layer, wrapping agent execution with policy binding and receipt generation. Agents built with LangChain, AutoGPT, or custom frameworks can all be attested.
What is the relationship between agentic attestation and AI provenance?
Agentic attestation and AI provenance are complementary. Provenance tracks the history and origin of AI artifacts (models, training data). Agentic attestation uses provenance information as input and extends it to cover runtime behavior and policy compliance.