One protocol that removes what adversaries target
A quorum is the minimum that must be present before anything can happen at all. Lace is a fabric whose strength is in the interlacing rather than any single thread, defined as much by its holes as its material. Both halves are literal: identity requires a quorum, and traffic is interlaced across bearers with deliberate gaps.
- Delivered as
- Software on issued kit, plus one hardware root of trust
- Rides
- CNR, LTE/5G, LEO satcom, mesh, LPWAN
- Key agreement
- Hybrid ML-KEM-1024 + X25519
- Roots of trust
- Held by the customer
- Runs
- Air-gapped, dependency-free
Five layers, each removing one exposure
Written from the adversary's side
Each row is an attack that works today against systems in service, and the layer that takes away its target.
| Adversary action | Why it works today | What changes | Layer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capture one radio intact | The private key is on the device; the response is a net-wide re-key run under contact. | The device holds no long-term key; identity exists only while a quorum answers. | Sigilcore |
| Jam the tactical band | One primary link, one fallback; failure is cliff-edged. | No primary link. Shards ride every bearer; above threshold, jamming changes nothing. | Driftwell |
| Record now, decrypt later | Traffic recorded today is a live target in 2040. | Hybrid post-quantum session keys; a single bearer carries zero bits of the message key. | Driftwell |
| Traffic analysis | Volume rises before every operation; the CP is the loudest node. | Constant-rate identical frames; the observer sees a flat line. | Saelvor |
| Direction-find the emitter | Encryption hides content, not emission. | Reduced, not removed: an emission budget weights traffic onto low-exposure bearers as DF risk rises. | Saelvor |
| Coerce the operator | A correct passphrase is a correct passphrase. | A duress credential opens a decoy and silently revokes the node. | Sigilcore |
| Exploit the cross-domain guard | A single accredited box is a chokepoint at H-hour. | Release policy travels inside the ciphertext, per field. | Release |
| Spoof a swarm member | Membership is arbitrated by a ground station that can be jammed. | Aircraft admit and expel by quorum and rotate the epoch in flight. | UAS |
Overlay, not rip-out
Quorum Lace rides the bearers a unit already carries: combat-net radio, a commercial SIM, a LEO terminal, a mesh, a LoRa module. Adoption does not require replacing a radio fleet, which is what kills most defence communications programmes.
- Integrators, OEMs and DPSUs license Driftwell as an SDK and embed it in their own radios.
- Signals branches run Sigilcore custody and Irythra Watch on their own infrastructure.
- Units carry Saelvor on issued ruggedised COTS handsets and tablets.
- Everything runs air-gapped; nothing phones home to Irythra.
Hybrid, not fashionable
| Key agreement | ML-KEM-1024 (FIPS 203) combined with X25519; secure if either holds |
|---|---|
| Signatures | ML-DSA-87 (FIPS 204) and Ed25519; SLH-DSA (FIPS 205) for long-lived roots |
| AEAD | ChaCha20-Poly1305 (RFC 8439) |
| Key derivation | HKDF-SHA-256 (RFC 5869) |
| Secret sharing | Shamir over GF(2⁸) with proactive refresh |
| Erasure coding | Non-systematic MDS Reed–Solomon |
| National algorithms | Accommodated where the approval authority requires them |
What runs on the platform
Sigilcore
A radio's identity is split across its formation and exists only while a quorum is present. A captured radio holds no long-term key.
Sigilcore Transport · courier meshDriftwell
Every message is sealed, split into shards and sprayed across every bearer at once. Jam some, tap one: the message still arrives and the tap learns nothing about the key.
Driftwell Emission · the radioSaelvor
The client a signaller carries. Constant-rate emission means traffic volume no longer reveals an orders group, an H-hour or a command post.
Saelvor Operations · the consoleIrythra Watch
Which callsigns can talk, which are compromised, and where emission exposure is rising. It holds no keys and cannot unlock anything.
Irythra Watch Profile · drone C2Quorum Lace / UAS
Signed, time-boxed, geofenced intent capsules let the ground station transmit once and go quiet. A mission record that survives a court of inquiry.
UAS profile Profile · cross-domainQuorum Lace / Release
Each field carries its own release policy. One artifact reaches every reader, and each opens exactly what they are entitled to.
Release profileThe binding constraint is a signals regiment willing to run a trial.
Not capital. If you can open that door, or want the architecture note and the runnable prototype to take apart yourself, we would like to hear from you.