Enterprise Security Architecture

Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are cryptographic protocols that allow one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself.

How ZERO/AI Uses ZKPs

ZERO/AI Portal implements zk-STARK (Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) technology to provide cryptographic verification of AI training processes:

• Training Verification: When a model is trained on documents, ZERO/AI generates a proof that the training occurred correctly according to the specified parameters.
• Document Privacy: The proof reveals nothing about the content of the documents used for training.
• Audit Certificates: Organizations can provide these certificates to auditors as evidence of compliant AI training without exposing sensitive data.

Technical Specifications

Why zk-STARKs?

ZERO/AI chose zk-STARKs over alternatives for several reasons:

• No Trusted Setup: Unlike zk-SNARKs, STARKs don't require a trusted setup ceremony that could compromise security.
• Post-Quantum Resistant: Based on hash functions rather than elliptic curves, making them resistant to quantum computing attacks.
• Scalability: Proof generation scales quasi-linearly with computation size.
• Transparency: All parameters are public and verifiable.

ZERO/AI Portal is architected to perform all AI operations locally without any external dependencies.

Component Isolation

• User Interface: Renders UI, handles user input. No network requests.
• Application Core: Manages file system, orchestrates services. Sandboxed execution.
• AI Engine: Runs AI models locally. Local inference only.
• Encrypted Storage: Stores data locally with AES-256 encryption.

Network Isolation

After initial installation, ZERO/AI requires no network access:

• No API calls to external services
• No telemetry or analytics
• No license validation servers
• No automatic updates (optional manual updates)

Data at Rest

• Algorithm: AES-256-GCM (Galois/Counter Mode)
• Key Derivation: PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 with 100,000 iterations
• Scope: All vector stores, cached embeddings, and training artifacts

Data in Memory

• Secure Memory Allocation: Sensitive data uses memory that is cleared on deallocation
• No Swap: Option to prevent sensitive data from being swapped to disk
• Memory Isolation: Each processing session uses isolated memory space

Cryptographic Standards

ZERO/AI Portal contains absolutely no telemetry, analytics, or tracking code.

What We Don't Collect

• Usage statistics or patterns
• Error reports or crash logs
• Feature usage metrics
• Document content or metadata
• Model training data or results
• User behavior or preferences
• Hardware or system information
• IP addresses or location data

Verification

Organizations can verify this claim by:

• Network Monitoring: No outbound connections are made after installation
• Security Audit: Architecture documentation available for enterprise security review
• Binary Analysis: No analytics SDKs or tracking libraries included

Audit Trail

ZERO/AI maintains comprehensive local audit logs:

• Training Events: When models are trained, what parameters were used
• Document Processing: Which documents were processed (filenames only, not content)
• ZKP Certificates: Cryptographic proofs of each training session
• User Sessions: Login/logout events (if authentication is enabled)

Compliance Frameworks

ZERO/AI's architecture supports compliance with:

Framework	Status
GDPR	Supported
HIPAA	Supported
SOC 2	Architecture Ready
PCI DSS	Supported
ISO 27001	Architecture Ready

Threats Mitigated

• Data Exfiltration: No network connectivity means no data can leave the system.
• Man-in-the-Middle: No data in transit eliminates interception risks.
• Cloud Provider Breach: No cloud dependency means no third-party breach exposure.
• API Key Compromise: No external APIs means no credentials to steal.

Residual Risks

Organizations should still protect against:

• Physical Access: Local machines must be physically secured.
• Endpoint Compromise: Standard endpoint security practices apply.
• Insider Threat: Access to ZERO/AI should follow least-privilege principles.