Core Concepts

1. TEE (Trusted Execution Environment)

A Trusted Execution Environment is a secure area of a processor that guarantees code and data are protected with respect to confidentiality and integrity. The library automatically detects TEE environments through attestation.

2. Attestation Flow

┌─────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌─────────┐
│ Client  │───▶│ TEE Attestor │───—▶│ Verification │───▶│ Backend │
│ Library │     │ (Unix Socket)│     │   Service    │     │   API   │
└─────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └─────────┘
                      Token                Cipher            Decision

1. Client requests attestation token from local TEE service
2. TEE Attestor provides cryptographically signed token
3. Verification Service validates token
4. Backend API verifies cipher and grants access to real data

3. Data Access Modes

Mode	Environment	Data Returned	Use Case
Local	Non-TEE	Sample data	Development, testing, debugging
TEE	Secure TEE	Real data	Production analysis on sensitive data

4. Zero-Trust Client

The client library does NOT decide whether it's running in a secure environment. It only:

• Fetches attestation credentials
• Backend makes all authorization decisions

This prevents malicious clients from bypassing security controls.