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AI infrastructure that plans for the cryptography deadline

Bee integrates the three NIST-finalized post-quantum standards - FIPS 203, 204, and 205 - with PQC transport shipping default-on for Enclave Sovereign deployments.

The harvest-now, decrypt-later problem

Traffic recorded today can be decrypted later by a sufficiently capable quantum computer if it was protected only by classical key exchange. For prompts and documents with a long confidentiality horizon - contracts, filings, defense material - the migration clock is set by the data's lifetime, not by when such machines arrive.

NIST finalized its post-quantum standards in August 2024. Bee's position is simple: the platform carries them now, so customers with long-lived data don't have to wait for a re-architecture.

The three standards Bee uses

  • FIPS 203 - ML-KEM (module-lattice key encapsulation): post-quantum key exchange that derives session keys on Bee Enclave Sovereign customer transport.
  • FIPS 204 - ML-DSA (module-lattice signatures): signs server attestations, SDK release artefacts, and - via verifiable agent provenance - every turn of an agentic coding session, so you can prove exactly what the AI did to your codebase and that the record was not altered.
  • FIPS 205 - SLH-DSA (stateless hash-based signatures): a long-lived attestation chain for offline verification and air-gapped deployments.

Where it's on today - stated precisely

Bee Enclave Sovereign customers transact on the post-quantum stack from the first request - no opt-in toggle, no classical-fallback handshake. Public Bee tiers use standard TLS 1.3 today; the public-tier PQC default follows the Sovereign rollout.

That precision matters: a platform that claims blanket “quantum-safe” without saying which paths run which primitives is asking you not to check. Bee's claims are scoped so you can.

Defense in depth around the PQC boundary

  • AES-256-GCM at rest under per-tenant keys - symmetric encryption with margin against quantum attack by construction.
  • Customer-managed keys on Hive and above; HSM-backed roots on Enclave Regulated and Sovereign.
  • Hardware-backed FIDO2 as the only operator path to production; no long-lived static credentials.
  • Each FIPS standard is cited to its NIST source in the TrustHub security centre, so review teams verify against the authority, not our paraphrase.

Frequently asked questions

Is all Bee traffic post-quantum encrypted today?
No, and we say so plainly: PQC transport is default-on for Bee Enclave Sovereign deployments today. Public tiers run standard TLS 1.3, with the public-tier PQC default following the Sovereign rollout.
Which post-quantum algorithms does Bee use?
Only NIST-finalized standards: ML-KEM (FIPS 203) for key encapsulation, ML-DSA (FIPS 204) and SLH-DSA (FIPS 205) for signatures. No draft or pre-standard primitives.
Why does post-quantum matter for an AI platform specifically?
Prompts and uploaded documents often carry an organisation's most sensitive material, and AI traffic is high-volume and predictable - attractive to record now and decrypt later. PQC key exchange removes that future decryption path.
Is quantum-safe encryption the same as quantum computing features?
No - they're separate. Post-quantum cryptography defends against quantum attack. Bee also offers opt-in real-QPU jobs through OpenQuantum, which is a compute capability, not a security control.
Can we get the PQC posture in writing for a security review?
Yes - TrustHub documents the algorithms, scope, and NIST sources, and procurement-grade evidence is available under NDA via bee-security@heossi.com.

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