How it works
Signatures & Integrity
ETHORITY publishes signed snapshots so anyone can independently verify that observed records are authentic and unchanged — without trusting ETHORITY’s UI, operators, or opinions.
What integrity verification proves
Verification answers exactly one question:
“Do these bytes match the data that was signed by the published key?”
- • If yes → the snapshot is authentic and unchanged
- • If no → the data must not be trusted
Integrity does not imply quality, safety, compliance, or endorsement.
Public verification artifacts
Every snapshot publishes three immutable, public files:
/index/index.json— snapshot data/index/index.sig— detached Ed25519 signature (base64)/index/index.pub— public key (PEM)
These files can be mirrored, cached, archived, and verified on any machine.
Step-by-step verification (Node.js)
Requires Node.js ≥ 18. No ETHORITY software or account required.
// verify.mjs
import fs from "fs";
import crypto from "crypto";
const data = fs.readFileSync("index.json");
const sig = Buffer.from(
fs.readFileSync("index.sig", "utf8").trim(),
"base64"
);
const pub = fs.readFileSync("index.pub");
const ok = crypto.verify(
null,
data,
{ key: pub, format: "pem", type: "spki" },
sig
);
console.log(ok ? "VERIFIED" : "INVALID");Any modification to index.json — even a single byte — will cause verification to fail.
Tamper detection is mandatory
Integrity verification is only meaningful if tampering is detectable.
In ETHORITY, altering the snapshot content causes verification to return INVALID. Re-downloading the original snapshot restores VERIFIED.
Use case snapshot
A journalist cites a snapshot hash. An auditor verifies integrity years later. An autonomous agent refuses to ingest unsigned data. None rely on ETHORITY’s UI.
Browse observed systems
Verify a specific system