AI Risk Management
Framework Alignment
DUADP implements the NIST AI Risk Management Framework through a three-layer architecture: declarative agent contracts (OSSA), federated discovery (DUADP), and formally verified authorization (Cedar). Every control maps to running code, not aspirational documentation.
Pillar 3: Trusted Agency Command Center
Real-time cryptographic attestation, Cedar policy enforcement, and NIST AI RMF compliance telemetry streaming directly from the DUADP federation.
NIST Pillar 3: Trusted Agency Command Center
U.S. GOVERNMENT • OSSA PLATFORM GOVERNANCE
Agent Activity Overview
Confidence Score
NIST Compliance
Cedar Policy Guard
Real-Time Cryptographic Attestations
Threat Vector Monitoring
Compliance Metrics
Three Layers of Governance
NIST emphasizes that AI risk management requires layered controls spanning identity, policy, and operational monitoring. DUADP implements this through three complementary layers, each independently verifiable.
- Agent manifest
- Identity (GAID/DID)
- Capabilities
- Trust boundaries
- SBOM
- Compliance metadata
- DNS + WebFinger
- Federated registry
- Gossip protocol
- Revocation streams
- DID verification
- Event bus
- Pre-execution auth
- Formally verified
- 13 policy sets
- 181 statements
- <100ms WASM eval
- NIST SP 800-53
An agent publishes its OSSA manifest declaring identity, capabilities, and trust boundaries. DUADP nodes validate and propagate the manifest across the federated mesh via DNS and gossip protocol. Before any action executes, Cedar policies evaluate authorization in <100ms using WASM-compiled rules. All three layers produce structured audit events aligned with NIST SP 800-53 control families.
NIST AI RMF Function Mapping
The AI Risk Management Framework defines four core functions: Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage. Each maps to specific SP 800-53 Rev 5 controls implemented in DUADP infrastructure.
GOVERN
— Establish policies, roles, and accountability structures for AI system governance.Cedar policies enforce pre-execution authorization. 13 policy sets with 181 authorization statements evaluated in <100ms via WASM.
Four-tier trust model (read → write_elevated). Each tier maps to Cedar constraints bounding agent capabilities.
DUADP nodes act as federation gateways. Only agents with valid OSSA manifests propagate across trust boundaries.
Threat-to-Mitigation Matrix
Six critical threat vectors identified in multi-agent systems, each with concrete mitigation through the OSSA + DUADP + Cedar stack.
Cedar Policy Authorization
Every agent action is authorized through Cedar — a formally verified policy language open-sourced by AWS. Policies are discoverable, composable, and evaluate in under 100ms via WASM.
permit (
principal in AgentGroup::"tier_2_write",
action == Action::"invoke_tool",
resource in ToolSet::"mcp_filesystem"
) when {
principal.trust_tier >= 2 &&
resource.risk_level <= "medium" &&
context.token_budget_remaining > 0
};Formally Verified
Cedar policies are proven correct by automated reasoning. No ambiguity, no edge cases, no runtime surprises.
Four-Tier Trust Model
read, write, write_elevated, admin — each tier maps to Cedar constraints bounding what an agent can discover, invoke, and delegate.
WASM-Native Evaluation
135 policies with 155+ rules compiled to WebAssembly. Every authorization decision completes in under 100ms, even at the edge.
Federated Policy Discovery
Cedar policies are themselves discoverable via DUADP. Organizations publish, compose, and share authorization rules across trust boundaries.
The Discovery Imperative
Why Discovery Matters for AI Safety
DUADP maps to NIST AI Risk Management Framework with 13 Cedar policy sets, 18 authorization statements, and a four-tier trust model. Submitted to NIST docket NIST-2025-0035 as part of the OSSA formal comment.
Without standardized discovery, AI agents operate as opaque entities — their capabilities, trust boundaries, and compliance posture remain invisible to the systems they interact with.
DUADP solves this by establishing the networking and routing layer for verifiable agent discovery. While OSSA defines what an agent declares about itself, DUADP defines how that declaration is discovered, verified, and propagated — without relying on a centralized clearinghouse.
OSSA Layer
Declarative contract: identity (GAID/DID), capabilities, trust boundaries, SBOM, compliance metadata. The agent's self-attestation.
DUADP Layer
Federated mesh: DNS bootstrap, WebFinger resolution, gossip propagation, revocation streams. How agents find and verify each other.
Supporting Research
Technical whitepapers and analyses underpinning the NIST alignment, published on openstandardagents.org/research.
DUADP and the Race to Become DNS for AI Agents
Competitive analysis of federated discovery architectures and why DNS-based bootstrap wins.
Universal Agent Discovery Protocol
Technical deep-dive into DNS discovery, well-known endpoints, and federated mesh queries.
Sovereign Agent Identity: Cryptographic Trust
Cryptographically grounded identity framework for non-human autonomous actors.
Federated Agent Registries at Scale
OCI distribution, mesh topology, and global agent discovery infrastructure.
Agent Governance & Bounded Autonomy
Regulatory compliance, policy enforcement, and auditable decision-making.
Zero-Trust Architecture for Agent Systems
Threat models, supply chain integrity, and zero-trust patterns for autonomous AI.
Agent Identity Through DNS
DNS-based agent registration, the agent:// URI scheme, and five-tier trust model.
Agent Communication Protocols: MCP & A2A
Survey of agent communication protocols and how DUADP bridges the discovery gap.
Agent Skill Supply Chain Security
Securing the agent skill ecosystem from dependency attacks and manifest tampering.
Related Blog Posts
NIST CAISI RFI: Our Submission
Walkthrough of the OSSA + DUADP joint comment to NIST docket NIST-2025-0035.
BlogWhy NIST CAISI Matters
Why the NIST Consortium for AI Safety and Infrastructure shapes the future of agent governance.
BlogDUADP: DNS for AI Agents
Why federated discovery via DNS is the missing infrastructure layer for agentic AI.
Explore the Framework
The complete NIST AI RMF alignment spanning the OSSA specification, DUADP discovery protocol, and Cedar authorization engine.