The Single Line of Code That Kills Confidential Computing (and Why Data Contracts are the Fix)

The Final Layer Fallacy: Hardware's Critical Blind Spot ⚠️

Confidential Computing (CC) is a game-changer. It uses hardware-based Secure Enclaves (TEEs) to protect data-in-use—the AI agent’s "brain"—even from the cloud host.

But here is the single biggest security risk no one is talking about: The TEE is a secure box, but it is NOT a smart box. It faithfully executes any code inside it.

A sophisticated attacker doesn't need to break the hardware. They just need one successful:

1. Prompt Injection (OWASP LLM01)
2. Poisoned Data Attack (OWASP LLM04)

The hardware diligently protects the confidentiality of the attack while the agent executes the malicious command. The Final Layer Fallacy is believing hardware alone is governance.

The Solution: Data Contracts as the Front Door

True governance requires a Dual-Stack Approach: Hardware and Software.

The Data Contract Engine (DCE) is the mandatory Software Governance layer. It operates as the "Front Door" to the secure enclave, ensuring integrity before the data is processed:

1. Schema Enforcement: Blocks unpredictable data structure changes.
2. Input Sanitization: Stops injection attacks and blocks poisoned data before it enters the secure runtime.

The DCE is the architectural shield that protects the TEE from the chaos of the outside world.

I break down the full Dual-Stack governance architecture and why Data Contracts are non-negotiable for enterprise resilience:

👉 Read the Full Deep Dive on the Data Contract Engine