User Guide/The Bank Vault Analogy

What is AMARACUS?

Imagine your company owns valuable secrets—customer payment records, medical files, and confidential designs. In most companies, developers build their own locks and hide keys in random file drawers. If a key is lost or stolen, customer data is compromised.

AMARACUS is your Central Automated Bank Vault

  • Standardized High-Security Locks: Instead of inventing locks, AMARACUS provides standardized NIST-approved AES-256-GCM, ChaCha20-Poly1305, and FIPS 203 ML-KEM algorithms out of the box.
  • Key Protection: Managed keys are stored encrypted under an AMARACUS platform master key and never returned by the API. If you need keys held in hardware you control, bring your own Azure Key Vault or Managed HSM (preview).
  • Automated Security Guards: AMARACUS checks company rulebooks (Policies) before allowing anyone to lock or unlock data.
  • Immutable Flight Recorder: Every lock, key, and action is permanently recorded in an unalterable audit log.
Universal Architecture

Universal Cryptographic Integration Guide

How any modern platform, AI ecosystem (e.g. Gemini, OpenAI), fintech, or healthcare application secures passwords, conversations, and customer records using AMARACUS in 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Create a Dedicated Project in AMARACUS

Every sensitive data domain gets its own isolated project boundary. For example, create “User Passwords” for credential hashing and “AI Chat Conversations” for message encryption. This enforces strict multi-tenant isolation so that billing allowances, audit trails, and security keys remain segregated by project.

Step 2: Issue an API Credential (Digital Security Badge)

Navigate to Build → API Credentials and generate a secret key (e.g. am_live_a1b2c3d4...). Copy and save this credential in your server environment variables (AMARACUS_API_KEY). Client web browsers never see this key.

Step 3: Choose the Right Cryptographic Pattern

A. For Passwords (One-Way Hashing):Passwords must NEVER be reversibly encrypted. AMARACUS does not offer password hashing: hash passwords in your own server with a password-hashing library (Argon2id, scrypt or bcrypt) and a unique random salt. Do not use the SHA-2/SHA-3 hash endpoint for passwords; it is too fast to resist guessing.
B. For Chat Transcripts & PII (Envelope Encryption):For large payloads, generate a random 256-bit Data Encryption Key (DEK) in your server, encrypt the data locally with AES-256-GCM, and send only the DEK to AMARACUS POST /v1/encrypt with a managed key. Store the returned envelope next to your ciphertext and unwrap it with POST /v1/decrypt when you need to read the data.
C. For Audit Records & Autonomous AI (Digital Signatures):Stamp critical system actions, agent choices, or contracts using Ed25519 digital signatures. Verifiers can confirm the author without ever accessing secret signing keys.

Step 4: Call the Universal API in Your Codebase

Whether your backend is written in TypeScript, Python, Go, Java, or Rust, interact with the AMARACUS REST API or official SDK with just 5 lines of code. Every operation is recorded in your organization's audit log.

Projects & Environments

A Project represents an application or business unit (such as Billing Service or Customer App). Each Project contains three isolated rooms:

1. Development

The engineering workshop. Safe to test prototypes without touching real customer data.

2. Staging

The dress-rehearsal room where systems are verified right before going live.

3. Production

The live, real-world system. Live customer data lives strictly inside this environment.

Note: Starter includes 2 projects, Pro 10 and Business 50, each with all 3 environments. An account needs an active plan before it can create keys or call the API.

Team Roles & Permissions

AMARACUS follows the principle of least privilege—employees only get access to what they need for their job:

Owner & Admin: Complete governance, inviting team members, managing company settings.
Executive
Security Admin: Creates security rules, rotates keys, inspects cryptographic posture.
Security
Developer: Generates API keys, encrypts and decrypts application data.
Engineering
Auditor: Read-only access to audit logs, compliance reports, and security scores.
Compliance
Billing Admin: Manages subscription plans, invoices, and spending limits.
Finance

API Keys (Digital Security Badges)

Software systems use API keys instead of passwords. To protect against leaks, AMARACUS displays the secret key only once when you create it. After that, it is permanently concealed.

Navigate to Build → API Credentials to create and manage digital badges.

Cryptography Playground

Test real digital locks without writing code! Go to Build → Cryptography Playground:

  • Encrypt / Decrypt: Scramble text into an authenticated ciphertext envelope and unlock it back.
  • Hash: Generate an unforgeable 64-character digital fingerprint of any message.
  • Digital Signatures: Put an unforgeable digital wax seal on approvals and contracts.

Key Management & Automatic Rotation

Security standards require encryption keys to be rotated every 90 days. When you rotate a key in AMARACUS:

  • New data is automatically encrypted with Version 2.
  • Historical data previously encrypted with Version 1 still decrypts safely because the historical version chain is preserved.
  • Zero private key material is ever exposed to the web browser.

Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)

Future quantum computers will be able to crack traditional mathematical locks (like RSA). AMARACUS includes the new 2024 NIST-approved quantum-resistant algorithms: ML-KEM (for encryption) and ML-DSA (for signatures). You can inspect them in Cryptography → Algorithm Registry.

Health Score & CBOM

Go to Cryptography → Crypto Intelligence & CBOM to view your company's security credit score (from 0 to 100). The dashboard alerts you if keys are overdue for rotation, if certificates are expiring soon, or if any outdated algorithms are detected.

Global Production & 24/7 Reliability

How AMARACUS stays online, resilient, and fast at massive scale without losing your data or slowing down:

24/7 High Availability (No Single Point of Failure)

AMARACUS runs across multiple duplicate servers and data centers. If one machine crashes, the others take over traffic instantly without dropping a single user request.

Self-Healing Background Jobs (Zombie Recovery)

If an unexpected server reboot happens right in the middle of a large cryptographic operation, our automated recovery watchdog detects the abandoned task within 60 seconds and smoothly restarts or rescues it, ensuring zero lost tasks.

Provider Circuit Breakers (Overload Protection)

Just like the electrical circuit breaker in your house protects against power surges, AMARACUS monitors cloud providers (like Azure Key Vault or Hardware Security Modules). If an upstream provider throttles requests, the circuit breaker protects the system from traffic pile-ups and safely fails over.

Rolling Deployment Architecture

Whenever we release security updates or new cryptographic algorithms, the new version launches alongside the existing version and verifies health checks before retiring the old one to minimize maintenance disruptions.

Connecting Your Apps & Webhooks

How AMARACUS easily talks to your websites, databases, internal company tools, and partner apps:

The Walkie-Talkie (What are Webhooks?)

Instead of having your website constantly refresh and ask: “Is the encryption job finished yet?”, webhooks are like a private walkie-talkie. The exact millisecond a key rotates, a contract is signed, or an alert triggers, AMARACUS rings your app instantly with the result.

The Unforgeable Wax Seal (HMAC Signatures)

How does your system know a notification genuinely came from AMARACUS and not a hacker? AMARACUS stamps each notification with a mathematical wax seal (an HMAC signature). If anyone tries to alter the data or replay an old message, the seal breaks and your system safely ignores it.

Pre-Built Adapters for Express & Next.js

Your engineers don't have to write hundreds of lines of glue code. We provide ready-to-use plug-and-play middleware for popular web frameworks like Express and Next.js that verify notifications and process security events in just 3 lines of code.

Safe Storefront Rule (Zero Browser Key Exposure)

Think of your website frontend like a store display window. You would never leave the master vault keys inside the shop window where passersby can grab them! AMARACUS enforces that master keys only live inside private, secured servers—never inside client web browsers.

Cryptographic Migration Platform

How AMARACUS helps your company smoothly upgrade older security locks, retire compromised keys, and transition to Post-Quantum cryptography without disrupting business:

The Analogy: Upgrading Locks While the Bank Stays Open

Imagine a bank deciding to replace all its mechanical combination locks with biometric scanners. You can't just shut down the bank, lock customers out of their safety deposit boxes, or throw away the old keys before verifying the new locks work. AMARACUS handles cryptographic upgrades the same way: new data gets locked with the modern locks, but the bank can still open every historical safety deposit box without interruption.

The Three Categories of Responsibility

AMARACUS is completely transparent about what can be automated versus what needs human attention:

  • Category A (AMARACUS-Managed Vaults): Keys and certificates stored directly in AMARACUS. We can rotate keys and create Post-Quantum pairs; older key versions stay available for decryption.
  • Category B (Connected Systems): External tools connected via our SDK or webhooks. AMARACUS provisions the new keys and notifies your systems, but your engineers approve the final switch.
  • Category C (Your Own Code & Databases): Legacy code running on your private servers. We scan your inventory, generate step-by-step instructions, and flag weaknesses, but we never touch or alter your proprietary source code without you.

Never Throw Away the Old Key (Safe Reversibility)

When a key is migrated, AMARACUS marks it as “Retired for New Encryption” rather than deleting it. That means you can always decrypt historical customer records or verify past signatures. And if you ever need to rollback a migration, AMARACUS switches back to the previous key instantly with a single click.

The Four-Eyes Rule (Separation of Duties)

To prevent mistakes or unauthorized sabotage, AMARACUS strictly enforces that the person who designs or proposes a migration plan cannot be the one who approves it for production. A second authorized security officer must inspect the plan and give the green light.

Cryptographic Control Plane

How AMARACUS acts as the unified central operating cockpit for all your enterprise keys, certificates, cloud vaults, policies, and migrations:

The Analogy: The Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra

In a large enterprise, cryptography is like a symphony orchestra with dozens of instruments: one team manages Azure Key Vault, another provisions web server SSL certificates, a compliance team writes security policies, and application developers encrypt customer databases. If everyone plays independently, you get deafening noise and security gaps. AMARACUS is the conductor at the podium—ensuring every key, certificate, and cloud vault plays in perfect harmony according to your organizational score.

Verified vs. Inferred Inventory (No Guesswork)

Other security tools make guesses based on vague network traffic. AMARACUS clearly distinguishes between Verified Resources (keys and certificates stored in AMARACUS or in your connected vault) and Inferred Resources (third-party client apps spotted in logs). You always know exactly what is real and what requires investigation.

Four-Eyes Workflow Governance

High-impact actions—like rotating a database encryption key or retiring a root certificate—can never be performed by a single person in production. AMARACUS enforces that the security engineer who drafts a workflow cannot self-approve it. A second authorized security officer must inspect and sign off before execution begins.

Controlled Automation (Safe & Reversible)

Instead of dangerous “autonomous bots” that might unexpectedly break production, AMARACUS uses controlled, observable automation. It continuously monitors certificate expiration dates and key ages, queueing alerts and pre-staged renewal workflows for human review well before deadlines arrive.

Interactive Guide

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Managing Migrations & The Cryptographic OS

A beginner-friendly, non-technical walkthrough for business leaders, security officers, and operations managers. Follow this 8-step tutorial to discover your security locks, upgrade an older key to quantum-resistant standards, and observe automated watchdogs:

1

Discover What Security Locks You Own (Unified Inventory)

Click Cryptographic Inventory in the left sidebar. AMARACUS gathers every single key, TLS certificate, cloud vault (like Azure Key Vault or Hardware Security Modules), and algorithm rule into one single list.

Look for the Badges:

● Verified (Green): We have confirmed this key directly inside your hardware vault or database.

● Inferred (Yellow): We spotted an older system talking to your servers, so we flagged it for your team to double-check without making assumptions.

2

Check Your Security Health Score (Posture Overview)

Navigate to Cryptographic Posture. You will see an overall health score (e.g. 92 / 100) and a Post-Quantum readiness percentage.

Below the score, AMARACUS lists Deduplicated Findings. If three different servers report that a customer data key is over 90 days old, AMARACUS merges them into one single actionable alert: “Key Exceeds 90-Day Rotation Policy (Deduction: -5 pts)”.

3

Create a Migration Upgrade Plan (Upgrading to Post-Quantum)

Next to the finding, click Create Migration Plan. Give your plan a name (e.g., “Upgrade Customer Database to ML-KEM-768”).

Select your target algorithm: ML-KEM-768 (the official NIST quantum-resistant standard). AMARACUS automatically classifies your target into Category A (Directly Managed by AMARACUS), meaning our engine can automate the rotation safely.

4

Run a “Test Flight” (Dry-Run Simulation)

Before touching any production customer records, click Run Simulation. AMARACUS performs a dry-run test:

  • Validates that your cloud provider supports the new key structure.
  • Ensures your company security policies allow this upgrade.
  • Validates that the plan supports deterministic rollback mechanisms if issues arise.
5

Four-Eyes Review & Approval (Two-Person Rule)

If Alice created this plan, she cannot approve it for production. A second authorized team member (like Bob, the CISO or Security Officer) logs into the dashboard, reviews the green simulation checkmark, and clicks Approve Plan. The status changes from Awaiting Approval to Ready.

6

Execute Cutover with Zero Downtime

With approval granted, click Execute Migration. Here is what happens behind the scenes in milliseconds:

  1. AMARACUS creates the brand-new quantum-resistant key pair.
  2. It runs an automatic round-trip test (locking and unlocking sample data) to verify the new lock works.
  3. It switches the active key pointer so that all future data gets locked with the modern key.
  4. The old key is retired, NOT deleted: Your historical records can still be read and decrypted with zero data loss.
7

The “Oh No!” Button (One-Click Instant Rollback)

What if an old partner integration suddenly cannot handle the new format? Click Rollback Migration. AMARACUS immediately flips the active pointer back to the previous key. Zero panic, zero broken databases, zero downtime.

8

Relax: Automated Watchdogs Keep Guard

You don't have to remember expiration dates on a calendar. AMARACUS continuously runs background watchdogs. 30 days before any certificate expires or when a key approaches 90 days of age, you receive an automated notification and a pre-staged renewal workflow ready for one-click approval.

Enterprise Intelligence

Cryptographic Intelligence & Autonomous Optimization

Until now, security teams had to manually track hundreds of keys, certificates, and compliance policies in spreadsheets. AMARACUS Cryptographic Intelligence acts as your 24/7 automated security co-pilot. It continuously monitors your cloud vaults, flags hidden vulnerabilities, and produces plain-English recommendations backed by hard evidence.

1. Hard Evidence, No Hallucinations

Every recommendation includes exact verifiable facts: key age in days, days until TLS certificate expiry, cloud circuit-breaker trips, and actual billed costs from Polar.sh. We strictly never guess or fabricate security scores.

2. The Four-Eyes Rule (Two-Person Safety)

AI and automation can propose a fix, but they can never touch your production master keys alone. High-impact operations (like rotating a master key) enforce the Four-Eyes principle: the person who proposes the fix cannot be the person who executes it.

3. Test Flights (Dry-Run Impact Analysis)

Before touching live customer traffic, AMARACUS calculates the blast radius. It verifies that policies allow the change, checks rollback feasibility, and executes migrations designed to avoid customer service interruption.

4. Non-Destructive Key Versioning Policy

Rotating a key creates a fresh version for subsequent operations. AMARACUS preserves historical key versions so archived backups and historical records remain decryptable.

Audit & Assurance

Cryptographic Trust, Compliance & Assurance

Compliance should never be a stressful once-a-year scramble. AMARACUS turns cryptographic assurance into a continuous, verifiable process. We map your actual keys, TLS certificates, and policy rules directly to SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and NIST standards.

These reports are a self-assessment aid for your own audit preparation, not an audit or certification. AMARACUS itself has not completed a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit.

1. Verifiable Cryptographic Evidence

Every single piece of evidence is hashed using SHA-256 with timestamped chain of custody. Auditors can independently verify that your security logs and key configurations have not been modified or tampered with.

2. Zero Private Key Leakage

Compliance logs must never create new security vulnerabilities. AMARACUS automatically redacts all private key material, tokens, and customer plaintexts before evidence is recorded.

3. Four-Eyes Exception Governance

Need a temporary grace period for a legacy banking connection? Request a formal exception with compensating controls and an expiration date. An independent reviewer must sign off—self-approval is strictly prevented.

4. One-Click Audit Reports (JSON & CSV)

Export audit-ready evidence sheets in CSV for your GRC platform (Vanta, Drata) or JSON for automated pipeline verifications, complete with cryptographic validation hashes and legal auditor disclaimers.

AI & No-Code Builders

Prompting AI Assistants with AMARACUS

When you ask AI tools (like ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor) to build an application that handles confidential data, they frequently try to write custom encryption math themselves. This often results in weak passwords, insecure encryption keys, or vulnerabilities that expose private customer records.

The Safe Way to Build with AI:Tell your AI assistant to use AMARACUS as your digital security vault instead of writing its own encryption algorithms. This enforces defense-in-depth standards, policy-bound key rotation, and NIST post-quantum algorithm alignments without requiring deep in-house cryptographic engineering.

Ready-to-Use Prompts for ChatGPT & Claude

Prompt 1: Storing Sensitive User Data SafelyDatabase / Forms

"I am building a web app where users enter sensitive personal data (SSN, medical info, or credit card details). Do NOT write custom encryption functions. Instead, call the AMARACUS API at https://api.amaracus.tech/api/v1/crypto/encrypt using our server-side AMARACUS_API_KEY. Show me how to encrypt the data before saving it to my database and how to decrypt it when viewing the profile."

Prompt 2: Modern Secure Passwords & LoginAuthentication

"Help me build a user login and signup workflow. Hash passwords locally with Argon2id (the argon2 npm package) and a unique salt; never use MD5, SHA-1 or a plain SHA-256 for passwords. Encrypt sensitive profile fields (phone, address) with AMARACUS: POST https://api.amaracus.tech/v1/encrypt with my managed keyId, store the returned envelope, and decrypt with POST /v1/decrypt. Provide a timing-safe login function in TypeScript."