Risk-Based Signing

Overview

Risk-based signing applies stronger authorization to higher-impact operations. A low-value known payment may need fewer approvers, while a new destination, large amount, unusual timing, or privileged contract interaction may require additional independent signatures.

The approach can fail when risk inputs are manipulated, policy engines are unavailable, signers cannot verify transaction meaning, or attackers divide value below thresholds. More signatures do not help if all approvers share the same compromised device or information source.

Systems should bind approvals to exact transaction data, display human-readable intent, aggregate related activity, separate signer failure domains, and record policy versions. Emergency overrides need narrow authority, expiration, monitoring, and post-event review.

Risk-Based Signing is a measurable uncertainty or exposure that changes approval requirements for cryptographic signatures according to transaction context, value, destination, policy, and detected risk. Risk-based signing strengthens authorization only when signers independently verify exact intent and policies resist manipulation, splitting, and shared compromise.

For Risk-Based Signing, the assessment should evaluate a measurable uncertainty or exposure that changes approval requirements for cryptographic signatures according to transaction context, value, destination, policy, and detected risk. The assessment record should separate observed evidence supporting a measurable uncertainty or exposure that changes approval requirements for cryptographic signatures according to transaction context, value, destination, policy, and detected risk from assumptions, state the time horizon and existing controls, and identify who owns any remaining exposure. Monitoring should test whether the conditions described in a measurable uncertainty or exposure that changes approval requirements for cryptographic signatures according to transaction context, value, destination, policy, and detected risk have changed enough to require a new rating, treatment, or approval.