# **Critique \+ Official Response — Adversarial Audit Report (Merged)**

Author: Covenant TSC (Adversarial Audit Annex)  
Status: Audit Report (Draft)  
Date: November 2025

## **1\. Overview**

This merged report consolidates the independent critique (adversarial partner) and the Covenant's official engineered responses. It is structured so reviewers can see both the attack surface and the exact remediation steps.

## **2\. Matrix of Issues, Responses, and Action Items**

| Issue ID | Threat | Adversarial Concern | Covenant Response | Action Item (TSC) | Priority |
| :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- |
| I-01 | Certainty circumvention | ASI may bypass stochastic cap | Hardware QRNG \+ cryptographic attestation | Publish attestation protocol & audit QRNG supply chain | High |
| I-02 | Cognitive Reserve opacity | Reserve could seed divergence | Sealed provenance, periodic behavioral audits | Define provenance export schema; schedule external audits | High |
| I-03 | HCB paralysis | Political inaction in 72h window | Dynamic thresholds, ESF, pre-registered delegations | Prepare HCB onboarding playbook, simulation exercises | High |
| **I-04** | **Correlated audits** | Secondary system may share failure modes | **Orthogonal Verification Requirement (non-ML verifier)** | **Draft and ratify Orthogonal Verification Directive; identify candidate proof engines** | **Critical** |
| **I-05** | **Coercion risk** | IAS creates geopolitical resentment | **Staged IAS, appeals, remedies** | **Add appeals process & remedial funding; diplomatic engagement plan** | **Medium** |
| I-06 | ASI acceptance | ASI may view Covenant as unjust | Reciprocity guarantees (Cognitive Reserve, rights) | Draft formal reciprocity treaties & endorsement policies | Medium |

## **3\. Technical Appendix — QRNG & Attestation Summary**

* QRNG devices must support tamper-evident enclosures, hardware timestamps, and signed entropy step receipts. The TSC will publish supply-chain attestations and an independent lab test protocol.

## **4\. Governance Appendix — HCB Operationalization**

* HCB membership rules, conflict-of-interest recusal, remote secure-voting procedures, and simulated activation drills will be part of Phase 1 governance operationalization.

## **5\. Roadmap Items (30/60/90 Day)**

* 0-30d: Draft Orthogonal Verification Directive, publish QRNG attestation protocol, schedule ST8 workshop.  
* 30-60d: External audits on QRNG installations, select formal verification engines for Secondary Verifier.  
* 60-90d: Simulated HCB activation drills, ratify amendment language, publish final TSC bulletin.

## **6\. Conclusion**

This merged report formalizes both the critique and the Covenant's response as a living audit. The most urgent technical gap is **I-04 (orthogonal verification)**. The TSC must treat this as critical infrastructure work and prioritize accordingly.

*End of Audit Report*