CMOS Keys™: The Future of Post-Algebraic Cryptography

For decades, digital security has relied on algebraic hardness assumptions: factorization, discrete logarithms, and lattices. From RSA to elliptic curves to today’s post-quantum algorithms, the foundation has always been mathematical. But what if the next leap forward doesn’t come from math at all?

What if security came from the hardware itself?

Enter CMOS Keys™ — a new class of hardware primitives that collapse on read, enforce forward secrecy by design, and represent the first wave of Post-Algebraic Cryptography.

Why Algebraic Security Isn’t Enough

• Cloneable: Traditional keys are just numbers in memory. If an attacker reads them once, they can copy them forever.
• Persistent: Keys stored in RAM, flash, or HSMs remain available until explicitly erased.
• Algebra-dependent: Even “post-quantum” cryptography still assumes attackers are limited by certain math problems.

These weaknesses all share a common trait: they treat keys as static data.

The CMOS Keys Breakthrough

CMOS Keys are not just data — they are circuits.

A CMOS Key is instantiated inside silicon as a read-once memory cell. The moment it is accessed under the correct condition, it delivers its true value and then collapses into an obfuscated state, enforced at the transistor level.

• 🔒 Read-Once: Keys can only be accessed a single time.
• ⏳ Ephemeral: The act of use destroys the original.
• 🛡 Unclonable: There is no static copy to extract or leak.
• ⚡ Standard CMOS: Built entirely in existing semiconductor processes — no exotic hardware required.

Post-Algebraic Cryptography

We call this paradigm Post-Algebraic Cryptography because it steps outside the algebraic assumptions that have defined cryptography since the 1970s.

Instead of securing secrets with mathematical difficulty, CMOS Keys secure them with physics and circuit behavior. A post-algebraic system does not care whether quantum computers succeed or fail, because its guarantees are not based on factoring, lattices, or any other algebraic structure.

This is cryptography anchored in hardware collapse, not algebra.

Applications of CMOS Keys

• Forward Secrecy by Default: Every key collapses after first use, enforcing perfect forward secrecy without complex protocols.
• Tamper-Resistant Hardware: CMOS Keys can’t be cloned, even with invasive attacks.
• HSMs and TPMs: A new generation of security modules where keys are never persistent.
• Cloud Security: Ephemeral keys that disappear after use, eliminating long-term exposure.
• Military & Critical Infrastructure: Secure communication without relying on fragile algebraic hardness assumptions.

Why Now?

The world is racing to prepare for the post-quantum era, but most efforts still depend on unproven algebraic hardness. CMOS Keys are different: they are manufacturable in today’s silicon fabs, deployable in existing security architectures, and provably eliminate entire categories of attack by design.

This isn’t just post-quantum.

This is post-algebraic.

Closing Vision

“We’ve tried to protect secrets with math for 50 years. CMOS Keys protect them with physics. This is bigger than post-quantum — this is Post-Algebraic Cryptography.”

The age of storable keys is ending. The age of CMOS Keys is beginning.