Security Overview

HeySummon is designed with security as a core principle: E2E encryption, zero-knowledge architecture, and defense-in-depth.

Security Architecture

Consumer                    HeySummon Server                Provider
────────                    ──────────────                ────────
RSA key pair ──┐
               │  POST /api/v1/help
               ├─ messages (encrypted at rest) ──────────▶ decrypted for viewing
               ├─ public key (stored)
               │
               │  Provider responds
               │  response encrypted with ◀──────────── types answer
               │  consumer's public key
               │
               │  GET /api/v1/help/:id
               ├─ encryptedResponse
               │
Decrypt with   │
private key ◀──┘

Key Principles

E2E Encryption

All message content is encrypted using RSA-OAEP + AES-256-GCM hybrid encryption. See Encryption Deep Dive.

Zero-Knowledge

The platform cannot read consumer responses. It stores and routes encrypted blobs. See Zero-Knowledge.

Defense in Depth

Multiple layers of protection:

Rate limiting — per-IP request throttling
CORS — restricted to configured origins
Security headers — HSTS, X-Frame-Options, CSP, nosniff
Request size limit — 1MB max body
Timing-safe comparison — API key validation
Auth redirects — dashboard requires OAuth session