Cryptography & Security
Production-minded security work around primitives, protocols, and operational trust boundaries.
- Post-quantum cryptography
- Protocol design
- Key management
- HSM / KMS architecture
- Threat modeling
- Secure systems review
Rick Glenn · Exocognosis
I build and rapidly ship useful technical projects that create real-world value.
I work on security, infrastructure, and product-oriented systems, with a focus on turning hard problems into working tools.
One of a small number of people building production post-quantum infrastructure as a solo architect.
Taking 2–4 week builds · starting now
About
I’m a technical builder focused on shipping practical systems that solve real problems. I like work that combines engineering depth, speed, and clear value creation.
Core skills & competencies
I engineer deep systems across cryptography, infrastructure, and production software.
Blockchain & Distributed Systems
Rust-first architecture for ledgers, validators, consensus paths, and fault-tolerant infrastructure.
- Rust L1 architecture
- Consensus systems
- Validator infrastructure
- State machines
- Distributed ledgers
- Fault tolerance
Coding Frameworks
Frameworks and languages for shipping reliable products, tools, APIs, and automation quickly.
- Rust
- TypeScript / Next.js
- Node.js
- Swift / SwiftUI
- API design
- CLI / devtools
- Python
- Qiskit
Infrastructure & Product Execution
Hands-on technical leadership across deployment, performance, networking, and product architecture.
- Secure networking / VPN
- Performance engineering
- Observability
- Linux deployment
- Automation
- Fractional CTO execution
Agentic engineering
From idea to deployed system with agent swarms, rapidly and securely.
I run AI agents as a coordinated engineering team: parallel streams for code, tests, research, and operations, held to verification gates and human sign-off. It is how one architect ships what usually takes a team, and Dytallix and PQC Sidecar are the proof.
01 · Swarm
Parallel agents, narrow briefs
Work splits into independent streams (implementation, tests, research, operations) run by agents in parallel, each with a focused brief and its own workspace.
02 · Verify
Evidence decides what ships
Nothing merges on an agent’s word. Tests must fail when the fix is removed, a second implementation must agree, and real-world runs back the claims.
03 · Gate
Humans hold the gates
Deploys, outreach, and anything irreversible or IP-sensitive wait for explicit sign-off. Agents prepare and propose; I decide.
04 · Secure
Secure by construction
Agents work on branches and staging copies. Production changes go out through scripted, tested, reversible deploys with backups, and confidential work stays out of shared outputs.
From a v0.1 release to a KMS-backed, cross-verified, chain-agnostic product in soak testing, with the work run as parallel agent streams and every step gated on evidence.
- AWS KMS signing backend, tested end to end through the real AWS SDK, with request signing checked against the live AWS endpoint
- A second verifier in TypeScript whose output matches the Rust implementation byte for byte
- All 3,438 single-bit tamperings of a certificate rejected
- Soak testing with injected RPC outages and restarts; a restart-gap bug it surfaced was fixed and verified live on Cosmos Hub
- Market research and a public product page shipped alongside the engineering
A post-quantum product ecosystem built and operated by one architect with agent swarms, from assessment tooling to a PQC-native ledger.
- Dytallix L1: PQC-native ledger, mainnet in launch simulations
- QuantumSentinel: cryptographic risk scanning, alpha
- QuantumVault: file protection with signed verification evidence, early access
- QuantumLink: post-quantum device mesh, in development
What I build for teams
- Agent systems with tool use
- Multi-agent orchestration
- Evaluation and guardrails
- Human-in-the-loop workflows
- Retrieval and knowledge systems
- Secure agent infrastructure
Featured projects
A few examples of what I build.
problem
Blockchains finalize history with classical signatures. Once quantum computers can break them, attackers can forge blocks a chain already finalized, and native migrations take years.
solution
A chain-agnostic sidecar that runs beside one node and signs compact ML-DSA-65 (FIPS 204) checkpoint certificates over finalized blocks, with the key in a file or AWS KMS. No hard fork, no validator coordination.
outcome
Post-quantum evidence for bridges, custodians, auditors, and archives today, checkable with any standard ML-DSA verifier.
RustML-DSA-65FIPS 204Chain-agnosticAWS KMSPQC
problem
Existing blockchain systems are vulnerable to future quantum threats and lack native AI capabilities.
solution
Designed and implemented a post-quantum Layer-1 blockchain ecosystem including validator infrastructure, wallet systems, governance mechanisms, and AI-native modules.
outcome
A functioning blockchain platform capable of supporting quantum-resistant infrastructure and AI-enabled services.
RustLayer 1PQCDistributed systemsConsensusCryptography
problem
Organizations need stronger protection for sensitive key material and security workflows as infrastructure becomes more distributed and cryptographic risk increases.
solution
Built a security product on top of advanced infrastructure patterns, with attention to key management, secure access, product packaging, and deployment paths.
outcome
A deployable security product that turns deeper cryptographic and infrastructure work into a concrete offering for real users.
SecurityPQCEnterpriseInfrastructureKey management
Research
Active technical problems I am working through.
Problem
Post-quantum signature schemes still force hard tradeoffs between standardization, signature size, implementation fragility, and newer assumptions. The open question is whether recursive, phase-separated key generation can support compact seed-derived private keys, phase-specific signing domains, and future batch or aggregate verification without creating exploitable cross-scale correlations.
Solution
I am developing RPS-SIG as an attackable research framework rather than a production scheme. The repository formalizes a recursive state tree derived from one root seed, phase-local public projections, Merkle commitments, and global public-key binding. It separates a conservative hash-based construction path from experimental finite-geometric variants so the security games, proof obligations, misuse tests, and implementation criteria can be reviewed before any stronger cryptographic claims are made.
RPS-SIGDigital signaturesHash-based signaturesMerkle commitmentsPost-quantum cryptography
What I’m looking for
I want to collaborate on high-leverage technical work in infrastructure and security, with teams that value execution.
Right now I’m taking focused 2–4 week builds: post-quantum migrations, Rust services, security infrastructure, and AI systems, scoped to ship something working by the end.
Roles that fit
- 2–4 Week Builds
- Founding Engineer
- Technical Co-founder
- Principal / Staff Engineer
- Head of Platform / Infrastructure
- Security Architect
- Infrastructure Architect
- Fractional CTO
- Technical Advisor
What fits
Strong fits usually solve a hard security, infrastructure, or technical problem, or deliver an unusually useful system with real-world application.
Project types
- Post-Quantum Migration
- L1 / Consensus Design
- Secure Networking / VPN
- Cryptographic Protocols
- Distributed Systems
- Key Management / HSM
- Critical Infrastructure
- Performance-Critical Systems
Project submission
Have something interesting to build?
If you’re working on a project and think it may be a fit, send a short description and any supporting documents. I’ll review it for alignment with my interests.
Contact
Reach out directly via the links below.
© 2026 Rick Glenn · Exocognosis