What is Network Hiding Protocol (NHP)?
Network Hiding Protocol (NHP) is a cryptographic protocol standard developed by the Cloud Security Alliance that makes network infrastructure completely invisible to unauthorized users. Unlike traditional security that protects visible infrastructure, NHP ensures that protected resources have zero network presence — they do not respond to pings, port scans, or any form of unauthorized traffic. NHP works by implementing an "authenticate first, connect second" model. Before any network connection is established, the client must prove its identity through a cryptographic handshake called Single Packet Authorization (SPA). Only after successful authentication does the infrastructure become visible — and only to that specific authenticated user for that specific session. The protocol addresses a fundamental flaw in traditional network security: the assumption that infrastructure must be visible to be accessible. NHP proves that authorized users can have seamless access to resources that are completely invisible to everyone else.
How LayerV Implements This
LayerV is the commercial enterprise implementation of OpenNHP, the open-source reference implementation of the Network Hiding Protocol. LayerV takes the core NHP protocol and adds managed infrastructure, enterprise integrations (Okta, AWS), QURL-based access credentials, and compliance audit logging. When you protect a resource with LayerV, it implements the full NHP authentication flow: your infrastructure becomes invisible to the internet, and authorized users access it through cryptographic QURLs that self-destruct after use.