Aspects of the disclosure provide various methods relating to enclaves. For instance, a method of authentication for an enclave entity with a second entity may include receiving, by one or more processors of a host computing device of the enclave entity, a request and an assertion of identity for the second entity, the assertion including identity information for the second identity; using an assertion verifier of the enclave entity to determine whether the assertion is valid; when the assertion is valid, extracting the identity information; authenticating the second entity using an access control list for the enclave entity to determine whether the identity information meets expectations of the access control list; when the identity information meets the expectations of the access control list, completing the request.