Why Do Enterprises Need HSM Support? 

Most, if not all, organizations in today’s world have or require a Hardware Security Module, or HSM, for their day-to-day security operations. Whether it be for security standards or just following best practices, HSM has become an inseparable part of the majority of organization’s security platforms. Configuring these devices is a crucial and relatively painless process, whereas managing an HSM after its configuration can get complicated.

Having the proper teams in place, keeping up to date with software and firmware patches, and managing the keys within the HSM are all critical components of managing an HSM, which is why getting outside support for your HSM is a great alternative to managing it yourself. Before we dive into the details of HSM management, let us first take a look at what an HSM is.

What is an HSM? 

When discussing HSMs, it is first important to understand what components make up an HSM. There are many different brands and types of HSMs, with the most common being a general-purpose HSM, but the majority of HSM brands are all built the same way. They utilize a piece of hardware called a PCI card which is considered the brain of the HSM.

This card does all the cryptography operations and creates the crypto keys within the HSM. This “brain” of the HSM is the most important part, and it is surrounded by a case that protects the contents inside, and then there are other components within, such as power supplies, memory, etc.

Now the HSM itself is used in organizations to create and protect encryption keys for organizations. Storing encryption keys insecurely is one of the main reasons that cyber-attacks are able to occur. By gaining the use of an encryption key, a threat actor can pretend to be that organization and release code that is signed off by the organization to consumers, who will likely download the software and get injected with a virus or malware. As you can see, protecting these keys is of the utmost importance.

HSMs can be either on-premises or in the cloud, and they have a number of different forms they can take. These forms include simply the PCI card, the USB HSM, and the network HSM. Another reason many organizations use HSMs is that they have either best practices they are attempting to follow or they may have certain compliances they must meet due to their organization’s field.  Now that we know what an HSM is let’s look at a few reasons why managing an HSM is so critical.

Why is it so critical to manage HSMs well?

• Protecting Keys

  Protecting your organization’s encryption keys is extremely vital. If an attacker or insider threat were to steal and misuse an encryption key, they could pass off a software update or new piece of software that contains malware to end users. These end users would trust that update or new software since the attacker would sign it with the stolen encryption key.

  This would make the update or software seem like it is from the organization from which the key was stolen. Since it seems like it is from a trusted organization, the user would download it and become infected with malware. This would not only hurt the end user, but it would also hurt the reputation of the organization from which the key was stolen.

• Meeting Compliance Standards

  Most organizations have some kind of compliance standard that they need to meet, and this usually involves an HSM. Since an HSM, and a well-managed one at that, is necessary for most compliance standards today, it is vital to manage these HSMs well. When dealing with compliance standards, auditors are likely to come in and check on your HSM management practices to ensure that all standards are being met.

• Protecting Customer Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

  PII, or Personally Identifiable Information, is customer data that needs to be kept secure such, as credit card numbers and social security numbers. This data needs to be secured with encryption keys. If this data is protected by an encryption key, but those keys are insecurely protected, then that PII can be stolen and misused. Additionally, many compliance standards will require the protection of PII via an HSM.

• Tamper-Resistant Features

  HSMs have tamper-resistant features, including tamper-resistant tapes. The tape is a feature that is attached to the back of the HSM, so if the tape is torn or broken, then it is assumed the HSM has been tampered with. The tamper-resistant features of an HSM include zeroizing the HSM if it is tampered with, such as shaking or moving the HSM.

  These tamper-resistant features mean it is extremely important to store and manage these HSMs well, as keys can be lost if the HSMs are tampered with, which is why most HSMs are stored in data centers.

How Encryption Consulting Can Help

At Encryption Consulting, we offer a number of different HSM-related services. We can help your organization plan, design, and implement the best possible integration with an HSM for your organization. Along with the planning of the integration, we can also help with the configuration of the HSM, including configuring the integration with a Public Key Infrastructure, tools such as key managers, etc.

Additionally, Encryption Consulting can manage an HSM-as-a-Service for your organization. This means that the HSM will be in a data center, and we will take care of all of the maintenance, patching, and upgrading of the HSM. Even though we are managing the HSM, you will only have access to the encryption keys within. This ensures that the keys are in a secure location that only team members of your organization can access, but you do not need to deal with managing the HSM.

With our team of experts with multiple years of experience, you can rest assured that our support team can manage your HSM in the best way possible. We also monitor your HSM constantly, as we want to ensure the best possible performance and continual use of your HSM. Our HSM support also includes a reliable backup, disaster recovery, and restoration setup for your environment.

Our HSM monitoring team takes regular backups of your HSM, which is a vital step in ensuring restoration is quick and easy if a disaster occurs and your HSM is zeroized. Our team members are available 24/7, so you can rest assured all of your questions will be answered immediately and swiftly. 

Conclusion 

As you can see, managing your organization’s HSMs is an extremely critical component of the infrastructure in your organization. Protecting customer PII, keeping encryption keys secure, and storing these HSMs in a location where they cannot be tampered with are key components of managing these HSMs properly. With Encryption Consulting, we can take away the hassle of managing your HSM while still keeping the keys in your control. Reach out to our website for more information on Encryption Consulting’s HSM-as-a-Service or how else we can help with the configuration, design, and implementation of HSMs for your organization.