What is Encryption Key Management Software?Encryption Key Management (EKM) software handles the storage, management, and administration of encryption keys. Encryption keys are the mechanisms that other systems and applications use to encrypt or decrypt data. While encryption keys in some form are present and necessary for every form of encryption, standalone encryption key management systems only become necessary when multiple encryption systems must be centrally managed simultaneously. These ...
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Encryption Key Management (EKM) software handles the storage, management, and administration of encryption keys. Encryption keys are the mechanisms that other systems and applications use to encrypt or decrypt data. While encryption keys in some form are present and necessary for every form of encryption, standalone encryption key management systems only become necessary when multiple encryption systems must be centrally managed simultaneously. These systems allow IT and security administrators to distribute and manage logical or physical access to encryption keys, and they often let businesses host their own encryption keys to mitigate risk from 3rd party vendors.
Encryption keys are essential to any encryption process a business uses. There are different types of encryption keys to encrypt different types of data, but EKM software should be able to manage any kind of encryption key. Flexible encryption key management is especially crucial when businesses use a mix of on-premise, virtual, and cloud systems that each need to utilize encryption or decryption keys. This leads EKM products to be most commonly used by enterprises that have a range of systems and data storehouses, especially those concerned with securing proprietary data or complying with regulatory requirements.
There are other features that make a complete encryption key management solution. For instance, encryption key management software should also include backup functionality to prevent key loss. These products should also allow administrators to encrypt the encryption keys themselves for additional layers of security.
Encryption key management enables large organizations and enterprises to scale their encryption capabilities over time. Enterprise-wide policies help ensure proper encryption key storage and protection. Key management and security also serves as the linchpin for all other encryption systems and tools within an organization. Scalable encryption key management also improves key lifecycle management, which prevents unauthorized access or key loss, which can leave data vulnerable or inaccessible respectively.
Encryption key management benefits dramatically from using a hardware security module (HSM). HSMs are physical devices built to be security-oriented from the ground up, and are used to prevent physical or remote tampering with encryption keys by ensuring on-premise hosted encryption management. By being a separate device, an HSM remains isolated from other systems that would otherwise expose the encryption keys to other potential vulnerabilities and exploits.
Encryption key management software can be hosted on non-dedicated or cloud-based systems, and it may be necessary for some orgs to do so. However, HSMs will provide the highest level of encryption key security that organizations can retain direct control over. Hosted EKM products will likely have HSMs on the vendor site, but self-hosting organizations should consider utilizing an HSM as well.
When comparing encryption key management systems, consider these factors:
Deployment: Does the organization want to keep all encryption key management on-premise, in which case an HSM deployment would be essential. For organizations who aren’t worried about first-party control, a cloud-based offering may be more scalable.
Scalability: How well can each system manage the organization’s current, and future, growth of encryption processes and keys? Consider both the ease of management at scale, as well as each vendor’s pricing structure. Some products’ pricing models may become more or less competitive at scale.
IAM Integration: Will each product easily or natively integrate with the organization’s identity management system? This is crucial to automating user permissions to access certain encryption keys without overprovisioning access.
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There are two main pricing models encryption key management providers offer. Some vendors offer pricing per key, which can start at $1/month/key for some vendors. This model is most popular for all-digital key management. Other vendors that offer hardware to help manage encryption keys will offer different tiers based on the hardware and key volume.