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Tackle the threat of data breaches and exposure of confidential data by massively strengthening the protection and control of cryptographic keys and other important security data
About
Encryption for data protection is on the rise. The confidentiality, ownership, control and authenticity of data ultimately relies on the security of cryptographic keys such as encryption keys or private keys. The compromise or loss of such keys can divulge private data, destroy trust, corrupt the system, allow unauthorised access to data or services, or lead to false representations. For example, PKI and certificates are great for distribution and authentication of keys, and for enabling secure communication between parties, but its viability ultimately relies on the protection and control of private keys. The importance of key management is evidenced by the market for Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) which store and manage cryptographic keys. The global HSM revenue for 2021 has been predicted to be over (USD) 1,000 million, and has shown long-term steady growth. Although costly, HSMs are well suited to some situations, and their use is sometimes mandated (itself an indication of the importance of key storage). HSMs satisfy a niche, leaving a vast number of other security applications requiring protection and management of keys. For example, keys are often stored in software environments, where security is normally reliant on the Operating System (OS), or in hardware devices that lack sufficient protection. It may be desirable to avoid centralised repositories of secrecy and their attendant security risks, or to maintain full control over secrecy and avoid any outsourcing of security to a third party. It is here that SEAcurIT-e presents a more advanced and better way of doing things. Its scope is applications and services relying on cryptographic keys or other security values, and it works with any type of key (private, symmetric) or other security values. It can augment existing key management schemes such as PKI, or operate as a complete independent key management system. Its design assumption is that any device or service may be compromised and security related information subject to analysis or attacks such as brute force search with the intent to derive security values or to remove any security protection, and it ensures such breaches do not lead to the compromise of stored keys. SEAcurIT-e is a software solution that effortlessly leverages the high availability and integrity of Cloud-type services to vastly enhance the security and control of cryptographic keys and other security values. Core to SEAcurIT-e is that it does this without any relinquishing of control over the secrecy of keys to any other party thereby retaining full control over security. There is consequently no need to trust or rely upon a third party to maintain the secrecy of keys, regardless of the strength of any user passwords. Furthermore, there is no concentration of security and trust in any one part of the system, and consequently no single point of secrecy failure. Managing and controlling keys is the ultimate means of controlling access to secure data, systems or services, and of enabling trust. In a Global Encryption Trends Study, 61% of respondents rated the pain of encryption key management at 7 or higher on a 10-point scale (10 being the most severe), with policy enforcement being rated the most important feature of encryption solutions. SEAcurIT-e simplifies key management by enforcing policies and by providing practical and powerful management capabilities for controlling how, where, when and by whom keys are used. It can support many different applications, allowing a consistent key management strategy to be applied across an enterprise. Administrators can monitor and control all keys in a domain, but without knowing anything about their actual value. Similarly, individual users can manage their own keys and devices, including control over any keys they have shared with other users. Controls include searching a domain to see every device or user to which a specific key is available (useful when keys are shared across multiple devices), and the ability to enable or disable access to a key. The management component holds information about keys, but does not possess any knowledge relating to their actual value, so respecting the privacy of users. SEAcurIT-e is a cost effective, flexible and adaptable solution that is not tied to any one service provider. It can remove risks from weak passwords, and strengthen security applications. In essence, it offers centralised management and control, but distributed security. The system is highly resilient, and a user's SEAcurIT-e system parameters may be updated or refreshed at any time without necessitating an update of the user's managed security values or password.
Key Benefits
Simplifies key management and reduces risk. Scalable, fast and efficient. A software solution that does not require the use of dedicated hardware, although elements can be incorporated in to hardware if appropriate. Works with any type of key (private, symmetric) or other security values. It can augment existing key management schemes such as PKI, or operate as a complete independent key management system. MANAGEMENT & CONTROL benefits include: - Can provide centralised monitoring and control of a wide range of security applications across whole organisations, and managing and controlling cryptographic keys is the ultimate means of controlling access to secure data, systems or services. - The centralised management and control functionality does not possess any knowledge relating to the actual key values, and so has no privacy implications - Powerful functionality for controlling users, devices and keys. Cryptographic keys can be associated with data, users and devices, so that controlling keys controls access to data. Provides visibility of who can access secure information and services. - Administration accounts for the management and control of all users, devices and keys within a domain, with individual users have their own management accounts. - Manage security and access without having to think about cryptographic keys. SECURITY benefits include: - Tackles the threat of data breaches and exposure of sensitive or confidential data by massively strengthening the protection and security of cryptographic keys and other important security data. - Ensures that stored keys cannot be compromised if a device is itself compromised and subject to attack. - Maintain complete control over secrecy of cryptographic keys and other security values – there is no reliance on another party or service for secrecy. - No single location where all security resides, and so no single point of secrecy failure. - Ability for the system to 'refresh’ (so that any information gleaned becomes redundant) without any need for keys to be updated, and with no impact on users. The ‘refresh’ may be according to a schedule or be triggered by a security event. - Issues resulting from poor or weak password choices are also overcome.
Applications
Applicable to a wide range of applications and devices that require cryptographic techniques (eg, encryption, integrity and authentication) to provide data protection and ensure the security of data and services. Examples include: where information generated by an IoT device is secured for onward distribution, storage and processing; the on-premise encryption of data before passed to the Cloud; protecting Blockchain assets (wallets); securing user authentication credentials.