Password Manager or Key Management System?

About this interactive

Encryption protects data on disks and data on the move, and it is only as safe as the keys that encrypt and decrypt it. The Key Storage lesson asks where those keys should be kept. A password manager can hold keys, and that is fine when you are the only person who needs them: the recovery key for your own laptop, the key for your own backup drive, the access key a personal script uses. Keys that systems depend on are another matter. Keys used by servers, by every company laptop's disk encryption, by software and by many people at once need a key management system. The lesson names the hardware security module (HSM), a piece of hardware such as a card installed in a server that stores the keys and lets the server use them, plus the trusted platform module (TPM) and virtual HSMs. A quick test for each card: is this key one person's own, or do systems and other people rely on it?

What you'll learn

Decide where a cryptographic key belongs: a password manager when one person alone uses it, a key management system such as a hardware security module when servers, devices and many people depend on it

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

1.4 Explain the importance of using appropriate cryptographic solutions.

NIST 800-53

SC-12 Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management

Key terms

Hardware Security Module: A Hardware Security Module is a tamper-resistant physical device that safeguards and manages cryptographic keys, performs encryption operations, and provides a hardened environment for certificate authority operations and high-assurance key storage.
Key Management: The administration of cryptographic keys throughout their lifecycle, including generation, storage, distribution, and destruction, to ensure secure cryptographic operations.
Password Manager: A secure application that stores and manages a user's passwords in an encrypted vault, requiring only one master credential for access. Password managers enable users to maintain strong, unique passwords for every account without memorizing them.
Encryption: The process of converting readable data into an unreadable format using an algorithm and key to prevent unauthorized access.

Topics

Cryptography Key Management Interactive Streak Sort

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