Cloud Key Management

Key management is the management of cryptographic keys in a cryptosystem. In order to achieve security in a system, cryptographic algorithms are used to generate keys which are later encrypted and decrypted to provide the requested information in a secure way. 

Cloud key management regards the service hosted on a cloud and where one can manage the symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic keys as on premise. 

(Encryption) Key management is important when dealing with security and privacy protection of the data contained, in order to prevent data loss/breach/contamination and comply with the relevant regulatory requirements. Key Management Systems, including hardware security modules and other cryptographic tools, are commonly used to meet compliance and data control requirements in addition to providing security benefits. Examples of reference standards that are widely used to guide and constrain KMS designs include NIST (the United States National Institute of Standards and Technologies, which authors the Federal Information Processing Standards, Common Criteria, and PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). 

As an area of emergent technical focus there is little independent analysis and guidance in the public domain for addressing the intersection of key management and cloud services. The Cloud Key Management Working Group will educate and provide guidance for the use of traditional and cloud key management systems with, and between, cloud services. If you are wondering how to start learning more, you can read their recommendations for choosing, planning, and deploying cloud-native Key Management Systems (KMS.