Hardware Security Modules

In the past few years, business processes have increasingly been modified by electronic processes, either completely or partially, and this trend is continuing in companies and government bodies. Consequently, securing these processes and the electronic assets they contain against theft and manipulation is becoming more and more important.

Hardware security modules (HSMs) are used to implement the required protection mechanisms. The high security of an HSM lies in the way it is constructed: these modules provide both physical and logical protection against attacks. Consequently, HSMs can protect information that needs security and allow cryptographic operations to be protected while they are being performed. These cryptographic functions involve the generation, storage, and processing of keys and certificates within the hardware security module.

From very early days, these benefits of HSMs were recognized in the banking and financial sector for the secure transfer and processing of data. Today HSMs are being used in even more electronic processes that require protection and are trustworthy, such as e-Health, telecommunications processes, toll payment systems, data recording, electronic lotteries, and the introduction of electronic passports.

SafeGuard CryptoServer is a hardware security module that has been granted certification in accordance with the FIPS standard. The open and unique architecture of CryptoServer provides support for all currently known standard interfaces and also permits extended and customer-specific functionality.