Azure HSM Key Management and Compliance

Azure HSM provides a secure key management solution that meets compliance requirements.

You can use Azure HSM to store and manage sensitive data, such as encryption keys and digital certificates.

Azure HSM is compliant with various regulatory standards, including PCI DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, and GDPR.

This ensures that your organization can store and manage sensitive data in a secure and compliant manner.

Broaden your view: Azure Hsm Key Vault

Azure HSM offers robust security features to protect sensitive data. Many organizations require FIPS 140-2 Level-3 compliance, which Azure Dedicated HSM and Azure Key Vault Managed HSM can help meet.

This is especially important for industries like financial services and government agencies, which have stringent regulations. These services help customers from various industry segments meet FIPS 140-2 Level-3 requirements.

Currently, the multi-tenant Azure Key Vault service uses FIPS 140-2 Level-2 validated HSMs, which is a lower level of security compared to Level-3. This difference in security level is a key consideration for organizations with high security needs.

For another approach, see: Azure Cloud Offerings

Key Management is a crucial aspect of Azure HSM, and it's essential to understand the options available. Organizations can manage keys externally using the CipherTrust Cloud Key Manager.

This solution leverages cloud provider Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) APIs to reduce key management complexity and operational costs. You can control key generation and storage of keys used in Microsoft Azure, Azure Government, AWS KMS, the Google Cloud Platform Customer Managed Encryption Key (CMEK) Service, and more.

CipherTrust Cloud Key Manager offers enhanced IT efficiency with multi-cloud key management from a single console. Automated key rotation and comprehensive key life cycle management are just a few of the benefits.

Here are some of the advantages of using CipherTrust Cloud Key Manager:

This solution is available on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, or can be deployed on premises or in any private cloud deployment to meet more stringent compliance requirements.

To integrate Virtual CipherTrust Manager and a Dedicated HSM on the Microsoft Azure cloud, you'll need to create and configure several entities. This includes necessary Azure resources, such as a virtual network and two subnets within the virtual network.

Readers also liked: Cloud Network Drive

The entities you'll need to create are a dedicated HSM instance within its own subnet, a Virtual CipherTrust Manager instance in another subnet, and a Windows VM in the subnet to host the Luna Client.

Here are the necessary Azure resources to create:

To deploy the Dedicated Luna HSM, you'll need to follow these steps. This includes copying and editing a JSON file, uploading it to an Azure powershell terminal, and running a deployment command.

To integrate Virtual CipherTrust Manager and a Dedicated HSM on the Microsoft Azure cloud, you need to create and configure several entities. You must create necessary Azure resources, including a virtual network and two subnets within the virtual network.

A dedicated HSM instance must be created within its own subnet, called "Luna" in the diagram. A Virtual CipherTrust Manager instance should be created in another subnet, called "Compute" in the diagram.

A Windows VM is necessary to host the Luna Client, which can access and configure an HSM partition. This VM should be placed in the "Compute" subnet.

Additional reading: How to Create Onedrive

Here's a step-by-step overview of the necessary entities:

The Azure Dedicated HSM service is a fully managed solution, which means Microsoft handles provisioning, configuration, patching, and maintenance of the service.

Each HSM cluster consists of multiple HSM partitions, and if the hardware fails, member partitions are automatically migrated to healthy nodes.

This ensures high availability, so you don't have to worry about downtime.

A single-tenant setup is also available, where each Managed HSM instance is dedicated to a single customer and consists of a cluster of multiple HSM partitions.

Each HSM cluster uses a separate customer-specific security domain that cryptographically isolates each customer's HSM cluster.

This provides a high level of security and isolation for each customer's data.

Here are some key benefits of the Azure Dedicated HSM service:

To configure a partition, you'll need to obtain the Luna Client from the Thales Customer Support Portal, specifically version 7.4 or higher. This client is essential for interacting with the HSM.

First, transfer the client package to your Windows instance, then install it with all options and features. This will ensure you have the necessary tools to manage the partition.

Next, open PowerShell in Administrator mode and navigate to the location where the Luna client is installed. This is where you'll run the luna.exe command to start the Luna Shell.

You'll be prompted to register the HSM with the Luna client and secure the connection. To do this, use the clientconfig deploy command, providing the HSM's IP address, user, password, and partition name.

Here are the required parameters for the clientconfig deploy command:

Once you've registered the HSM, you'll need to initialize the partition by providing a label. You'll be prompted for a password for the Partition Security Officer and a domain name.

After initializing the partition, you'll need to login as the Partition Officer (PO) and initialize the Crypto Officer (CO) with a temporary password. This is a crucial step in setting up the partition.

Finally, to verify the partition is active, return to the Luna Shell on the Dedicated HSM instance and run the partition show command, providing the partition name.