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"
CipherMax provides the first Storage
Security architecture that scales from tactical deployments to hundreds of centrally managed
encryption ports—for as little as one third the total cost of ownership of competing solutions."
Source : CipherMax
Managing Encryption Keys: Best Practices for Ensuring Data Recoverability
Encryption Keys is also known as :
Algorithm Keys,
Asymmetric Encryption Key,
Asymmetric Keys,
Change Encryption Keys,
Computer Security Encryption,
Creating Encryption Keys,
Data Encryption,
Data Encryption Key,
Key Management,
Data Encryption Algorithms,
Cipher Keys,
Data Encryption Keys,
Data Encryption Methods,
Data Encryption Programs,
Data Encryption Security,
Data Encryption Solutions,
Data Encryption Standards,
Data Encryption Techniques,
Database Encryption,
Database Encryption Key,
Database Encryption Keys,
Database Security Encryption,
Encrypt Multiple Keys,
Encrypting Keys,
Encryption by Symmetric Keys,
Encryption Key,
Encryption Key Changes,
Encryption Key Information,
Encryption Key Length.
Overview
A heightened awareness of vulnerabilities to sensitive stored data has resulted in the
increased application of encryption technology to prevent unauthorized viewing. Providing
a reliable, safe and effective mechanism for securing data at rest, however, requires the
adoption and rigorous execution of a well-deined process for handling both the keys used to
encrypt data and the keys used to safeguard the data encryption keys. Key management is
a comprehensive term that covers such controls, including the creation, distribution, deployment,
storage, transmission and eventual destruction of keys used to encipher data. It should
be emphasized that key management in general terms is not an application or feature, but
a process that controls the complete lifecycle of a key to ensure its secure availability and
application. Providing a pragmatic, documented and enforceable procedure for key handling
that is appropriate to its environment greatly enhances the ability of authenticated and
authorized data users, whether they be individuals, applications or systems, to restore data
into cleartext form as required to perform their job duties. Automating key management
through the use of applications and utilities can greatly reduce the risk inherent in manual
key handling, but there is still an element of process that needs to be deined and consistently
followed in order to avoid exposing data assets to unnecessary risk of exposure or loss.
This paper assumes familiarity with basic terminology related to cryptographic functions.
Additionally, since the encryption of data at rest is heavily weighted towards the use of
symmetrical, or ‘private key’ algorithms, the discussion will focus on management practices
related to this type of technology.
Controlling the Keys to the Data Kingdom
An encryption key, as applied to modern cryptography, is a variable value that can be
algorithmically applied to a string or block of unencrypted data to produce unintelligible
ciphertext. This ciphertext data can only be understood by applying the same key or, in the
case of asymmetrical encryption, its key pair to decrypt the data and restore it to its original
state. In an IT environment that relies on data encryption as the inal layer of security to
prevent the unauthorized viewing of data, access to encryption keys must be considered the
equivalent to obtaining access to the cleartext data itself. This is because the encryption
algorithms themselves, such as AES or 3DES, are in most cases standardized and publicly
available calculations that rely on the application of a unique key and that key’s secrecy to
enable privacy. Since encrypted data is generally considered safe to store or transport outside
of the bounds of trusted sites, obtaining the data in ciphertext form may not be a major
obstacle, and combining that data with its key provides the ciphertext holder with the ability
to obtain the data in cleartext form.
Because of their sensitive nature, the handling of encryption keys should be based on the
enforced implementation of widely accepted key controls that are designed to mitigate the
possibility of loss or exposure to unauthorized parties. These controls include:
Key Exposure controls
- Keys are generated internal to a secure device using an approved random or pseudo-random
number generation method. Keys should only exist in cleartext format within a secure
cryptographic boundary.
- Keys may be exported from their secure boundary only when encrypted at an equal or
greater strength than that of the encryption key itself, or when distributed as key shares to a
predeined quorum of users that can combine their keys to recover data into cleartext form.
Administrative Key handling controls
- Organizational key management practices are deined within the scope of relevant standards for regulatory controls, industry best practices, organizational policies, etc.
- Key handling and assignment privileges are limited to individuals assigned to trusted roles, with a separation of duties appropriate to the business environment.
- Key handling procedures should be well documented to facilitate and enhance business
continuity practices among internal employees, as well as to provide assurance to partners
and customers who have entrusted their sensitive or private information; satisfy regulatory
requirements for directives that address the proper handling of sensitive information; and
provide evidence of standard practices in case of audit.
Key integrity controls
- The integrity of key iles should be veriiable, optimally by conirming a hash value or
digital signature with a stored value associated with the ile.
Key applications controls
- Key separation is enforced, the principle of using encryption keys only for their intended
purpose. Keys should never be reused for multiple purposes that would diminish the ability
to control or track their application.
By applying these controls within the deined procedure for managing keys, the organization
will come a long way towards minimizing any risk to key security or safety.
Facilitating effective Key management with automation
Technical security functions that help to automate the key management process provide
a means of enforcing some of the controls listed in the previous section while minimizing
management complexity and administrative overhead. Well-designed key management
functions provide beneits that can greatly enhance the ability to enforce effective management
practices, minimize the administrative overhead and associated costs, and improve
the overall effectiveness of the solution. For example, a management interface that provides
lexibility in how the administrative users access and conigure the system para-meters
allows for a pragmatic and compliant management process that has been deined within
the scope of organizational security policies, relevant standards for regulatory controls and
industry best practices.
Administrative Functions: Well-designed, convenient and lexible system administration
is critical to a solution that enables and encourages sound key management practices that
can conform to organizational security policy requirements. Features that support the ability
to manage keys effectively and eficiently include:
- A centralized interface for all stored data encryption key management functions that
facilitates the consistent, accurate and affordable practice of key management practices.
Deploying multiple encryption solutions that result in a heterogeneous key management
environment introduces complexity and the need to maintain multiple, diverse systems.
Likewise, using non-scalable systems that require policy coniguration at the cluster level
increases the management burden and the costs.
- Flexibility in accessing the management interface—enables assignment of management
responsibilities to administrations at either local or remote facilities and enables the
prompt response to alerts.
- Flexibility in deining user authentication requirements—the ability to deine the requirement
of one or two-factor authentication enables the mapping of organizational authentication
policy appropriate to the environment to its device access procedures.
- The ability to assign one or multiple individuals to security administration roles with
individual accountability—permits system administration by multiple individuals as
required with the ability to audit system access and coniguration changes at the level of
the individual.
- Flexibility in deining recovery process—provides the ability to select the quorum of
recovery oficers required (e.g., 2 of 5, 3 of 5) to recover a system.
- Ability to facilitate the management of device groups with separate recovery oficers
assigned to them who control the distribution and recovery of keys enables control over
individual data silos by the data owners.
- Minimized procedural complexity means that administrators are less likely to miss steps
or take short cuts that may increase the risk of an incomplete recovery of data at any given
point in time.
- Integration of functional control into a central security administration interface allows for
easy deployment and updates across the IT environment for reduced risk of downtime.
- Ability to separate key management tasks from IT-related functions enables enforcement
of separation of duties and the use of third party services for storage management.
Secure Key Creation: Secure key generation is a critical function that prevents key cracking
by guessing at key or key seeding sequences.
- Approved random or pseudo-random key generation methodology must be used in accordance
with industry standards.
- Generation of keys internal to the device and limiting cleartext keys to internal storage
provides a key separation mechanism that ensures that they are only used for their unique,
intended purpose. The input of externally generated keys introduces considerable risk,
including mistakes in typing long key sequences, the need to write down critical keying
information on notepads to remember them, and the possibility of violating the rule of key
separation by applying keys for purposes outside of their original intent.
- Security for cryptographic hardware and key repository components during initialization,
cloning, repair and de-installation
- The application of multiple levels of encryption to exported keys and coniguration data to
protect the integrity, conidentiality and authenticity of keys and coniguration recovery data.
- Secure key transfer mechanisms to ensure that keys exported to external repositories for
safekeeping are protected from eavesdropping.
- The ability to locate multiple key backup repositories or in multiple storage tiers. The
system may allows for both nearline storage and ofline storage of keys and other relevant
security metadata, for example.
- The ability to locate the key repository in convenient locations that may extend beyond
trusted facilities. This requires:
- ability to share of keys for use at remote locations for offsite recovery;
- automated key integrity check that compares ile hash values or signatures;
- capacity to store a large number of keys; and
- a hardened, tamper resistent enclosure is a requirement for systems that expose keys at
any point outside of the data encryption system in cleartext form.
- The ability to deine automated and secure backups of keying along with required system
coniguration parameters to ensure recovery of all data
Secure Audit Logging: A comprehensive audit log of designated security activities is
required for enforcing regulatory compliance as well as system integrity.
- Automated audit logging of all system conigurations and changes, including those of key
management tasks—complying with regulations as well as enforcing the adherence to
business policy requires the ability to provide non-repudiable evidence of administrative
changes. As the application of cryptographic functions expands among more security management,
this means of examining adherence to procedure becomes increasingly important.
- Auditing, alerts of anomalies in acceptable key management practices.
- Flexibility in deining event alarms.
Ciphermax Key Lifecycle management
The primary design objective for key management of the CipherMax enterprise storage
security solution enterprise encryption solution was to provide a system that ensured data
recoverability while minimizing the effort involved in administrating encryption keys in an
enterprise environment. CipherMax attains the required standards for safe and recoverable
encryption of data-at-rest and data-in-light by integrating critical features throughout the
system design, including system hardware and management, SANCruiser storage system
administration, and KeyCruiser key lifecycle management database.
Secure Key creation
CipherMax generates keys based on a random number generator on the CipherMax system
itself. In addition to being generated internally, the keys are always stored in ciphertext form
when not actively in use and never leave the CipherMax system in cleartext form.
Layered application of Encryption Keys
In order to secure not only the data itself but also the keys that have been exported to ensure
future data recovery, CipherMax provides three different levels of keys, each of which is 256
bits in length:
- The Data Encryption Key (DEK) is generated uniquely for each Security Policy and
applied to cleartext data that has been mapped to that Security Policy, protecting the
designated data from unauthorized viewing.
- The Master Key, or Key Encryption Key, is generated during CipherMax system initialization
and assigned to that individual CipherMax system or system cluster, securing
the DEKs internally when they are not in use. While in this protected “wrapped” state,
the DEKs are virtually unbreakable and can be exposed outside of a secure location or
communication medium without fear of the DEKs being compromised.
- The Recovery Key is an additional layer of Key Encryption Key that can recover a
CipherMax system to its previous coniguration status when provided with a backup copy
of the system coniguration and a suficient number of Recovery Oficer credentials. The
Recovery Key is also generated during initialization and divided into multiple shares
according to the recovery policy coniguration. Recovering a system requires the authorization
from N of M authenticated recovery oficers, ensuring the recoverability of data in
the event of a catastrophic failure.
Secure Key Storage
CipherMax stores keys online, near-line and ofline to ensure the recoverability of the
encrypted data. The system stores copies of the encryption keys in secure format on one
or redundant System Control Cards, each of which can store tens of thousands of the most
recent keys and storage mappings in an encrypted key database.
KeyCruiser is the CipherMax key lifecycle management facility that provides a near-line
repository and backup capability for encryption keys and system coniguration parameters.
KeyCruiser operates in a client-server mode with a secure data connection, so managers can access the facility remotely with proper authorization and authentication. As keys are
assigned to tape media or disk LUNs, KeyCruiser records the information for future retrieval
or complete system recovery. By supporting redundant conigurations distributed across
physically separate locations, KeyCruiser ensures that a system is always available to ensure
data recoverability.
Key Backup and Recovery
CipherMax provides the capability to backup and restore the key database as required. Keys
can be restored in their entirety or on a key-by-key basis. For example, in a geographically
distributed environment, tapes created at a remote location can be read locally by requesting
the key from the key database for that tape, as long as both CipherMax systems are in the
same recovery domain. CipherMax systems in different recovery domains require that keys
be exported and imported into the new domain using recovery oficer keys to access the
KeyCruiser database.
Each time that a coniguration change is made to the CipherMax system, the manager is
prompted to backup the change. When all necessary changes have been entered, the backup
can be initiated with a one-click interface. KeyCruiser also provides the capability of automatically
and securely backing up the system coniguration to an SFTP server. The recovery
iles on the SFTP server can then be backed up by the enterprise standard backup procedures
to disk, tape or removable media such as CDs that can be escrowed offsite at a third party
location. An integrity check utility for the exported key recovery ile validates that the
recovery data has not been tampered or otherwise corrupted while in storage.
Key handling
In order to prevent exposure and breach of secured data, CipherMax has been designed to
employ secure techniques for handing keys both internal and external to the device. These
measures include:
- Encryption keys never leave the CipherMax system chassis in cleartext form. The encryption
key database is secured with the Master Key in AES-256 format before keys can be
exported to KeyCruiser. Data encryption keys are only held in cleartext form on the line
cards where they are used to encrypt data.
- The Master Key is stored across in a secured location within the CipherMax system and
guarded from any unauthorized use, and is not accessible or retrievable via any command.
- The Recovery Key is divided into shares and secured with the recovery oficer’s authentication
information. Compromising multiple pieces of the recovery key along with the recovery
oficer’s credentials would be required to gain access to any secured key or restore.
Secure Key Destruction
- CipherMax permits deletion of security keys by authorized security administrators that
execute the proper commands with conirmation of their intentions. In this way, key
deletion serves to enable the planned destruction of encrypted data that can no longer be
recovered into cleartext form.
- Ensuring the complete destruction of all sets of keys and prevent data recoverability
requires that the security oficer follow a pre-deined procedure for identifying all backup
copies of keys that have been made.
Secure audit Logging
To enhance regulatory compliance and enable detection of improper system management
procedures, CipherMax provides an audit trail of all administrative activity, including key
creation, policy assignment, key export and key deletion activities. Security administrators can designate violations of security policy to trigger an alert via email or SNMP that notiies
them of improper activity with keys or other security administration activity. Alert activity
can be deined to correspond with the organization’s security policy appropriate to their
environment, ensuring consistency and relevance.
Summary
From their creation to their destruction, managing the keys used to encrypt stored data is
essential to ensuring that data is effectively secured and recoverable by authorized users.
By deining and deploying a consistently applied process that includes controls for key
management, data encryption users can greatly mitigate any possibility of becoming unable
to recover their valuable data. Automated key management functions can greatly ease the
burden of management, enforce organizational processes and procedures, and provide a
means for auditors to validate their security practices.
CipherMax enterprise storage security provides the automated functions and management
tools needed to facilitate the deployment and enforcement of rigorous key management
practices. By enabling secure key creation, handing, storage and destruction practices that
align with organizational security policy and recognized security principles, CipherMax
allows users to deploy stored data encryption with ease and conidence.