Care and Feeding of HSMs: Key Management in Hard Mode
summary
Argues that HSMs solve key custody but introduce operational nightmares illustrated by real incidents: keys zeroized after misplaced units, batteries and tamper recovery causing permanent loss, and smart‑card rekeying that left a production HSM locked. Uses PKCS standards, PKCS#11, smart cards, Shamir secret sharing and NIST SP800‑57; shows costs from ~$600 to >$150k and fleets of ~10 million devices. Recommends rehearsed key ceremonies, multiple HSMs, backups and staffing before committing.
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Introduction and context
- 1:28Key management foundations
- 2:39Key usage and design concepts
- 5:10Ephemeral session keys
- 7:51Long-lived firmware keys
- 13:57HSM basics and operations
- 17:14Key ceremonies
- 18:39Control and role mishaps
- 20:40Operational lessons learned
- 22:24HSM maintenance hazards
- 23:51Mitigating failure risks
- 25:26Role and quorum management
- 27:19Conclusion and takeaways
- 27:37Q&A session
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