Menu
Service lets companies manage Amazon Web Services encryption keys

Service lets companies manage Amazon Web Services encryption keys

KeyNexus, a division of Dark Matter Labs, today announced a secure encryption key-management service that lets organizations store, manage and audit the encryption keys they use in the cloud.

Expected to be available the end of this month, the KeyNexus service will initially support Amazon Web Services. The service will cost about $50 per month for two AWS instances where encryption keys are needed, though there will be a trial period where it will be free. Dark Matter Labs makes a line of data-encryption hardware appliances and the KeyNexus service represents a next step for that technology for cloud security key management, says CEO Jeff MacMillan.

[RELATED:Flexibility stressed for encryption and key management in the cloud]

[MORE:When tech empires fall: 10 companies and products that dominated... and then didn't]

"Companies are realizing they don't want to store their encryption keys in the cloud," says MacMillan, noting that the Cloud Security Alliance, the group devising security standards for cloud-based services, says the encryption keys used in them should not necessarily be stored in the same cloud for security reasons.

Since business customers increasingly expect to use encryption in a variety of cloud services, the question is where it might be best to store a slew of them securely. MacMillan's argument is that enterprises shouldn't store and manage encryption keys in the same cloud location where they're used.

"You'll have encryption in 10 different clouds, and manage seven to 15 sets of keys," MacMillan says. He points out that there are already a handful of encryption vendors for Amazon Web Services today, including Trend Micro, Porticor, SafeNet and Afore Solutions.

The KeyNexus services for AWS is based on hardware appliances kept and managed at Equinix in the U.S. where the encryption keys are encrypted in hardware-based storage and available round-the-clock to the customer. KeyNexus may support other cloud-based services in the future as well. Dark Matter Labs is based in Victoria, Canada.

The KeyNexus key-management service evolved from the Dark Matter Labs hardware appliance used for key management, which Vijay Raghavendra, CTO at Inkiru says he deployed for the Inkiru data-analytics platform that supplies e-commerce-based analysis for purposes of both fraud prevention and customer buying patterns.

"It was important for us to meet the standards set by our customers," said Raghavendra about secure key-management in the cloud, though he adds that because Inkiru was just acquired by Walmart Labs for Walmart's e-commerce operations, there are no plans now for immediate use of KeyNexus.

Ellen Messmer is senior editor at Network World, an IDG publication and website, where she covers news and technology trends related to information security. Twitter: MessmerE. E-mail: emessmer@nww.com

Read more about wide area network in Network World's Wide Area Network section.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags cloud computinginternetendpoint securityAmazon Web Servicescloud security allianceWide Area Network

More about Amazon Web ServicesAmazon Web ServicesEquinixIDGSafeNetTrend Micro Australia

Show Comments
[]