What Can Key Vault Manage?

A Key Vault, such as Azure Key Vault, is a robust security service designed to manage and protect sensitive data and cryptographic materials essential for cloud applications and services. It provides comprehensive management capabilities across several key areas:

1. Encryption Keys

Secure Storage:

• Purpose: Key Vault is designed to securely store cryptographic keys used for data encryption. This includes both symmetric keys (which use the same key for encryption and decryption) and asymmetric keys (which use a pair of keys: one for encryption and one for decryption).

• Encryption Standards: Keys stored in Key Vault adhere to industry-standard encryption algorithms and protocols, ensuring they are protected against unauthorized access.

Lifecycle Management:

• Creation and Rotation: Key Vault facilitates the creation of new keys and supports automated key rotation. Key rotation involves regularly updating cryptographic keys to minimize the risk of compromise.

• Expiration: Keys can be set to expire after a certain period, and policies can be configured to enforce the replacement of old keys with new ones, ensuring ongoing security and compliance.

Access Policies:

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Administrators can set detailed access policies to control which users or applications can use or manage specific keys. This ensures that only authorized entities can access or operate on the keys.

2. Secrets

Sensitive Data Management:

• Storage: Key Vault securely stores sensitive information such as passwords, API keys, connection strings, and other confidential data. This prevents the exposure of sensitive information in code or configuration files.

• Encryption: Secrets are encrypted at rest, ensuring that they remain protected even if unauthorized access to the storage system occurs.

Access Control:

• Granular Permissions: Access to secrets can be tightly controlled using RBAC and access policies. This ensures that only specific users or applications with appropriate permissions can retrieve or manage the secrets.

• Audit Logs: Key Vault maintains logs of all access and management operations related to secrets, providing visibility into how and when secrets are accessed or modified. This supports security audits and compliance efforts.

3. Certificates

Provisioning and Management:

• Certificate Issuance: Key Vault can provision SSL/TLS certificates required for securing communications over networks. This includes the initial issuance and management of certificates.

• Automatic Renewal: It supports automatic renewal of certificates to prevent disruptions due to expired certificates. Administrators can configure renewal policies to ensure certificates are always up-to-date.

Secure Storage:

• Protection: Certificates and their private keys are securely stored within Key Vault, reducing the risk of exposure or unauthorized access. This ensures that the certificates used for securing communications remain protected.

Deployment:

• Integration: Certificates can be deployed directly from Key Vault to applications or services, simplifying the management of certificate deployments and reducing the potential for misconfiguration.

4. Hardware Security Module (HSM)

Enhanced Key Protection:

• Physical and Logical Security: Key Vault supports the use of HSMs for storing keys. HSMs provide advanced physical and logical security measures to protect keys against tampering and unauthorized access.

• Compliance: HSM-backed key management helps meet various regulatory and industry standards for key protection, offering assurance that cryptographic materials are managed with the highest level of security.

Key Management with HSM:

• Key Generation and Storage: HSMs facilitate secure key generation, storage, and management. They ensure that cryptographic keys are protected throughout their lifecycle, from creation to destruction.

Key Benefits of Using Key Vault

• Centralized Management: Key Vault provides a unified platform for managing encryption keys, secrets, and certificates. This centralization simplifies administration and enhances security practices by reducing the need for multiple disparate systems.

• Enhanced Security: With features such as encryption, access control, and HSM support, Key Vault offers robust security for sensitive data. It helps protect against unauthorized access, tampering, and exposure.

• Access Control: Fine-grained access policies and RBAC ensure that only authorized users and applications can access or manage cryptographic materials and secrets. This minimizes the risk of accidental or malicious misuse.

• Audit and Compliance: Key Vault maintains detailed audit logs of access and management activities, supporting security audits and compliance with regulatory requirements. These logs provide visibility into how keys, secrets, and certificates are used and managed.

In summary, Azure Key Vault provides comprehensive management for encryption keys, secrets, certificates, and supports advanced protection with HSMs. It centralizes and secures the management of these critical components, ensuring they are protected and accessible only to authorized entities while simplifying administrative tasks and supporting compliance efforts.