High security with high performance
As trusted network computers, hardware security modules protect particularly important and security-relevant information and processes in the infrastructure backend. How? As hardened servers with security management functions and high performance at the same time.
In the digitalised economy, electronic signatures and certificates are the key to trustworthy services and transactions. They ensure that documents can be authenticated and the identities of users or devices can be checked and confirmed. This is essential in payment systems and other high-security applications such as smart metering, time-stamping services, PKI, key management and administration in applications.
HSMs were developed as particularly hardened hardware and operating environments to securely store and process cryptographic keys, signatures and certificates. They offer protection against remote attackers through extensive security management options and physical encapsulation. This is available in different versions and is referred to as tamper-proof or tamper-resistant. HSMs also provide protection through active sensor technology that can trigger actions and protection against physical attacks directly on the device.
While hardware security modules (HSMs) are operated as servers in data centres, trusted platform modules (TPMs) and technical security elements (TSEs) are used as special microcontrollers permanently installed in clients in the user domain.
Good reasons that speak in our favour
