Cryptomathic Blog

Invented by Mohamed Atalla, the Atalla key block is the root of all key blocks. All over the globe, hundreds of millions of financial transactions are secured daily using hardware security modules (HSMs) and the Atalla key block format that follows TR-31 guidelines. Here we will explain a bit about AKB and why a banking-grade key management system (KMS) must support it.

For traditional banks to rise above the competition they face from big tech, neobanks, and fintechs, they need to add new digital skills to their traditional banking capabilities; positioning themselves as agile providers of financial services by providing demand-driven services at the right time and place.

This article discusses the main phases involved in the life-cycle of a cryptographic key, and how the operational lifetime of a key and its strength can be determined. It also looks at some driving forces to automate key management.

When migrating their business-critical applications and cryptography to the cloud, banks and financial institutions face a number of concerns. The push to adopt cloud computing for the sake of efficiency and innovation must be balanced with the responsibility to protect sensitive data and processes.

Key distribution is perhaps the most important and crucial aspect of the ANSI X9.24-1-2017 part 1 standard. But first, let us explain what cryptographic key distribution is.

The ANSI X9.24-1-2017 standard defines the requirements for the loading of key components or shares, and the loading of cleartext keys. The loading of encrypted keys is described in other parts of the standard.

In this article, we look at the process of key generation and key derivation as described by the ANSI X9.24-1-2017 standard. This process is mandatory for operations performed by the retail financial services industry.

The ANSI X9.24-1: 2017 standard requires the use of secure cryptographic devices (SCDs) in the context of symmetric key cryptography and refers to the ISO 13491-1 standard for the specifications that must be met for a device to be approved as an SCD. This article outlines and explains some of the aspects and requirements that both the X9.24-1-2017 and ISO 13491-1 mandate for SCDs that are used in retail financial services systems.

Today, financial institutions are driven by a strategic question: How can they embrace the benefits from the cloud’s flexible and scalable on-demand services, while perpetuating a trustworthy, banking-grade level of cryptographic security?