PCI PTS HSM compliance is mandated on banks, acquirers, processors and all other players involved in payment card systems. This article explores the origin, history, evaluation criteria, and the latest version updates of the PCI PTS HSM standard.

Managing cryptographic relationships and crypto key lifecycles can be challenging even in small scale environments. For those CISOs and IT Security Professionals that live in the world of international crypto architectures, such as those found in banking and finance, the list of barriers to success can become overwhelming.

Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) are used in all card payment systems (as well as various other applications that require strong security) to protect business transactions and sensitive information. HSMs allow authentication, encryption/decryption and management of cryptographic keys to occur with the highest level of security. The globally-recognized HSM certification, Common Criteria (CC), guarantees the assurance level of an HSM. This article explores how CC helps in choosing the right HSM for your business needs.