Key Management in Multi-Cloud Environments

Building your Encryption Strategy

Once overlooked, key management in the cloud is becoming a high priority for CISOs as multi-cloud environments become the next step in the continual goal of reducing downtime. Each major cloud provider has its own internal key manager. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has the AWS Key Management Service tucked away inside of the Identity and Access Management (IAM). Azure has the Key Vault to store keys used within its environment. Google has the Cloud Key Management Service. All of them have very different interfaces and offer little control over key sovereignty.

Leverage REST for BYOK

External Key Management services have been slow to answer the problem with their focus on the internal data center. Cloud key managers have not been keen to adopt standards such as the Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP). The latest generation of Key Managers, however, is starting to close the gap. By leveraging the REST interfaces provided by cloud providers, Key Managers can enable Bring Your Own-Key (BYOK) functionality at multi-cloud and enterprise scales. Functionally, most Key Managers can support these new use-cases through APIs and clients. Migrating to a secure cloud infrastructure requires some research as BYOK integrations are still emerging.

How to Decide on a Key Management Partner

There are several questions you should consider before deciding on your key management partner:

• What is your current usage of encryption?
• Where should your organization be using encryption but not due to complexity?
• How many cryptographic objects will the Key Manager support? Will it be able to scale with the continued growth of your company?
• Does the Key Manager support automation of workloads? With the heavy automation already in your DevOps environment, why introduce a manual bottleneck?
• Does the Key Manager have the integrations for the tools you use?
• Is the Key Manager from a company that can be a trusted partner? Managing your keys is only part of the equation. Encryption keys and certificates manage all of your stored data. You need to ensure your organizational data integrity.

By working with experts, you greatly increase your chances of having a platform that performs and provides the security your organization needs to thrive while still protecting vital data. With the right strategy, encryption of your multi-cloud infrastructure can be integrated into your existing DevOps platforms with ease.

Jon Mentzell is a cyber security expert with two decades of systems administration and DevOps experience including security for a cabinet-level government agency. He is currently the Product Security Manager at Fornetix.