KEYS&MORE is a Key Management System developed by INCERT Luxembourg Public Agency. Providing tailored encryption tools for manufacturing excellence.

In encryption key management, services are as important as systems. Here’s why.

Despite the growing necessity of encryption, its integration and management remain challenging for organizations who simply want to get on with their core business in a compliant, safe fashion. While KMS providers offer SaaS solutions that can help, effective key management requires more than just a new tool or platform: Expert assessment, guidance and support are the missing pieces to the KMS puzzle.

KMS solutions seek to simplify an inherently complex task, taking some of the burden of system maintenance off the shoulders of organizations and giving them the tools to manage key lifecycles. But integrating and adopting a new key management system for the long term demands new internal approaches and processes.

“We’d all love a plug-and-play KMS tool, but unifying and changing the key management practices of a global organization happens in phases,” explains Sylvain Arts, Chief Business Officer, INCERT, the team behind Keys&More KMS solution. “Many organizations need help getting to the starting line and understanding what encryption activities they are already employing.”

Government encryption experts, like those at Keys&More, help companies transform from the inside out through empowering guidance that supports the following:

1 Understanding current status of their footprint-wide encryption activities
2 Realization of tangible opportunities for encryption within their organizations
3 Custom-fit deployment of KMS system
4 Adoption of long-term strategies essential to key management

Key Material Assessment Services: Getting to the Starting Line

Before organizations can get to the finish line—with a successfully deployed, though constantly evolving key management system and industry-leading internal processes—they need to get to the starting line.

This is the role of initial assessments, which take inventory of existing key material.

It might be fair to assume that organizations know the current state of their encryption practices at any given moment. In our experience, however, that assumption is incorrect.

When working across industries, languages and borders, companies can quickly lose track of encryption keys. Without a global cybersecurity team and unified KMS, each team develops its own encryption solutions to meet immediate needs and keep operations moving.

This way of handling encryption and key management presents multiple issues:

1 Lack of knowledge sharing: These practices are often developed and deployed in isolation by each team without oversight. This leads to unshared knowledge & processes that only last as long as the project owner’s employment.
2 Inefficiencies: Because of this decentralized approach to encryption, teams cannot take advantage of preexisting solutions. So, they develop their own, reinventing the wheel and wasting resources.
3 Security gaps: Without a complete view of encryption activities, holistic risk management proves impossible. Organizations need a global view in order to see what areas are exposed.

“We’ve seen that it’s unrealistic to arrive and expect large organizations to provide a complete inventory of encryption key material,” Arts continues. “Even discerning key material and knowing where to look can prove challenging without the proper expertise. That’s why we’ve built assessment services and skilled guidance into our KMS solution.”

As a critical first step, the assessment phase lets KMS experts pinpoint existing encryption practices and take inventory of key material.

Only after that step, can analysis, customization and development begin.

Expert Guidance: Maintaining a New Key Management System…& Mindset

When it comes to KMS adoption, an organization does not go from zero to 100 over night. Deployment is a collaborative, granular process that accounts for the real-time challenges and feedback of an organization’s many teams.

After multiple meetings to discuss the findings from the assessment and analysis phases, guided deployment moves forward. At Keys&More, the process generally looks like this:

1 Presentation of customized deployment plan within the context of project goals

2 Final input from all relevant teams, including the manufacturing side

3 Phased deployment of KMS solution, lasting from 3-30 days

4 Ongoing check ins & recalibrations

Deployment is just the beginning. The shift to a new system of key management relies as much on mindset, understanding and processes, as it does on the underlying technical solution.

“Transformative encryption key management is really about learning how to manage key material, which is something totally new for most organizations,” explains Liron Ben Tsvi, Expert Consultant, International Business Development, INCERT. “Effective KMS is not simply a new solution. It’s a new way of thinking and doing.”

Planned KMS provider check ins, optional 24/7 support and support for third parties, helps ease the adjustment. Along the way, the KMS provider should help the KMS owner anticipate common deployment issues and identify missed opportunities.

Adapting to Tomorrow: KMS as Part of Cybersecurity DNA

As innovation partners for governments around the world, INCERT, the team behind Keys&More KMS solution, understands the layers of innovation adoption, including:

Buy-in from numerous stakeholders
Consistent & well-communicated expectations & processes
Rapid identification & resolution of pain points

Once a KMS solution is not just employed but embraced, it improves an organization’s resilience and agility:

“Yes, we develop customized KMS solutions, but that’s only part of it,” concludes Ben Tsvi. “We want to share our knowledge and experience to help shift an organization’s outlook on key management. Once unified key management becomes part of their cybersecurity DNA, their ability to adapt and overcome is endless. Really, the first step in adapting to a post-quantum world is learning how to manage keys.”

Q-day, the day when quantum computers finally crack current encryption algorithms, represents the single biggest crisis management scenario that most organizations can fathom. With complete oversight and unified controls, they can immediately begin the process of integrating new post-quantum techniques.

A unified KMS solution, powered by the right internal processes and understanding, gives organizations a path forward, even in difficult moments.

Questions about our guided approach to key management? Just exploring your options? Speak with one of our KMS experts

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Guidance, Assessment & Support: A 360° Approach to KMS

In encryption key management, services are as important as systems. Here’s why.

Key Material Assessment Services: Getting to the Starting Line

Expert Guidance: Maintaining a New Key Management System…& Mindset

Adapting to Tomorrow: KMS as Part of Cybersecurity DNA