NIST Interagency Report 7609 

Cryptographic Key 

Management Workshop 

Summary – June 8-9, 2009 

Elaine Barker 

Dennis Branstad 

Santosh Chokhani 

Miles Smid 
 

 

Cryptographic Key Management 

NIST Interagency Report 7609 Workshop Summary – June 8-9, 2009 

Elaine Barker 

Dennis Branstad 

Santosh Chokhani 

Miles Smid 

C O M P U T E R S E C U R I T Y
 

Computer Security Division 

Information Technology Laboratory 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930 

January 2010 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Gary Locke, Secretary 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Dr. Patrick D. Gallagher, Director 
 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Reports on Computer Systems Technology 

The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) promotes the U.S. economy and public welfare by providing technical leadership for the nation’s 

measurement and standards infrastructure. ITL develops tests, test methods, reference data, proof of 

concept implementations, and technical analysis to advance the development and productive use of 

information technology. ITL’s responsibilities include the development of technical, physical, 

administrative, and management standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of 

sensitive unclassified information in Federal computer systems. This Interagency Report discusses ITL’s 

research, guidance, and outreach efforts in computer security and its collaborative activities with industry, 

government, and academic organizations. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report 7609 

59 pages (January 2010) 

Commercial Disclaimer 

Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this 

document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. 

Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the 

entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Acknowledgments 

The authors wish to acknowledge the significant time and effort that the workshop speakers 

contributed to make the workshop a success. The workshop was organized within a short 

timeframe but resulted in a set of excellent presentations concerning problems with current key 

management systems and approaches for improving them. Significant experience and expertise 

were represented in the keynote presenters and the technical participants. NIST wishes to thank 

all those that participated in the workshop, both on-site and via the webcast, and plans to 

incorporate contributions of the participants in future publications and projects. 

Abstract 

On June 8 and 9, 2009, NIST held a Cryptographic Key Management (CKM) Workshop at its 

Gaithersburg, Maryland, campus that attracted approximately 80 people attending the workshop 

in person, with another 75 participating through video conferencing, and an additional 36 

participating via audio teleconferencing. A total of 36 speakers, including technical experts, 

security standards leaders, and experienced managers gave presentations on various aspects of 

CKM during the workshop. Two presentations were made remotely via audio teleconferencing 

facilities. This summary provides the highlights of workshop presentations organized both by 

major CKM topics and also by presenter. Electronic access to the slides used for the 

presentations will be available for at least one year following the Workshop at 

http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/key_mgmt. Additional information regarding the CKM project 

will be made available through the NIST website at http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/key_mgmt. 

Audience 

The intended audience of this document includes individuals and organizations seeking to better 

understand cryptographic key management, with an emphasis on those planning to design, 

procure, or use a secure CKM system. A CKM System Design Framework is under 

development that will describe, in a logical structure, the components of a CKM system and the 

characteristics that make them easier to describe, design and operate. 

Disclaimer 

This is a summary of the CKM Workshop sponsored by, and held at, NIST. The authors have 

attempted to capture the primary concepts and contributions of the presenters and participants in 

this summary. Clarification and context information has been provided by the authors to 

enhance readability, but no signficant effort was made to verify the accuracy and completeness 

of the information presented. In addition, the noise interference in the transcripts of the 

presentations that were used to prepare this report and the limitations of the automation processes 

involved in preparing the transcript may have resulted in errors and omissions that affect the 

utility of the information in the report. Readers are encouraged to contact the presenters and 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

quoted participants to verify or clarify the summaries herein when using this information in 

designing or implementing security products and services. 

Executive Summary 

The Cryptographic Key Management (CKM) workshop was initiated by the NIST Information 

Technology Laboratory’s Computer Security Division to identify technologies that need to be 

developed that would allow organizations to “leap ahead” of normal development lifecycles to 

vastly improve the security of future sensitive and valuable computer applications. The 

workshop was the first step in developing a CKM System Design Framework that will address 

issues discussed during the workshop. 

This summary provides the highlights of the presentations, organized both by topic and by 

presenter, in a bulleted format for rapid scanning. A definition of acronyms used in this report is 

provided in Appendix A. Copies of the slides used by the presenters are available at 

http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/key_mgmt, and should be reviewed if more details of the 

presentations are desired. 

Key management has been identified as a major component of national cybersecurity initiatives 

that address the protection of information processing applications. Numerous problems have 

been identified in current key management methodologies, including the lack of guidance, 

inadequate scalability of the methods used to distribute keys, and user dissatisfaction because of 

the “unfriendliness” of these methods. The workshop sought to identify the inadequacies of 

current key management methodologies and to plan for a transition to more useful and 

appropriate key management methods. 

NIST conducted the workshop in order to: 1) identify future computing environments, the 

international enterprises likely to utilize them, the applications that will be performed in them, 

and an array of key management mechanisms and protocols that will be needed to provide 

appropriate security for the applications; 2) discuss the creation of a key management system 

design framework that will support the use of effective cryptographic mechanisms required to 

provide security for these environments and applications; and 3) lay a foundation for a 

comprehensive plan in developing, standardizing, and adopting scalable, usable, and secure key 

management practices. 

Presentations covered a broad spectrum of cryptography-based security issues, including CKM 

systems that are currently available but under-utilized because they lack user-friendly automated 

key management services; CKM systems that are under development but not reaching the 

marketplace because of financial, logistical, and support service problems; and new security 

mechanisms needed to support future computing environments, such as: “cloud” computing, 

integrated international applications, and secure management of dynamic relationships among 

people, international organizations, and global applications. 

A CKM System Design Framework specifies key management components that should be 

considered when developing a secure CKM system and provides requirements for design 

specifications. The Framework is intended to define the components of a seamless set of 

technologies that, to the greatest extent feasible, will automatically create, establish, supply, 

store, protect, manage, update, replace, verify, lock, unlock, authenticate, audit, backup, destroy, 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

and oversee all cryptographic keys needed for applications in computing and communicating 

environments. The CKM System Design Framework will help to specify security policies, key 

establishment methods, key archiving, key recovery, and key protection requirements and 

mechanisms, and to identify and resolve usability, scalability and trust issues. 

Workshop presentations touched on cloud computing and secure electronic personal data 

assistants capable of interfacing to private domains. Automatic provisioning (i.e., providing 

needed security parameters whenever and wherever needed) and maintenance of cryptographic 

keys, as well as assuring the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of the keys used to protect 

information in long term storage, were stressed during the presentations. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Table of Contents 

Contents

1. CKM Workshop Program ....................................................................................................1
 

2. CKM Workshop Presentation Highlights organized by Presenter .................................5
 

2.1 June 8, Morning Session: Elaine Barker, NIST, Moderator ........................................ 5
 

2.1.1	 Introduction to the Workshop: William C. “Curt” Barker, NIST.........................5
 

2.1.2	 Welcome to NIST: Dr. Patrick Gallagher, Acting Director, NIST .....................7
 

2.1.3	 Future Computing Applications: Vice Adm. J. Mike McConnell, BAH ............7
 

2.1.4	 The Future of IT Security and Privacy, Dr. George O. Strawn, NSF ...............8
 

2.1.5	 Internet Key Management Security: Russ Housley, IETF Chair, Vigil Sec. .....9
 

2.1.6	 Key Management Experience at NSA, Petrina Gillman and Jonathon Booth, 

NSA ...............................................................................................................10
 

2.1.7	 Vijay Bharadwaj, Microsoft ............................................................................11
 

2.1.8	 Future Key Management Methods: David McGrew, Cisco ............................12
 

2.1.9	 2010 Transitions: Elaine Barker, NIST ..........................................................13
 

2.2 June 8, 2008, Afternoon Session; Tim Polk, NIST, Moderator ................................. 13
 

2.2.1	 Security and Ease of Use: Marinus Struik, Certicom Research, NL..............13
 

2.2.2	 Improving the Security of the Internet, Dr. Vint Cerf, Google ........................14
 

2.2.3	 Usability and Key Management: Mary Theofanos, NIST ...............................15
 

2.2.4	 A Holistic Approach to Key Management Lifecycle: Joe Skehan, Venafi ......16
 

2.2.5	 Cloud Computing: Implications for Key Management, Lee Badger, NIST .....17
 

2.2.6	 CKM Workshop Five Minute Presentations: June 8, 2009 ...........................18
 

2.3 June 9, 2009, Morning Session: Bill Burr, NIST, Moderator ..................................... 18
 

2.3.1	 Key Management and Fair Electronic Exchange, Dr. Silvio Micali, MIT ........18
 

2.3.2	 Key Management and Information Management, Burt Kaliski, EMC ............19
 

2.3.3	 Enterprise Key Management Panel, Chair: Robert Griffin, RSA ...................20
 

2.3.4	 Identity-Based Key Management (IBKM): Terence Spies, Voltage Security. 22
 

2.3.5	 Scalability using Centralized Key Management, John Marchioni, ARX .........23
 

2.3.6	 Globally Scalable Key Distribution: Jeffrey Opper, BAE Systems .................24
 

2.3.7	 Use of Group Key Management in Internet Standards: Brian Weis, Cisco ...24
 

2.4 June 9, Afternoon Session, Elaine Barker, NIST, Moderator .................................... 25
 

2.4.1	 Authentication using PIV Symmetric Keys, Sarbari Gupta, Electrosoft .........25
 

2.4.2	 Open Source Symmetric Key Management: Arshad Noor, StrongAuth, Inc. 26
 

2.4.3	 Cryptographic Key Management Framework: Miles Smid, Orion Security ....26
 

2.4.4	 Leap-Ahead Technologies: Miles Smid, Orion Security Solutions ...............28
 

2.4.5	 CKM Workshop Five-Minute Presentations, June 9, 2009 ............................30
 

2.4.6	 Overall Summary of the CKM Workshop: Elaine Barker, NIST .....................31
 

3. CKM Workshop Presentation Highlights Organized by Topic ......................................33
 

3.1 Policy ........................................................................................................................33
 

3.2 Trust.......................................................................................................................... 36
 

3.3 Impediments ............................................................................................................. 37
 

3.4 Usability ....................................................................................................................39
 

3.5 Scalability ..................................................................................................................40
 

3.6 Interfaces .................................................................................................................. 41
 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

3.7 Algorithms ................................................................................................................. 42
 

3.8 Key Types ................................................................................................................. 43
 

3.9 CK Lifecycle .............................................................................................................. 43
 

3.10 CK Metadata ............................................................................................................. 44
 

3.11 Standards.................................................................................................................. 45
 

3.12 Requirements and Recommendations...................................................................... 47
 

3.13 New Technologies .................................................................................................... 51
 

3.14 Framework ................................................................................................................ 52
 

3.15 Applications............................................................................................................... 53
 

4. Summary of Comments Received Subsequent to Workshop ......................................55
 

Appendix A: Acronyms ............................................................................................................ 58
 

vii 
 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

1. CKM Workshop Program 

Cryptographic Key Management Workshop Program 

June 8-9, 2009 

Monday, June 8, 2009 

8:00am - 9:00am Registration 

Morning Moderator: Elaine Barker, NIST 

9:00am - 9:15am Administrative Remarks and Purpose of Workshop 

Curt Barker, Chief Cybersecurity Advisor, NIST 

NIST Welcome (no slides) 

Patrick Gallagher, Deputy Director, NIST 

9:15am – 10:15 Morning Keynotes: Innovative Future Computing Applications 

Vice Admiral J. Mike McConnell (USN Ret), Senior Vice President, Booz 

Allen Hamilton (no slides) 

The Future of IT Security and Privacy: Dreams of an IT Practitioner 

George Strawn, Chief Information Officer, National Science Foundation 

10:15am - 11:15am Key Management Today: Status and Issues 

Key Management in Internet Security Protocols 

Russ Housley, Vigil Security, LLC 

NSA Key Management Experience 

Petrina Gillman and Jonathan Booth, NSA 

11:15am -11:30am Break 

11:30am - 12:00pm Key Management: Lessons Learned 

Vijay Bharadwaj, Microsoft 

12:00pm - 12:30pm Future Key Management Methods 

David McGrew, Cisco 

12:30pm - 1:00pm 2010 Transitions 

Elaine Barker, NIST 

1:00pm - 2:00pm Lunch 

1 
 

 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Monday, June 8, 2009 

Afternoon Moderator: Tim Polk, NIST 

2:00pm - 2:30pm Security and Ease of Use 

Marinus Struik, Certicom NL 

2:30pm - 3:00pm Afternoon Keynote: Advances in Telecommunications 

Towards Improving the Security of the Internet 

Vint Cerf, Vice President & Chief Internet Evangelist, Google 

3:00pm - 3:30pm Usability and Key Management 

Mary Theofanos, NIST 

3:30pm - 3:45pm Break 

3:45pm - 4:15pm Key Management Lifecycle 

Joe Skehan, Venafi 

4:15pm - 4:45pm Cloud Computing: Some Implications for Key Management 

Lee Badger, NIST 

4:45pm - 5:15pm Five-Minute Presentations 

IEEE Key Management Summit 2010, Matt Ball, Sun Microsystems 

Stephen Ranzini (no slides) 

5:15pm Adjourn for the Day 

2 
 

 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 

Morning Moderator: Bill Burr, NIST 

8:45am - 9:45am Morning Keynotes: The Future of Key Management 

Key Management and Electronic Fair Exchange 

Silvio Micali, Dugald C. Jackson Professor of Computer Science, MIT 

The Convergence of Key Management and Information Management 

Burt Kaliski, Director, EMC Innovation Network (Audio Presentation) 

9:45am – 10:45am Enterprise Key Management Panel 

Panel Chair: Robert Griffin, RSA 

Matt Ball, Sun 

Matt Fanto, Aegis Data Security 

Chii-Ren Tsai, Citigroup 

Steven Wierenga, Hewlett Packard (Audio Participant) 

10:45am - 11:00am Break 

11:00am - 11:30am Identity-Based Key Management 

Terence Spies, Voltage 

11:30am -12:00pm Scalability and Control Realized with a Centralized Key Management 

Approach 

John Marchioni, ARX 

12:00pm - 12:30pm Approaches to Globally Scalable Key Distribution 

Jeffrey Opper, BAE 

12:30pm - 1:00pm The Use of Group Key Management in Internet Standards 

Brian Weis, Cisco 

1:00pm - 2:00pm Lunch 

3 
 

 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 

Afternoon Moderator: Elaine Barker, NIST 

2:00pm - 2:30pm Key Management for Symmetric Keys 

Sarbari Gupta, Electrosoft 

2:30pm - 3:00pm StrongKey, Open Source Symmetric Key Management 

Arshad Noor, StrongAuth, Inc. 

3:00pm - 3:30pm Essentials of a Cryptographic Key Management Framework 

Miles Smid, Orion Security Solutions 

3:30pm - 3:45pm Break 

3:45pm - 4:15pm Leap-Ahead Technologies 

Miles Smid, Orion Security Solutions 

4:15pm - 4:45pm Five-Minute Presentation 

Speed-ups of Elliptic Curve-Based Schemes, Rene Struik, Certicom 

The Compliance Hangover, Brian Tokuyoshi, PGP Corporation 

PKI Lessons Learned, Santosh Chokhani, CygnaCom Solutions 

History of KM as I Know It, Lawrence Himes (no slides) 

4:45pm - 5:00pm Summary and Closing Remarks 

Elaine Barker, NIST 

Due to severe weather in the Gaithersburg area on the afternoon of June 

9, the meeting ended prior to this session due to technical difficulties. 

4 
 

 

 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

2. CKM Workshop Presentation Highlights organized by Presenter 

This section provides highlights of the presentations, comments, and questions of the CKM 

Workshop organized by Presenter. 

2.1 June 8, Morning Session: Elaine Barker, NIST, Moderator 

2.1.1 Introduction to the Workshop: William C. “Curt” Barker, NIST 

Mr. Barker is the NIST Computer Security Division Chief and NIST Cybersecurity Advisor1 

•	 This Cryptographic Key Management Workshop is the kickoff activity in a “leap-ahead” 

effort that we are undertaking as a part of the National Cybersecurity Initiative. The 

President recently announced the results of a cybersecurity policy review. Cybersecurity 

is a critical element in our national security posture. Our reliance on the internet is 

becoming nearly total. 

•	 When the financial crisis hit Lehman Brothers, no one was paying close attention to the 

fact that most of the international fund transfers were going through that institution. 

Suddenly that capability was lost and what was a very serious situation turned into a real 

crisis. 

•	 The role of key management in cybersecurity is critical. We have cryptographic 

functions that are used for identification and authentication, both from the standpoint of 

protecting privacy, but more importantly, for integrity and authentication mechanisms. 

•	 Even when we look at biometric methods for identification and authentication to control 

access to critical functions, we're still dependent on cryptographic functions for 

protecting the integrity of the biometrics. 

•	 The methods for distributing keys efficiently are different from the methods of being able 

to revoke and replace keys efficiently on a large scale. 

•	 We have institutional issues, including getting the mechanisms into place. We're told that 

many of our technical problems are more or less solved. Where can I buy the solution? 

Who's implementing it? 

•	 We need to understand the requirements of the Federal government. We have to be 

working hand-in-hand with industries. What are our resources and what are our practical 

constraints? 

•	 We're hoping this workshop will identify many new security requirements and propose a 

way to satisfy them. 

•	 The President’s policy review has brought home to a large community the nature of the 

threats that we're facing. It also demonstrates the urgency of having policies and 

technologies available and in place for mitigating those threats. 

•	 We have to come up with solutions for the next generation. From a standards point of 

view, we must have practical, adequately precise standards that will integrate effectively 

1

 Subsequent to this CKM Workshop, Mr. Barker was assigned to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Policy and 

Strategic Plans. He is currently the DOC Cybersecurity and Privacy Coordinator of DOC participation in the Executive 

Branch’s Cybersecurity Initiatives. 

5 
CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

into government operations and industry business practices and product development 

cycles. 

•	 We need to understand the potential impediments to satisfying those requirements in 

technical, social, and institutional contexts. We have to evaluate alternative approaches, 

and then we need to analyze the benefits versus the costs. 

•	 We're going to accept very high risks in our research because we're going for very high 

payoffs. We’re not going to accept high risks in the future Internet, because we don’t 

want the adversaries to have high payoffs. 

•	 In the end, we want to establish actions and roles that are not simply limited to the 

government. There are roles for government, roles for the academic community, and 

roles for industry. 

•	 One requirement is to have scalable solutions in very large applications. While we know 

how to handle key management reasonably effectively for up to a million people, we 

need to go a couple of orders of magnitude beyond that in the relatively near future. 

•	 Privacy concerns and security concerns are sometimes conflicting. The organizations 

that use security mechanisms and key management methods are very diverse. 

•	 We don’t have just a national security environment and a non-national security 

environment today; we have a collective community. 

•	 Some impediments to vastly improving CKM include: organizational requirements that 

are often conflicting, funding issues, using the funds effectively, and intellectual property 

interests. 

•	 Creating a standard that is widely used is difficult if the standard infringes on someone's 

intellectual property. Standards can only succeed if they may be used satisfactorily 

within existing intellectual property constraints. 

•	 The whole concept of the internet is based not on a single system, but a set of standard 

protocols that allow independent systems to interoperate with each other. We have to 

support this interoperability among future systems. 

•	 Standards must not only be technically correct and precise, but they must be 

understandable to, and easily used by, the general public. We need to be able to 

communicate what we're doing and why we're doing it to the people who make policies, 

procurement regulations, and user instructions. 

•	 When protecting stored data, good information management methods must be able to 

discover three years from now what algorithm and what key were used to encrypt the 

information. Often, the result of poor CKM for stored data is absolute security; no one, 

including ourselves, can use the data if the key used to decrypt the data cannot be 

retrieved. 

•	 Our present role is to get folks to work together in a manner that will create useful CKM 

standards in the future. We rely on other Federal agencies to state their specific 

requirements so we can come up with CKM standards that satisfy their requirements and 

are user-friendly, cost effective, and secure. 

6 
 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Executive and legislative oversight and resource allocation must be in the proper context. 

Expectations must be consistent with technical reality. We must work with industry, not 

just from the standpoint of innovation and technical expertise, but making sure the 

standards that result will be implemented, not just can be implemented. 

•	 We need to work with academia because we get many creative inputs from its members, 

who are not constrained by short-term corporate goals. We rely on obtaining innovative 

ideas from our colleagues overseas. 

•	 We need to develop CKM techniques for the future. We need to analyze them for 

security and ease of implementation and use. 

•	 We need to create standards that are testable. Ideally, they should be tested automatically 

so we can minimize the effort of conducting manual product assurance. 

•	 We need to have procedures for qualifying products as meeting our standards so that they 

may be easily procured by the government and others. The procurement qualification 

process needs to be efficient and strongly coupled with our technical specifications. 

•	 We must first identify key players in the CKM program. We then must establish 

appropriate roles and partnerships among the players. We need to coordinate our actions 

to produce widely acceptable solutions. We need to be able to demonstrate and test our 

solutions in actual applications. 

•	 We need to have standards that institutionalize acceptable CKM solutions in a manner 

that provides compatible products in the real world that are easily implemented and are 

efficiently used and maintained. 

2.1.2 Welcome to NIST: Dr. Patrick Gallagher, Acting Director2, NIST 

Dr. Gallagher welcomed the CKM Workshop participants to NIST. He stated that key 

management is critical for all sensitive information processing applications, and that economic 

prosperity is a major goal and needs information security. 

2.1.3 Future Computing Applications: Vice Adm. J. Mike McConnell, BAH 

Keynote Speaker: Vice Admiral J. Mike McConnell (USN Ret.) is a Senior Vice President of 

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) and a former Director of National Intelligence. He previously 

served as Director of the National Security Agency. President Obama has asked McConnell to 

continue to serve on his President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) which advises the 

President on all matters related to intelligence. 

•	 The Internet has changed the world. It has increased global productivity, manufacturing, 

and communications. It has changed the United States. It has increased our standard of 

living and is very wonderful device that we all enjoy. 

•	 The Internet has introduced a level of vulnerability that is unprecedented. We are worried 

about spies who might be invading our privacy and our sensitive or critical information 

systems, but mostly about attacks against our information systems that steal or destroy 

our data. Money is just data in some computer, and the whole system is based on 

confidence. A bank in Tokyo must be able to send $100 million in a couple of seconds 

2

 Dr. Gallagher has since been confirmed as the Director of NIST. 

7 
CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

with high confidence that the transaction will be receipted and reconciled, that the books 

will be brought up to date, and the transaction was completed correctly. If something 

interferes with that confidence, the banking system could fail. 

•	 The nation is at strategic risk. While nineteen terrorists destroyed the two world trade 

centers, they could have been even more successful had they done nothing more than 

destroy our vital national and economic data. This would have had an order of magnitude 

greater impact on the globe and the United States. 

•	 I was in a group that had an opportunity to brief then-candidate Barack Obama on 

security on the 2nd of September, 2008. We described lots of national problems: Iranian 

nuclear weapons, al Qaeda, Taliban, and Pakistan. He asked what else was out there that 

he needed to worry about. I said, “Senator, you know what the Chinese did to your 

personal computer system in terms of background papers and your speeches.” He said, 

“Yes, they accessed my data.” I told him that this was true, but if their intent was to 

destroy or modify his data and disrupt critical infrastructure control and information 

processing services, he and the country would be in big trouble. 

•	 The current Internet attacks are mostly to collect and exploit. Where someone may access 

privately sensitive data to get an information advantage, large stable organizations and 

countries are not likely to destroy another country’s highly valuable or sensitive data 

because of the consequences of world instability. 

•	 President Obama is now addressing cybersecurity at the most senior level. The 

Cyberspace Policy Review that was just issued attests to that. However, the 

Cybersecurity Initiative is primarily to protect .mil and .gov information. Somebody 

should worry about .com. Ninety eight percent of the world is .com or .edu or .org or a 

foreign segment of the global internet. 

•	 Now that we're so dependent on the Internet, it is proposed that a public-private 

partnership be formed to focus on protecting the Internet. That group would focus on 

what we need to do as a nation, even in a global partnership, to solve these problems. 

Panels would be set up to address strategy, technology, and operations. 

•	 My prediction is that we're going to have a catastrophic event, and then we're going to be 

screaming. We have an opportunity to address and solve Internet problems before we 

have that anticipated catastrophic event. We now have the attention of the new President. 

•	 Curt Barker showed a slide stating what needs to be done. What I hope is that the nation 

will come together in a partnership that collaborates and cooperates to do those things. 

•	 Ultimately, we need to re-engineer the Internet for the globe. We must design and build 

security into the new Internet. We must include countries such as Russia and China in 

creating the design. We have to do this because the globe could be so advantaged by this 

secure Internet capability and is currently so vulnerable. Something big must be done 

now. 

2.1.4 The Future of IT Security and Privacy, Dr. George O. Strawn, NSF 

Keynote Speaker: Dr. George Strawn is the National Science Foundation’s Chief Information 

Officer (CIO), where he guides the agency in the development and design of innovative 

information technology. Since joining the NSF in 1991, Dr. Strawn has served as the Executive 

8 
CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Officer of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and as the Director of the 

CISE Division of Advanced Networking Infrastructure and Research. He was the Program 

Director of the NSFNET, which became the first national DS-3 Internet backbone network. 

•	 In computer technology we keep moving faster and faster. We have seen an 

improvement of price-performance in computer technology by a factor of nearly one 

million in the past 30 years. 

•	 Many NSF Internet applications need security, including email, project funds 

management, travel, proposal submission and proposal evaluation. 

•	 If true security is required on today’s Internet, a user must follow one of three laws: 

Don’t buy a computer, Don’t turn it on, or Don’t attach it to a network. 

•	 NSF needs better integrated cryptography in its sensitive applications. Currently, NSF 

doesn’t use PKI because of cost and complexity, but does use identity management, 

including identifying users and visitors, additional authentication of NSF users, and 

authorization of NSF users to systems and data. 

•	 NSF security policy has been continually modified in accordance with new problems: we 

encrypt in https, we seldom do anything that requires un-proven methodologies for the 

first time, we follow all government rules, and we want to be told that something new is 

mandatory in order to justify a new budget item. 

•	 NSF now combines information management with security management. It has a strict 

security awareness program. Its visitor network was separated from its internal NSF user 

network, and all social security numbers in the system are encrypted. 

•	 In the next decade, we foresee more OMB/NIST mandates; more programs for protecting 

the Internet, rather than protecting users from the Internet; and more security designedinto commercially available acceptable products. 

•	 We would truly like to be able to create secure systems from insecure components. 

2.1.5 Internet Key Management Security: Russ Housley, IETF Chair, Vigil Sec. 

This talk focused on the use of key management in today’s internet. 

•	 Nearly all internet security protocols use cryptography for authentication, integrity and/or 

confidentiality, and hence, require key management (KM). 

•	 KM brings expense to the Internet because of the complexity, required infrastructure, and 

the computation power needed to perform cryptographic protection. 

•	 The Internet security protocols use various KM approaches, including: pre-shared keys 

(e.g., manually initialized, communicating parties mutually derive a new key for data 

protection), PK cryptography (key agreement, key transport) , and Key Distribution 

Centers (the KDC has a secret key for every subscriber; the KDC generates and 

distributes a subscriber-subscriber data protection key using the KDC-subscriber keys). 

•	 Public key certificates bind a subscriber’s identity to a public key; a certificate contains: 

the subject’s name, the subject’s public key, the key’s validity period and the issuer’s 

name. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 The initial enrollment of a subscriber is the most expensive and hardest part of key 

management, because it takes human interaction with a subscriber in a trusted 

environment. 

•	 IETF protocol efforts include: IKEv1 and IKEv2, TLS, Secure Shell, EAP; CMS and 

Kerberos. 

•	 The Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) provides authentication for people and 

devices. 

•	 IETF enrollment efforts include: KeyProv and a dynamic symmetric key provisioning 

protocol. 

•	 There is a clear need for standards in certificate enrollment, but previous attempts have 

failed. 

•	 There is a clear need for cryptographic algorithm agility. Negotiation among competing 

algorithms increases complexity, but also allows transition more easily when an 

algorithm gets old or broken. 

•	 There have been a lot of transitions from one algorithm to another in encryption and 

secure hashing. The Internet community sees a need to respond to these changes in 

algorithms, especially when a security flaw is found, but seldom in other circumstances. 

A transition takes 5 to 15 years, and the cost of implementation, testing and deployment 

are high because it causes a loss of interoperability in some circumstances. 

2.1.6 Key Management Experience at NSA, Petrina Gillman and Jonathon Booth, NSA 

Presenter: Petrina Gillman: 

•	 The NSA Key Management lifecycle model has arisen from over 50 years of experience 

in designing and managing cryptographic systems. 

•	 Key management starts with identifying user needs and requirements in a KM planning 

document (e.g., limiting those who can request keys − usually one or two special people 

for requesting a set of keys for a specific time period). 

•	 Cryptography is required in cyberspace and can provide more information assurance 

capabilities. 

•	 There is an expressed preference for key distribution using public key cryptography. 

•	 NSA requires strict accounting for keys, multi-person (between 2 and N people) control 

on plaintext keys, secure key storage, and three layer key management, including 

transport, packaging, and key format. 

•	 There are few standards for key generation, ordering, distribution, accounting, 

destruction, commercial implementation, and key format. 

•	 CKM is growing in complexity; point-to-point communications security is old 

technology. It is desirable to have interoperability with existing legacy systems. 

•	 NSA is helping to define standards packages and key formats in the IETF and PKIX for 

the Suite B cryptographic algorithms (i.e., those used to protect classified data up to 

SECRET). 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 NSA has a goal of working with industry to define a common set of cryptographic 

algorithms that can be used in creating products that meet a wide range of U.S. 

Government needs. 

•	 NSA would like to have some interoperability among high-assurance government devices 

and commercial off-the-shelf devices, especially for emergency situations, such as 9/11 

and hurricane Katrina. 

•	 NSA would support defining key formats as a parameter that could be imported to an 

algorithm for interoperability among government and commercial devices. Everyone 

likes to do their own key format now; there is a key formatting explosion. 

Presenter: Jonathan Booth, NSA 

•	 NSA is now more open in its interactions with public groups, e.g., cryptographic message 

syntax in RFC 3852, trust anchor format and protocol standard, an asymmetric private 

key format, and symmetric and asymmetric key management packages. 

•	 NSA does not intend to recreate existing standards, but rather work with open groups to 

establish standards that also satisfy NSA’s requirements. 

•	 NSA wants to support wider audiences of users, including FEMA, allies, charities, State 

governments, and emergency first-responders. 

•	 A nested security approach protects a red key (i.e., unencrypted data encrypting key) with 

integrity, authenticity and secrecy provisions. 

•	 There is a tradeoff between security and simplicity. Good security requires complexity in 

certain security components, layers of protection, layers of metadata in security packages, 

and a robust metadata system to support security provisions. Some cryptographic key 

metadata can be hidden. Security packages will be as complex or simple as the user 

wants within a procured KM system. 

2.1.7 Vijay Bharadwaj, Microsoft 

•	 The presentation was about lessons learned from Microsoft’s extensive use of 

cryptography within their product line (e.g., a crypto API in Windows since 1996 and 

CNG in Windows VISTA since 2006/2007). He emphasized the need to look at the 

entire system and that the biggest issues in crypto-based security were with scalability, 

federated systems, and the customer’s specific domain. 

•	 He described the Microsoft use of a security development lifecycle (SDL) that is used 

for all security developments in the company. All components of the system are 

developed simultaneously and then laid out on paper so that the system flow can be 

analyzed for ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that can go wrong in the total system, 

not in individual components in isolation. Evaluators must think of how an entire system 

can be broken. 

•	 He emphasized the differences between hardware and software challenges: hardware has 

different failure modes and different update capabilities than software. 

•	 Microsoft systems are designed using a tool kit of mechanisms (subsystems) and best 

practices. There is a great need for a key management tool kit of generic building blocks 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

from which individually chosen subsystems can be integrated into the total system. Key 

management is an application that must be form-fit to the user requirement. We need 

methods to analyze the resulting system end-to-end. 

•	 He emphasized 1) that KM is a major requirement that is difficult and complex, 2) the 

need to analyze the entire system for both security and reliability, and 3) that an 

enterprise KM is an un-trusted client in a trusted server, versus a trusted client in an untrusted server, as the case when a consumer uses cloud computing. 

•	 He stressed 1) that users don’t care about keys, 2) that users don’t like to worry about 

details, but need to be guided, 3) that humans tend to be the weak link, and 4) that there 

needs to be a crypto administrator in charge of cryptography who controls a user’s 

identification and authentication. 

•	 He believes 1) that a CKM framework was needed, 2) that SP 800-57 is a good start, 3) 

that security has to be built into applications and systems, 4) that security best practices 

had to be supported by security toolkits, 5) that algorithm agility was necessary, and 6) 

that there is a need to know what system state is expected by a user and that the user can 

determine the security state of an application. 

•	 Keys are used to achieve security, but real-life security objectives are defined in human 

terms. Systems are broken by exploiting this difference. 

•	 He stated that KM systems are very big, comprehensive and application-specific, and 

that security analysis must encompass all the players in a dynamic information system 

and network. 

•	 He stated that ceremonies are useful for analyzing the end-to-end security of processes 

and can detect “out of band’ attacks, such as social engineering; a ceremony is a 

structured diagram of specific transactions among a set of entities to determine 

weaknesses in an entity or process flow. 

•	 A key management platform for composability with existing subsystems, such as 

identity verification and authentication, is needed; a collection of generic building blocks 

of security that can be integrated into a system and methods to analyze the resulting 

system are needed in creating a good key management platform. 

2.1.8 Future Key Management Methods: David McGrew, Cisco 

•	 The focus of the talk was from a manufacturer’s perspective and included the challenges 

of the equipment distribution problem and creating a manufacturer’s device certificates. 

A manufacturer often ships devices to customers with a hardwired private key, device 

certificate, and device identifier. This would give the capability for devices to 

authenticate each other from a distance, but would not solve the authorization problem. 

•	 Threshold cryptography was discussed (i.e., M out of N keys must be available to 

perform an operation), as well as manufacturing certificates, automating manual key 

distribution, and a symmetric key generation system. 

•	 Threshold cryptography is useful for encrypted data storage access (e.g., a minimum 

number of people must cooperate in order to retrieve sensitive, stored information. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 There is a problem with replacing the keys and updating revocation lists. We need to be 

able to streamline the distribution process and replace manual key distribution with a 

minimal impact process. 

•	 We need an automated CKM system that can be implemented in existing systems. 

• Requirements include: the authenticated/authorized distribution of keys, keys must 

persist over a long term, a system that replaces/updates keys when needed, key creation 

should not be centralized, minimal operational impact, and the CKM should be 

interoperable with Multipoint Key Distribution (MKD). Candidates for this type of KM 

system would be Kerberos (for session keys), OASIS (for storage keys) or GDOI (for 

group key management). 

2.1.9 2010 Transitions: Elaine Barker, NIST 

•	 The talk described NIST recommendations to transition from algorithms and key sizes 

that are believed to be too weak (i.e., no longer secure) to a stronger set of algorithms and 

key sizes, including deadlines for transition from the old set to the new set. 

•	 A security strength (AKA “bits of security”) is a number associated with the expected 

amount of work (often measured in binary operations) that is required to obtain any given 

key used by an application by testing all possible keys. The security strength is specified 

in bits and is currently a value from the set {80, 112, 128, 192, 256}. 80 bits of security 

are good through December 31, 2010. Thereafter, NIST recommends 112 bits as the 

minimum. 

•	 Material was provided from NIST SP 800-57, Part 1 (for algorithms, key sizes, security 

strengths, and recommended transition times), FIPS 186-3 (for digital signatures), and 

FIPS 180-3 (hash functions). See the presentation slides or referenced documents for 

details and comparisons among algorithms and parameters. 

2.2 June 8, 2008, Afternoon Session; Tim Polk, NIST, Moderator 

2.2.1 Security and Ease of Use: Marinus Struik, Certicom Research, NL 

•	 The talk focused on the assertion that security can be a justification for making a system 

easy to use. A good system should have a configuration that is easy to understand. 

Understanding a secure system must be attained. Security must be designed into the 

system and then be fully used in order to be understood. 

•	 Security technology can make trust lifecycle management intuitive and hidden from the 

user. 

•	 Challenge: Bridge the gap between state-of-the-art security that is known and security 

that is actually being used. 

•	 Education gap: Conventional wisdom is that “computer security systems can’t be 

effective unless they are complex and difficult to use.” While this may once have been 

true, the security profession has witnessed dramatic improvements over the last ten years. 

•	 Perception gap: Conventional wisdom is that security technologies are too expensive to 

implement with sensor and control networks, due to energy constraints, and 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

computational and storage constraints. There is also a gap between security perceived by 

the user and actual security provided to the user. 

•	 Affordability gap: Conventional wisdom is that the licensing cost of security 

technologies may present a hurdle. Licensing models, such as those used with the 

consumer electronics industry, may have some merit for ubiquitous computing as well, 

since both are concerned with mass-scale deployment of networked devices ("the internet 

of things") and enforcement of compliance. 

•	 The Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) architecture was used to discuss various layerlayer issues, both between peers and between upper layers and lower layers in a network. 

•	 The presentation addressed problems with setting up secure links; devices and device 

IDs; reusing a key at different layers; a multi-application device in which various 

applications could have different security requirements; certificate generation; 

communication encapsulated in one protected part of a device that can be trusted; 

idealized provisioning, where there is no security perimeter, versus where there is a 

security perimeter with specified trust inside; various network technologies; little human 

involvement in secure system operations; and having many root keys permanently in a 

device that are seldom used except in accordance with security policy. Trusted modules 

are possible, but he would like to minimize trust dependencies. 

•	 A Security Policy Engine was mentioned, but not dwelt on. It is surmised that this is an 

automaton that implements a user’s data security policy by creating or selecting an 

appropriate cryptographic policy and supporting key management policy that achieves 

the data security policy. This has been a topic of research proposals and projects, but 

little advancement has been achieved in implementation and use. 

•	 He asserted that virtually no additional training is required for a user in order to 

effectively use cryptography if CKM is properly designed. 

2.2.2 Improving the Security of the Internet, Dr. Vint Cerf, Google 

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Cerf is a Vice President and the Chief Internet Evangelist of Google. He 

served as a senior vice president of MCI from 1994-2005, as VP of the Corporation for National 

Research Initiatives from 1986-1994, and as Principal Scientist for the U.S. Defense Advanced 

Research Projects Agency. Known as one of the "Fathers of the Internet," Dr. Cerf is the codesigner of the architecture of the Internet and was founding president of the Internet Society. 

•	 Stronger authentication is needed for smart Internet “edge devices” (e.g., routers, routing 

switches, integrated access devices) that provide authenticated access to the backbone 

network, as well as stronger authentication for active processes, users, and digital objects, 

with the implication that we need better access controls and two-part authenticators for 

devices. 

•	 More vulnerabilities will be found in browsers, operating systems, routers, domain name 

resolution processes, DPI-based attacks (e.g., against TCP) and MANETs (auto 

configuration and overrun conditions). 

•	 Attacks include zombies, botnets, drive-by downloads, and zero day attacks. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 A bright prospect of solving these problems was not presented. A list of protective 

measures that "sort of work,", "hair brained ideas" and "obvious responses" was 

provided. 

•	 An extortion threat was described for getting money by threatening to take specific 

networks down, but not the Internet itself. 

•	 If hosts and routers must authenticate themselves, the overhead will be too high. 

•	 A certificate for every person in the general population is somewhat problematic. It is 

difficult to really verify the initial identifier without context. 

•	 The Trusted Computing Base is a three-decades-old concept (“Orange Book efforts”). 

•	 Verifying that the object code in a computer is the “same as” the source code is a difficult 

problem. 

•	 Google has started to “crawl” the WWW looking for malware. Malware is flagged, and 

users are warned about visiting a flagged website. 

•	 Computer configurations that have gone “bad” are difficult to detect. 

•	 Trust levels were discussed, with communicating parties going to increased levels of 

trust, based on their common security policy. 

•	 We may need to consider trust models similar to those used by banks for guaranteed 

signatures and risk limits on credit card transactions. 

•	 Multiple identities with multiple identifiers for an individual are a must. Attribute 

certificates stating the authorizations of differing identities must be supported. 

•	 Individual activities must not be confused with organizational activities. 

•	 The roles for an individual must be supported, and role-based authentication is needed 

(i.e., the authentication of a person will depend on the role that the person is attempting to 

fill). Roles for processes must be similarly supported. 

2.2.3 Usability and Key Management: Mary Theofanos, NIST 

•	 The presenter provided a commentary on the difficulty of using cryptographic security 

systems, which have little regard for the convenience of the user. We need to take the 

user’s perspective into account when designing cryptographic systems if we want the 

security to be actually used, as opposed to being circumvented. 

•	 It is not acceptable to only have a choice between usability with little security and 

security with little usability. A CKM system designer has to know the prospective user 

and to understand that security is not the primary task of the user. A system must be 

efficient, effective and understandable. There is no complex system that is secure. 

•	 Users will bypass security when it gets in the way. Users feel that timeliness and 

efficiency are more important than security; A LOAD-AND-GO security service must be 

provided to users. 

•	 An experiment was described about how easy or hard it was to use the PKI for the 

security of a wireless network at the Palo Alto Research Center. The objective was to 

15
 
 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

give 200 users an X.509 certificate and to use the Extensible Authentication Protocol in 

TLS mode to authenticate to the wireless network. The user was asked to request and 

retrieve certificates through a web-based interface. Eight computer science Ph.D. students 

volunteered for the experiment; 38 distinct steps were involved in obtaining and using a 

certificate; the average time to request, receive a certificate, and configure a secure 

environment was 140 minutes. Many of the students described PKI enrollment as the 

most difficult computer task they had ever been asked to perform. All had little idea of 

what they had done to their computer systems. Establishing security had reduced their 

ability to configure and maintain their own machines. The conclusion of the experiment 

was that usability is more than just the user interface. 

• CKM designers have to adopt the mantra of making it easy for users to do the right 

thing. Designers have to align the design to the user’s conceptual model of a security 

system. The interface has to use terminology that is intuitively obvious to the general 

computer user. The complexity of the CKM system has to be minimized for the user if it 

is to be used effectively. 

•	 Certificate pop-ups have to be minimized, because users have become accustomed to 

ignoring pop-ups. Factors that inhibit the adoption of new technologies have to be 

eliminated, and those that promote the adoption of effective security technologies have to 

be encouraged. 

2.2.4 A Holistic Approach to Key Management Lifecycle: Joe Skehan, Venafi 

•	 Pressure from many sides drives the use of encryption: regulation compliance, outside 

auditors, the Board of Directors, policy compliance, protection of critical data, etc. The 

question is: Who owns encryption? IT operations, auditors, Infosec, or business units? 

The answer is everyone. There are many competing sets of rules and people who have a 

stake. 

•	 Encryption challenges include: data security, key security, enforceability, operational 

efficiency, system availability, reputational risk, business continuity, disaster recovery, 

and privacy. 

•	 A security analysis should start with risk management, including an inventory of keys, 

certificates, and applications. An application must be configured for enterprise-wide 

encryption, which includes client protection, servers, networks and archival data storage. 

•	 Security, cryptography, and cryptographic keys can be managed using a cryptography 

management platform that can track everything throughout the life cycle of provisioning, 

enrollment, monitoring, and discovery. Included would be the processes involving keys 

and certificates, cryptography and CKM policies, secure implementation validation, 

audit, and security notifications (must notify customers affected by a security breach). 

•	 Major design issues include: What should be done when a certificate expires? Who 

should administrator a CKM system? When information is lost, was it in encrypted form? 

When should certificates expire? Should key management be automated or manual? 

What cryptographic algorithms, protocols, and interfaces are being used? 

•	 The reality of lifecycle key management is that policy and workflow must be continuous, 

and all the components must be integrated properly. Enterprise encryption policies must 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

be comprehensive and cover a wide range of components, including certificates, keys, 

algorithms, validity periods, and multiple person control. Policy is the overarching 

guidance and requirement that must be achieved. 

•	 Enterprise encryption policies must cover data, discovery, keys, certificates, key storage, 

applications, disaster recovery, validation and monitoring, reporting of workflow and 

process, personnel roles and assignments. 

•	 Encryption management and distribution models cover a broad range, from manual to 

automated management involving several types of agents and protocols. 

•	 Requirements and constraints driving encryption management models include levels of 

automation, automated agents, remote access decisions, duplication of keys, centralized 

monitoring and alerting. 

2.2.5 Cloud Computing: Implications for Key Management, Lee Badger, NIST 

•	 This presentation described a future technology that may bring the biggest challenge to 

effective key management and security in general. 

•	 Cloud computing will provide convenient, remote, on-demand utilization (e.g., rental) of 

computing power and applications that the user cannot afford to maintain locally, but 

may need from time to time. This capability will provide ubiquitous network access, ondemand self-service of computing power, metered-use (rent by the hour), elasticity of the 

capability meeting real-time requirements, and resource pooling. 

•	 The result is that there will be software, hardware, and infrastructures as services to be 

obtained at will. The question that must be asked is where and how will security in 

general, and CKM specifically, take place? Who or what is responsible for security while 

data is being processed within the cloud: by the cloud itself, or by the application? 

•	 How can applications be secured in a cloud-computing environment? Can virtual 

machines maintain separate security policies?
 

•	 Cloud capability may be deployed by various cloud providers to a multitude of cloud 

customers in various ways, including: software as a service, platform as a service, and 

infrastructure as a service. 

•	 Delivery models of service providers include: internal, community, public, and hybrid. 

Each has benefits and some controversy. 

•	 Two basic kinds of clouds include storage clouds and processing clouds; both require 

extremely fast, reliable, secure and low-cost networking. 

•	 Clouds are a good fit for very large-scale applications involving huge quantities of data 

and vast computing power that is often highly variable in quantity over time. 

•	 Cloud computing already has a wide array of interested participants, both providers and 

consumers. 

•	 API’s are being defined and implemented for cloud computing, including a means for: 

configuring storage, managing key-pairs, configuring IP addresses, and managing 

instances of control, such as run, reboot, terminate, and query. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 CKM in a cloud environment must provide the usual capability of generating, using, 

storing, distributing, revoking, verifying, and destroying keys. Two scenarios of CKM 

are emerging: key management by the cloud infrastructure, or key management by 

specific applications that have been entrusted to run in the cloud infrastructure. 

•	 A cloud infrastructure CKM model was described that has a centralized cloud security 

center for multiple data storage and computation centers. 

•	 Hardware configurations were described, including virtual machines to be used for 

security. It was noted that having fully trusted virtual machines is not as simple as it 

looks, because virtual machines can be suspended, copied, moved, or lost. 

•	 A Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) implementation was tested for quality, and all 

systems failed the tests; device emulation was particularly vulnerable. 

•	 Conclusions: Cloud infrastructures can help in some key management areas. Clouds are 

designed to separate users. Users may be able to leverage the cloud infrastructure as a 

trusted third party 

•	 One workshop participant asserted that cloud computing is the most insecure technology 

to come along and cannot be secured. 

2.2.6 CKM Workshop Five Minute Presentations: June 8, 2009 

Workshop participants could register to give five minute presentations at the end of each day. 

Two were given at the end of the first day: 

Steven Ranzini, University Bank: 

•	 He gave a description of a Southeast Michigan pilot program within a health provider 

community that will utilize Federated Identity Management systems to manage health 

databases. 

•	 He asserted that small, distributed databases are inherently safer than very large, 

centralized ones for several reasons. He stated that some approaches used health care 

“silos” to manage health care information, and discussed first-responder emergency 

access to patient data (i.e., the EMT doesn’t know where the emergency victim’s 

healthcare data are located when the responder first starts to look for it) in unplanned 

circumstances, which caused special security provisions to be needed. 

Matt Ball, SUN Systems: 

•	 He announced an IEEE key management summit meeting to be held on May 4-5, 2010, 

in Lake Tahoe, Nevada; the website URL is http://www.keymanagementsummit.org. 

2.3 June 9, 2009, Morning Session: Bill Burr, NIST, Moderator 

2.3.1 Key Management and Fair Electronic Exchange, Dr. Silvio Micali, MIT 

Keynote speaker: Dr. Silvio Micali is a professor of computer science in the Department of 

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. He received his Ph.D. in Computer 

Science from the University of California at Berkeley. He has over 80 publications and over 40 

foreign and domestic patents, primarily in the field of cryptography. 

18
 
 

 

CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 The presentation focused on key management as an enabler of other cryptographic 

technologies, including fair electronic exchange (fair exchange is where both 

communicating parties obtain exactly the information and assurance they need). Nonrepudiation of a transaction is needed, even with digital signature. A virtual trusted party 

is needed to complete transactions, even if a receiver does not want to use nonrepudiation. 

•	 Fair Electronic Exchange is defined so that both parties of an electronic transaction get 

what they need, or neither gets anything. One party gets the message only if the other 

party gets a receipt for the message. This is crucial to electronic commerce, but not easy, 

even with digital signatures. 

•	 An online trusted third party (TTP) is not acceptable because of connectivity overhead. 

An offline Trusted Post Office model is acceptable. Certified email was used as an 

example. 

•	 Example: the TTP is off-line; the TTP is unaware that S (the sender) and R (the receiver) 

are transacting. If S and R are both trusted, no additional security is needed; otherwise, a 

trusted, offline “electronic post office” is needed to provide additional security. Details 

of the mathematical transformations needed for a transaction are contained in the 

presentation slides. 

•	 One laptop computer can handle the role of the Trusted Electronic Post Office for an 

entire country. 

•	 An economic justification for a Fair Electronic Exchange system was provided. 

•	 Fair Contract Signing between two un-trusted parties was the next example; group 

keying3 is necessary in many electronic transactions, because not all parties are available, 

but the availability of a subset is acceptable. 

•	 Conclusion: Mathematical foundation + concrete wisdom = good key management 

•	 The presenter holds patents that cover the topics of the presentation. 

2.3.2 Key Management and Information Management, Burt Kaliski, EMC 

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Burt Kaliski is the Director of the EMC Innovation Network, which 

purchased RSA Security, where he was chief scientist and vice president of research. Dr. Kaliski 

was a primary developer of the Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS). He received three 

degrees from MIT, where his research focused on cryptography. 

•	 Good key management (KM) must be used to support good cryptography, which must be 

used to support good information security, which must be used to support good 

information management. 

•	 The talk surveyed the history and future of Public Key Management (PKM); PKM is 

based on the original invention of the Diffie-Hellman public key cryptographic algorithm 

in 1976, and the RSA algorithm in 1977, along with many improvements up to the 

3

 In this context, group keying is normally implemented as follows: The key K is formed by combining at least M key 

components out of a total of N key components, where M ≤ N. Each of the N key components is held by a different entity. Any 

M or more key components can be combined using a mathematical process to form the key K. 

19
 
CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

present. The focus within EMC is on the convergence of cryptographic key management 

(CKM) with information management. 

•	 They are now looking at the bigger, system-wide picture, not just cryptography, which is 

a component of security, and not just security, which is a service of information 

management. This broader picture will shape the future of cryptography. 

•	 Information policy will be derived in the future from information requirements, which 

include security, information rights, data leakage protection, data retention, data search 

and index, authentication and authorization. Policies will be assigned to data, based on 

classification, and automated data classification will make scalability feasible. 

•	 Data security using cryptography trades the problem of protecting lots of data with the 

identical, but smaller, problem of protecting the key(s) that protect the data. 

•	 The security system that implements and supports cryptography is more important than 

the specific cryptographic algorithms, in many circumstances. Security needs a trusted 

system that enforces access control. Physical security needs a system that can be 

virtualized. 

•	 Data managers must be able to assign information management policies and, 

subsequently, information security policies to data, based on some classification schema, 

including the application, metadata, and/or content of the data. Policies are derived from 

information requirements and include: information rights management, data leakage 

protection, data retention, data search and index, authentication and authorization. 

•	 Automated data classification provides scalability. Information policy must be primary 

and must be able to drive security policy, which can be called information-centric policy 

management. 

•	 Information management must be based on a service-oriented architecture, with multiple 

levels of display of information to the manager. A cryptographic key is just another piece 

of information in a database; if wrapped, a key is really just data needing the same 

protection as normal data. 

•	 Policy for managing personal identity information is just another extension of 

information management. 

•	 The presentation ended with the question: What if there was no Public Key 

Cryptography? His response: quantum computing threats are real, but have not been 

mounted. Second question: Could symmetric key management, trusted hardware, etc. fill 

in the need? No answer was provided. 

2.3.3 Enterprise Key Management Panel, Chair: Robert Griffin, RSA 

Chii-Ren Tsai, Citigroup 

•	 His presentation focused on Citigroup’s security program that utilizes Key Management 

(KM) in combination with a security program based on risk analysis. The most prevalent 

problems with KM today include: weak pseudo-random number generators for key 

generation; cryptographic keys that are hard-coded into the application; approved 

Certificate Authorities, cryptographic algorithms and key lengths that are not used; 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

cryptographic keys that are not renewed periodically; and cryptographic keys and 

passwords that are not encrypted/protected in storage or in transit. 

•	 Future directions include: central KM solutions for managing keys in Hardware Security 

Modules (HSM’s) or software; a cryptographic key management framework to simplify 

KM; segregating key management from key use; key attributes and KM policy, 

especially for symmetric keys; and KM policy mapping for interoperability. 

Matt Ball, Sun Microsystems 

•	 Sun's perspective on enterprise KM was presented. The mission is to ensure that a user 

does not lose or destroy the key! Enterprise KM includes: the secure creation of keys, 

auto replication of keys, KM policy, audit logging, role-based management, scalability 

across an enterprise (good availability and a large number of keys and applications), 

interoperability, and standards compliance (e.g., IEEE P1619.3, OASIS KM 

interoperability protocol) and secure key export to trusted partners. 

Matt Fanto, Aegis 

•	 The focus of the talk was on KM in the auto industry. Cryptography is being, or will be, 

used in all aspects of the automotive business, including within the car itself. They are 

concerned with (1) a single point of failure, where systems are without support for 

redundancy, so that KM systems or backups are at the risk of a BIG loss (catastrophic); 

(2) immediate needs versus costs, and a more flexible credentialing system – many 

manufacturers are locked into the current system with no way to change − Electronic Key 

Management (EKM) is needed that can leverage existing policies and authentication 

methods to lower cost and give faster deployment; and (3) an offline availability of keys. 

Steven Wierenga, Hewlett Packard 

•	 HP has a long history of KM for the financial debit/payment network. The drivers for 

cryptography are recent legislation on notification of breaches, the Payment Card 

Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) that provides mandates for all credit card 

companies, plus large-scale hacks, fines, and remediation. HP would like to see 

interoperable KM systems that support cryptography. 

Panel Discussion: 

•	 Response to audience questions about what is wanted/needed: 

- Citigroup would like to see split responsibility for KM implementation and operation; 

- SUN Microsystems would like to see a single industry standard; 

- The auto industry is just starting to use enterprise KM. Interoperability will be a problem 

because keys are burned into devices during vehicle manufacture; 

- RSA: Standards must be extensible/flexible enough to take into account new user groups 

and new technologies; 

- HP: The OASIS KMIP (Key Management Interoperability Protocol) and Client Software 

Development Kit (SDK) with a no-cost license. 

•	 Comments made by the audience: 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

- Enterprise Key Management: Counter measures are needed. Simplify key functions, and 

improve ease of use. Public key management is difficult, but doable; certificates make it 

doable. Symmetric key management is good, but cumbersome − a wedding of public key 

and symmetric key management must be supported. 

- PKCS: The 1995 standard must be able to evolve to keep up with new technology and 

applications. 

- Criminals will go after the highest value target. Security managers must mitigate the risk 

and protect valuable and sensitive data. 

2.3.4 Identity-Based Key Management (IBKM): Terence Spies, Voltage Security 

•	 The scope of the presentation was enterprise-level key management for encryption in 

sensitive applications. The intended consumer of this presentation is an enterprise 

developer that needs to encrypt data. 

•	 It is important to know for whom the CKM system is being developed. 

•	 For many of you, crypto is a lot of fun. However, designers must make cryptography 

easy to use and friendly. Currently, anti-spam tools are understood and desired by users, 

but cryptography is not. 

•	 Premise: Whenever data is in the clear, it can be hacked. We must keep data encrypted 

as much as possible. 

•	 One security solution is data link protection, whereby device keys are used in 

communication devices at every end of every link to protect data. However, there will 

still be vulnerabilities in applications. 

•	 We need to be able to turn an access control policy into an encryption key, and the access 

control policy plus a credential into a decryption key. 

•	 Three different key management scenarios were described, satisfying very different 

customer needs: (1) Intranet portal document sharing; (2) customer communications; and 

(3) partner-to-partner data sharing. Examples of Identity-Based Key Management 

(IBKM) architectures and requirements were provided for each. 

•	 The advantages of IBKM are: authentication is done at decryption time, which matches a 

user’s expectations of the authentication needed to get information; keys are short lived, 

making a new public key is nearly free; and the time between identity binding and key 

issuance is short, as opposed to bind-first systems. IBKM provides a model for thinking 

about application-level key management. 

•	 Because of application vulnerabilities, some data must be encapsulated no matter where 

processed, stored, or transferred. Applications must be able to process ciphertext when 

given a security policy and the necessary credentials. 

•	 Access policy must be definable as some function or algorithm that enforces the policy 

via a cryptographic key (e.g., encipher, decipher, sign, verify, authenticate). 

•	 Credential Policy must be definable as a function or algorithm that processes ciphertext 

and yields plaintext. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Taxonomy of keys: signature creation, signature verification, communication privacy, 

stored data privacy, authentication. 

•	 The Chief Information Security Officer must be able to communicate with enterprise 

security developers. Access control data must be the basis of cryptographic mechanism 

control. Failures in many KM services often force users to get a key outside of the KM 

system with disastrous results. 

•	 IBKM looks like access control. Your Name@domain is a natural identifier and can be 

used effectively as such, with appropriate authentication and verification. This identifier 

is simply a Directory object for a user. RFC 822 identifiers are as universal as they come. 

•	 Benefits: IBKM yields automatic identity authentication at decryption time. Users are 

used to providing their ID and authenticator to access data. Identity Based Encryption 

(IBE) can also be used for binding to groups, i.e., ID = group or role. The key server 

authenticates the identity for access authorization. 

•	 Information management policy and security policy can be implemented and enforced by 

the key server. 

2.3.5 Scalability using Centralized Key Management, John Marchioni, ARX 

•	 The talk focused on scalability and the need for using a centralized key management 

approach. Specifically, cost-efficient, scalable, secure and easy-to-use PKI applications 

are needed by industry. 

•	 From the vendor’s perspective, the user is the problem! There are major problems with 

distributing keys in terms of scalability when the user gets involved. The process of key 

revocation often breaks down because users do not maintain updated revocation lists. It’s 

difficult to audit key usage and key actions remotely. 

•	 With a centralized key distribution system, actions do not get lost and revocation and 

certificate control are easier. An audit of actions is much easier if the user has to go 

through a central facility to use the key. 

•	 A PKI should be a business customer enabler. Customers don’t want to be involved in 

KM. They just want to get their job done! 

•	 Centralized key management provides a lower administration burden. An enterprise 

cannot rely on end users for security, especially managing keys. Centralized KM 

minimizes the involvement of the user; it provides scalability with control. Organizations 

of all sizes can benefit from centralized key management strategies; they will find 

centralized KM both affordable and durable. 

•	 In many customers’ environments, users need to digitally sign for a transaction very 

infrequently. Non-repudiation services are also seldom required; authentication is often a 

local matter. One-time password tokens are often used, and an identity-challenge 

oftentimes suffices for a signature if it is done whenever a signature is needed. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

2.3.6 Globally Scalable Key Distribution: Jeffrey Opper, BAE Systems 

•	 DARPA supported some work on globally scalable key distribution for military 

applications, including very large groups of users. Examples include sensors remotely 

deployed in very large numbers (sometimes called sensor dust); millions of micro, 

unmanned aviation vehicles; and global support of secure wireless delivery systems, such 

as radios, telephones, and GPS. 

•	 The revocation of potentially compromised keys must be completed in seconds, not 

minutes. Very large subsets of keys need to be revoked upon command. The revocation 

of keys must scale according to the number of end points revoked, not to the total number 

of keys. It is permissible to miss a rekey, but not a revocation (i.e., fail-secure). A 

binary-tree approach is used. A key distribution algorithm must guarantee that only a 

specific subset of good nodes has good keys for a period. 

•	 Key management requirements of the presenter’s customers include: secure global key 

distribution; responsive key revocation; customized “last mile” delivery for special 

environments, such as the military; scalable key encryption algorithms must support 

secure wireless delivery; a near-zero vulnerability of disclosure of a key must be 

maintained; and an override of policy must be available when a commander demands it. 

•	 The Certificate Authority deals with keys globally, while the end user deals with them 

locally. The KMS must be more dynamic as the number of customers scale upwards. 

Key Management requirements include secure global key distribution; responsive key 

revocation: a near-zero vulnerability window, due to compromise; revocation within 

seconds, not minutes; delegation to remote management with an override capability; and 

KM must be mission and context driven. 

•	 Summary: Our global presence requires globally-scalable key management. Deterring the 

cyber threat requires nearly-instantaneous revocation. Operational requirements mandate 

flexible last-mile deployment strategies. Fundamental technologies exist that provide the 

needed scale, weighted key assignment, batched transmission, permutation trees; and 

augmented broadcast encryption. 

2.3.7 Use of Group Key Management in Internet Standards: Brian Weis, Cisco 

•	 The presentation focused on group key management (GKM), where a group consists of 

three or more entities sharing the same key material. 

•	 GKM methods can be broadly classified as either: contributory (e.g., CLIQUES), where 

group members use the Group Diffie-Hellman algorithm to independently derive group 

keying material; or centralized (e.g., RFC 3547 (GDOI)), where group members register 

with a trusted third party (group controller/key server) and are given group keying 

material. 

•	 Standards groups have concentrated on centralized GKM, because such methods best 

meet the needs of Internet group applications. Authorization is straightforward; 

revocation of group members is relatively easy; centralized methods typically use 

existing KM framework components. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 General authenticated encryption methods can be used for key transport. It is 

recommended that key derivation methods described in NIST SP 800-108 should be 

explicitly noted as updates in newer NIST recommendations. 

•	 Specific standards were discussed, such as IEEE 802.1 frame encryption, IEEE 802.11i, 

and Internet RFC 3740 as examples undergoing review regarding GKM. 

2.4 June 9, Afternoon Session, Elaine Barker, NIST, Moderator 

2.4.1 Authentication using PIV Symmetric Keys, Sarbari Gupta, Electrosoft 

•	 The presentation focused on experience with the government FIPS 201 standard Personal 

Identity Verification (PIV) card and its use of symmetric keys. 

•	 The PIV standard presents a rapid (and potentially two-factor) authentication scheme 

using PIV symmetric keys. The benefits of the symmetric Card Authentication Key 

(CAK) use are: strong authentication, compared to the use of a Card Holder Unique 

Identifier (CHUID); fast; doesn't need a PIN to activate; and can be performed over a 

contactless interface. 

•	 The cons of symmetric (CAK) authentication: typical symmetric key challenge-response 

schemes require the CAK to be known by the verifier, and a cross-agency verifier will 

not know the CAK. 

•	 In the FIPS 201-1 standard, the CAK is optional; it may be a symmetric or asymmetric 

Card Authentication Key. 

•	 NIST SP 800-116 strongly recommends that a CAK be included in a PIV card. The PIV 

card uses single factor of authentication. The holder of the card cannot be verified; in a 

PACS (Physical Access Control System). One agency can use a symmetric CAK for 

accessing another agency in a PACS. 

•	 A Federal Agency Smart Credential Number (FASC-N) is an index to a large data base. 

A nonce is special data in a PACS data base. An agency can grant or deny user access 

based on an authenticated FASC-N. 

•	 Challenge-response access control is possible via a PIV card. PKI authentication-atenrollment establishes a basis of trust. Improvement in security is obtained via a multifactor authentication and dynamic challenge-response pair. 

•	 One issue in physical access control is the handling of local PIV cards versus the 

handling of visitor PIV cards. 

•	 The PIV system must get the FASC-N from the PIV authentication certificate, and then 

prompt the user for a PIN challenge-response. The key is not entered into the PIV card 

by the user. 

•	 A question was asked regarding PIV card expense: The questioner wanted the cost of a 

PIV card to be reduced by an order of magnitude. The response was that it is hoped that 

within two years the PIV card may have reduced cost. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Bill McGregor, NIST PIV project leader, responded to the question regarding the cost of 

the PIV card. He said there is now an imigration to the PIV card, and 3 million PIV cards 

have been issued. Costs are expected to come down as volume and competition increase. 

2.4.2 Open Source Symmetric Key Management: Arshad Noor, StrongAuth, Inc. 

•	 StrongKey is an open source electronic symmetric key management system. An EKMS 

is a collection of technology, policies and procedures for managing the life-cycle of all 

cryptographic keys − both symmetric and asymmetric − in an enterprise. It provides a 

graphic user interface (GUI), and supports RSA, ECDSA public keys and symmetric 

keys. 

•	 StrongKey allows an administrator to define a CKM security policy; to generate, encrypt, 

decrypt, escrow, authorize, recover, destroy, and audit operations regarding cryptographic 

keys; and to manage keys for applications, such as phones, cash registers, laptop 

computers, cell phones, and desktop computers. 

•	 The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a concept. A Secure Key Management System 

(SKMS) is what the typical customer wants and uses. 

•	 In a Global SKMS, every request/response is digitally signed. The symmetric key in a 

response is always encrypted. Every object in the SKMS data base is digitally signed, 

including the audit trail. Every symmetric key is encrypted and digitally signed. The key 

cache is in the client. Customers must be able to continue processing if a key fails to be 

authenticated. A customer security policy decision is whether to fail safe or to fail soft. 

•	 Encryption takes place in the application layer. While the application layer can be 

exploited, data at all lower layers is encrypted. Who encrypts at Layer 7? Application 

vendors, POS terminals , Payment Application Best Practices (PABP) applications, ecommerce, healthcare, VoIP service companies, and application development teams that 

do not control lower layers of the network architecture tend to encrypt at the application 

layer. 

•	 The payment card industry encrypts the card data and uses an appropriate CKM system. 

An example was provided of a $16M lawsuit against an auditor that approved the security 

of another bank performing card services for that bank. 

•	 An SKMS will do for symmetric key management what the DNS did for name-service 

management, and DBMS did for data management. 

2.4.3 Cryptographic Key Management Framework: Miles Smid, Orion Security 

•	 NIST initiated this CKM workshop, in part, to solicit information on what constituted a 

Cryptographic Key Management (CKM) Framework; I hope that the ideas expressed in 

this talk will stimulate further input. 

•	 There are many potential CKM solutions; the value of each solution usually depends 

upon the particular application that it is trying to satisfy. At a workshop like this, the 

attendee is presented with a bewildering array of possible solutions, and even when the 

reference documents are examined, there is a lack of consistency that prevents 

comparison. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 A CKM Framework might provide organization and consistency to the collection of 

CKM system designs by specifying the essential components of a CKM system in a 

structured framework and present a logical order in which they might be addressed. In 

addition, the framework could specify key management standards that should be followed 

or at least considered when developing a CKM solution. The framework may also lay a 

foundation for future standards that need to be developed in order to have more complete, 

secure, and interoperable solutions. Such a framework may bring order to disorder and 

thus, lead to the increased use of cryptography for information security applications. In 

order to benefit from the economies of scale, NIST would like the framework to be used 

by both the U.S. Government and the private sector. 

•	 The CKM System Design Framework could be thought of as a comprehensive list of the 

essential policies, components, activities, processes, and assurances that compose a CKM 

solution. If you come up with a different definition or have some additional components 

to suggest, please let us know. 

•	 There is a simple analogy between a CKM System Design Framework and the process 

involved in the building trade, and more specifically, a custom home. The materials 

required to construct a home could be thought of as the components required to build the 

home according to the design illustrated in the blueprints. Similarly, CKM policies and 

components could be selected from a CKM System Design Framework in order to 

develop a CKM solution that, in turn, supports an information management application. 

Thus, the CKM System Design Framework is an essential element in a CKM solution. 

Assurances of quality in the custom home are provided in building standards, local 

building codes, and standards of best practices of the building trade. When the CKM 

policies, components, and recommended security practices are properly selected from the 

System Design Framework and combined properly in a CKM system design, we have a 

well-defined CKM solution. 

•	 The System Design Framework defines and provides general information about the 

policies, components and assurances available, but does not dictate the specifics of the 

policies, components and procedures to be used in a CKM implementation. If the System 

Design Framework tried to specify all the requirements for all possible CKM 

implementations, there would be too many frameworks. Rather, the framework provides 

a structure for insertion of the specific policies, components and procedures that are used 

to satisfy a particular application. 

•	 Organizational policies for data availability, confidentiality, integrity, and access control 

are very important inputs when using the framework to design a CKM solution. In 

addition, the key management policies for all key types and related keying material over 

the key management lifecycle need to be consistent with the overall data protection 

policies. 

•	 In order to ensure that the CKM solution provides adequate support for the application, 

the framework needs to define necessary inputs regarding the unique requirements or 

constraints that are imposed by the application or the organization performing it. For 

example, input should include the desired target security strength for the managed 

information, the assurances that the CKM solution must meet to achieve the target 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

security strength, and how conformance of the implementation to the CKM solution is to 

be verified. 

•	 CKM components from the framework must be selected to support the specified 

organizational and application policies, requirements and constraints. CKM components 

include keys, algorithms, primitives, and protocols. Components may also include 

modules, products, and even the combination or composition of other components in an 

innovative manner to provide a secure CKM solution. 

•	 For interoperability, certain interfaces will need to be specified. Possible interfaces 

include: the cryptographic algorithm interface, the key management interface, the 

cryptographic module interface, the product interface, and the application interface. In 

general, only the interfaces that are used by entities outside the application need to be 

specified. 

•	 Finally, the framework should encourage a CKM solution developer to think about future 

transitions. When will the CKM solution need maintenance, when will it need to be 

replaced, and how might it best be phased out? These questions are usually overlooked 

by today’s CKM solutions. As a result, it is often considered preferable to live with an 

insecure CKM solution, than to suffer the pain of replacing it. 

•	 Frameworks can be strong supporting structures. We will try to define a single CKM 

Framework that is a useful foundation for, and relevant to, all potential CKM solutions 

and information management applications. 

Comments from the audience 

•	 The Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA) has goals that are similar to those in 

the CKM Framework. 

•	 There are other elements that need to be in the Framework. 

2.4.4 Leap-Ahead Technologies: Miles Smid, Orion Security Solutions 

•	 There are several problems with today’s Cryptographic Key Management (CKM) 

solutions. They are expensive, hard to implement, difficult to maintain, perhaps insecure, 

and user unfriendly. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find a new technology that would 

permit us to leap over these problems in order to attain our goal of secure, cost effective, 

transparent, information management systems? 

•	 Consider what makes a leap-ahead technology in cryptographic key management. There 

are at least four types of leaps that we could make: a leap in base technology, a leap in 

security, a leap in the ease of management or use, or a leap in some combination of these 

items. 

•	 Leap in base technology: This usually involves a major change in a base technology that 

eliminates the old technology, and many of the problems along with it. Computer 

networking technologies have made such dramatic advances that today we no longer have 

to worry about how many days it will take to get information from one party to another. 

Unfortunately, this technology significantly increased the need for communications 

security that uses cryptography, which in turn leads to our need for effective 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

cryptographic key management solutions. Quantum cryptography may someday provide 

us with the leap that we seek, but for now. 

•	 Leap in security: Ideally, we would like network security at no extra cost. Recall the 

days when we were told that the cost of safety was not justifiable in automobiles. We 

were told that the public would never pay for seat belts. Today, not only do we have seat 

belts, but we have front and rear air bags, side air bags, and someday soon perhaps upper 

and lower air bags. Yes, we pay more for our cars, but we expect safety to be built in. 

There may also be smaller leaps in security that could help solve our cryptographic key 

management problems. What if we had the capability to automatically validate key 

establishment protocols or even use provably-secure protocols? Quantum cryptography 

could also improve security by permitting us to easily distribute secret values in a secure 

manner. But, there is more to key management than key establishment. Many key 

management problems involve the secure generation, storage, access and recovery of the 

keys, either before or after they are distributed. 

•	 Leaps in ease of implementation, management, and use: We have already made 

significant progress in this area. Electronic distribution of wrapped keys led to an 

improvement over manually distributed keys, and public key-based key distribution led to 

an improvement over key wrapping. Today, PKI, even with all of its problems, provides a 

major leap ahead over previously used systems. 

But, we still seem to be repeating some of the mistakes of the past. We build systems, we 

implement them, and then we find out that the users consider them unacceptable. We 

must not wait until the last minute to get the user’s opinion. We need to build prototypes 

of a system and test them with real users before we extensively field the final product. 

•	 We need to explore the advantages of alternative approaches like identity-based key 

management. 

•	 What if we had cloud key management? By that I mean that I could go to some trusted 

part of the cloud and say, “Please give me a key to communicate securely with 

jsmith@verizon.net.” Better yet would be if I could go to the trusted part of the cloud 

and say, “Please give me a secure channel to jsmith@verizon.net.” Best of all would 

probably be if the security was provided by the cloud for all my communications. 

•	 I like a holistic approach to enterprise key management. Perhaps this effort will lead to a 

standard set of key management capabilities for information protection. 

•	 After considering the possibilities for a leap-ahead in cryptographic key management, I 

feel that I should mention the advantages of just walking. We always like to find the easy 

way out, but sometimes old fashioned work is the best route to progress. So I would hope 

that we continue to improve on what we have and let the leaps come where they may. 

•	 Comment: Customers want to defer to authorities to tell them what is good, better, or 

best. There is a need for a public-private partnership that allows the new CKM 

technologies to incubate and be evaluated so that consumers will accept the solutions 

when they become available. RSA had to be vetted for some time before it became 

accepted. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Comment: In Michigan, there are trusted CKM test-beds planned for development under 

President Obama’s bailout financial plan that will be used to verify the utility and 

security of various solutions. 

•	 Comment: We must have a uniform solution to a uniform family of problems. We 

should have a glossary of security to minimize undefined buzzwords that are used to sell 

commercial products. You may be creating the same problems but in different clothes. 

A lexicon is needed in security. 

•	 Comment/question: Generating a key by a CA and associating it with you. Is this key 

management? 

2.4.5 CKM Workshop Five-Minute Presentations, June 9, 2009 

•	 Rene Struik, Certicom Research: The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm 

(ECDSA) signature scheme can be made into a Fast ECDSA signature scheme (40% 

faster). It can also achieve fast digital signature verification. We should transition from 

ECDSA to Fast ECDSA. The details are available in the presentation slides. 

•	 Larry Himes: He spoke of his many years of experience in security technology, 

including validation of cryptographic devices to FIPS 140-1 and 140-2, which were 

difficult tasks. 

•	 Santosh Chokhani, CygnaCom Solutions: What is good about PKI? E-business 

growth is supported by a PKI. Most people know about Public Key certificates. PKI has 

created some wealth for many people. One of the biggest problems with the PKI is 

enrollment. Some lessons learned regarding PKI usage are that the PKI should be put 

behind a screen, and the user should not know anything about it. Sometimes one needs 

40 keys to use a secure information system; too many keys are the problem; one key per 

person should be sufficient. It is hard to implement shades of gray in trust. Do not use 

the word policy unless you have to and mean it. 

•	 Brian Tokuyoshi, PGP Corporation: The emphasis should be on the goal, rather than 

on the path for getting there. Compliance is a motivator for reluctant users. Protection 

from data breaches should be, but often is not, the prime motivator. 

•	 A major problem is often that there are too many keys, rather than too few. Data on 

laptops should be encrypted. 

•	 Definitions of the words secure, key management, etc. are important. E-discovery is 

finding out how long it takes to encrypt and decrypt data. Key management is often done 

poorly: there is no overall strategy, and handling data-at-rest can be expensive. We need 

a plan to manage keys BEFORE encryption is mandated and used. 

•	 There are six steps to encryption, but people often start at step 5. In technical innovation, 

there are often peaks of expectations, followed by troughs of disillusionments. 

Applications tend to make poor key management systems. For a lot of end user 

organizations, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. 

•	 Customers need to start thinking about processes for security, not just the technology. 

Compliance initiatives should emphasize getting the administration done right. Best 

practices include a plan for your long term encryption requirements. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 An organization must develop an enterprise policy on managing keys. It must survey and 

catalog existing data, its sensitivities, and its security requirements. It must develop and 

deploy a plan for managing encryption keys, and it must deploy the data protection 

solution, and then tackle the next project. 

2.4.6 Overall Summary of the CKM Workshop: Elaine Barker, NIST 

(Note: Weather conditions caused the workshop to close early. This presentation was prepared 

but never presented. A summary of the presentation slides is included for completeness.) 

•	 Cryptographic Key Management: There is a major need to undertake key management as 

part of the national cybersecurity initiative. The CKM workshop is a first step towards a 

comprehensive and interoperable CKM. A joint government-industry partnership is the 

best approach. 

•	 Key Organizations to be involved: NIST and other government agencies, standards 

groups, IETF, IEEE, OASIS, industry and academia, etc. 

•	 Key Management is needed for e-Commerce, banking, air traffic control, the aerospace 

industry, defense, emergency first responders, the health care industry, the Internet 

(Routing, DNSSEC, etc.), citizens and consumers. 

•	 Considerations for future key management systems: Design systems for high availability 

and survivability. Prepare for emergency access to keys; worry about unintended 

consequences − both good and bad. In light of quantum computing, look at means other 

than using public keys. Look at quantum-resistant algorithms and schemes. 

•	 Requirements for CKM: Must be user-friendly; easy to use – plug and play; must be a 

user-driven capability; must be secure, cost-effective, fault-tolerant, and highly available; 

must provide protection against destructive attacks and be interoperable; must be 

designed to be used enterprise-wide, by multi-partners that use multi-vendor products, 

and be usable by multi-applications; must be scalable and enhance interoperability in 

time of emergency. Metadata must be defined, as well as defining the security to protect 

it. We also need key inventory control, accountability/auditing of the keys, policies for 

managing the keys and metadata, and safety requirements for certain applications. 

•	 Challenges: Cost, enrollment, complexity, unclear future computing paradigms are (e.g., 

cloud computing), user-friendliness, security analysis, and competing solutions that do 

not interoperate. 

•	 Applicable Models: One can model CKM systems in different ways, including the 

complete life cycle. Do a security analysis on all the keys in the system. Model all 

system administrators and their actions, and have information management models of all 

keys protecting data in the computer. 

•	 Users of a CKM System: Humans, devices, applications, programmers, administrators, 

and others. 

•	 Design Considerations: We need a mix of long-term symmetric and asymmetric keys for 

some applications. We also need algorithm and security parameter agility and to keep the 

design simple and cheap. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Technologies and Standards to be considered: Identity-based encryption; Enterprise 

enterprise key management; OASIS KMIP; Computer Mediated Communications 

(CMC), which is any communication based transaction that occurs between two or more 

networked computers; factory-generated device keys for enterprise enrollment and 

registration; identity-based symmetric keys that may reduce the scale of the symmetric 

key distribution problem; cloud computing; subset-difference revocation; and group key 

management. 

•	 Next Steps: A workshop summary (i.e., this NIST IR) will be posted in the fall of 2009, 

and a draft Cryptographic Key Management System Design Framework will be posted 

for comment in the Fall of 2009; an IEEE Key Management Summit Workshop will be 

held in the Spring of 2010; NIST research results will be posted on its web page when 

available. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

3. CKM Workshop Presentation Highlights Organized by Topic 

This section presents highlights of the presentations organized by selected topics for 

Cryptographic Key Management (CKM). These CKM topic highlights have been extracted from 

the highlights of the Workshop presentations. Explanatory information was added when 

clarification was required. 

A subset of these topics will provide a foundation for the CKM System Design Framework 

(herein sometimes called the CKM Framework) being developed by NIST. Other topics are 

included here to present auxiliary information that is needed to understand CKM systems and 

their major issues, but not needed to design them. The acronym CIA is often used in security 

where C is Confidentiality Assurance; I is Integrity Assurance; and A is Availability Assurance 

of data. 

3.1 Policy 

A policy is a specification of the objectives, constraints, responsibilities, and actions concerning 

a specific subject. A Data Security policy (e.g., CIA assurance) specifies the sensitivity of data 

to disclosure, modification, and destruction, and specifies what actions are to be performed in 

protecting the data’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability. A Cryptographic Key policy is 

similar to and derived from the security policy for the data protected by the keys. The protection 

of the key from disclosure and modification must be assured in order to protect the data from 

disclosure and undetected modification. To assure data availability, both the encrypted data and 

the key needed to decrypt that data must be available when and where needed. Policy negotiation 

involves two or more entities (users, processes, computers) attempting to combine data having 

different policies. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop related to policy considerations. 

•	 Most of the international fund transfers had been going through a single financial 

institution. When that capability was lost, a very serious situation turned into a real 

crisis. 

•	 The President’s policy review has brought home to a large community the nature of the 

threats that we're facing. It also demonstrates the urgency of having policies and 

technologies available and in place for mitigating those threats. 

•	 We should not accept high risks in the future Internet because we don’t want the 

adversaries to have high payoffs. 

•	 We want to establish actions and roles that are not limited only to the government. There 

are roles for government, roles for the academic community, and roles for industry. 

•	 Privacy concerns and security concerns are sometimes conflicting. The organizations 

that use security mechanisms and key management methods are very diverse in policy. 

•	 We don’t have just a national security environment and a non-national security 

environment today; we have a collective community.
 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 We must first identify key players in the CKM program. We then must establish 

appropriate roles and partnerships among the players. We need to coordinate our actions 

to produce widely acceptable solutions. 

•	 The current Federal Cybersecurity initiatives are primarily to protect .mil and .gov 

information on the Internet. However, ninety eight percent of the world is .com or .edu 

or .org or a foreign segment of the global Internet. 

•	 A public-private partnership should be formed to focus on protecting the Internet. That 

group would focus on what we need to do as a nation, even as a global partnership, to 

solve the problems with the Internet. Panels would be set up to address policy, strategy, 

technology, and operations. 

•	 We need to address and solve Internet problems before we have a catastrophic event. 

•	 The nation should come together in a partnership that collaborates and cooperates to 

solve the widespread information-security problem. 

•	 Ultimately, we need to re-engineer the Internet for the globe. We must design and build 

security into the new Internet. We must include countries such as Russia and China in 

creating the design. 

•	 NSF security policy has been continually modified in accordance with new problems. 

We (NSF) seldom do anything that requires un-proven methodologies, we follow all 

government rules, and we want to be told that something new is mandatory. 

•	 NSF now combines information management with security management. It has a strict 

security awareness program; its visitor information network was separated from its 

internal NSF user network, and all Social Security Numbers in the system are encrypted. 

•	 In the next decade, we foresee more OMB/NIST mandates and more programs for 

protecting the Internet from the users, rather than protecting users from the Internet. 

•	 We need solutions that support wider audiences of users, including FEMA, allies, 

charities, State governments, and emergency first-responders. 

•	 Pressure from many sides drives the use of encryption: regulation compliance, outside 

auditors, the Board of Directors, policy compliance, the protection of critical data, etc. 

There are many competing sets of rules and people who have a stake. 

•	 The reality of lifecycle key management is that policy and workflow must be continuous, 

and all the components must be integrated properly. Enterprise encryption policies must 

be comprehensive and cover a wide range of components, including certificates, keys, 

algorithms, validity periods, and multi-person control. Policy is the overarching guidance 

and requirement that must be achieved. 

•	 Enterprise encryption policies must cover data, discovery, keys, certificates, key storage, 

applications, disaster recovery, validation and monitoring, reporting of workflow and 

process, personnel roles and assignments. 

•	 Information policy will be derived in the future from information requirements, including 

security, information rights, data leakage protection, data retention, data search, data 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

index, authentication, and authorization. Policies will be assigned to data, based on 

classification, and automated data classification will make scalability feasible. 

•	 Data managers must be able to assign information management policies and information 

security policies to data, based on the application, application metadata, and/or content of 

the data. Policies must be derived from information requirements and include: 

information rights management, data leakage protection, data retention, data search and 

index, authentication and authorization. 

•	 Automated data classification supports a level of scalability. Information policy must be 

primary and must be able to drive security policy, which can be called information 

centric policy management. Cryptographic key management policy is derived from these 

policies. 

•	 The policy for managing personal identity information is just another extension of 

information management and information protection policy. 

•	 We need to be able to turn: 1) an access control policy into an encryption key, and 2) the 

access control policy plus a credential into a decryption key. 

•	 Access policy must be definable as some function or algorithm that enforces the policy 

via a cryptographic key (e.g., encipher, decipher, sign, verify, authenticate). 

•	 A credential policy must be definable as a function or algorithm that processes ciphertext 

after encryption and yields plaintext after decryption. 

•	 Information management policy and security policy can be implemented and enforced by 

a key server. 

•	 A good CKM system allows an administrator to define a CKM security policy, which is 

then enforced by the system. 

•	 CKM policies and components should be created and selected based on a CKM System 

Design Framework in order to develop a CKM solution that, in turn, supports an 

information management application. Thus, the CKM System Design Framework is an 

essential element in creating a CKM solution. 

•	 A CKM framework defines and provides general information about the policies, 

components and assurances available, but does not dictate the specifics of the policies, 

components and procedures to be used in a CKM implementation. 

•	 Organizational policies for data availability, confidentiality, integrity, and access control 

are very important inputs when using the framework to design a CKM solution. In 

addition, the key management policies for all key types and related keying material over 

the key management lifecycle need to be consistent with the overall data protection 

policies. 

•	 CKM components from the System Design Framework must be selected to support the 

specified organizational and application policies, requirements and constraints. 

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3.2 Trust 

Trust is a quality assigned to an entity concerning the de facto level of assurance provided by the 

entity in a specific area. If an entity has a high level of trust, fewer security provisions are 

required for it. Entities requiring some level of trust include users, PKI services, servers, 

devices, and software, as well as the communications channel itself. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop related to trust considerations. 

•	 The Internet has introduced a level of vulnerability that is unprecedented. We are 

worried about spies who might be invading our privacy and our sensitive or critical 

information systems, but mostly about attacks against our information systems that steal 

or destroy our data. 

•	 The nation is at strategic risk. 

•	 Unauthorized destruction of data may be a more significant problem than disclosure of 

the data. 

•	 The current Internet attacks are intended mostly to collect information and exploit it. 

Destruction of highly valuable or sensitive data is unlikely because of the consequences 

of world instability. 

•	 All components of a system should be laid out so that the system flow can be analyzed 

for ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that can go wrong in the total system, not in 

individual components in isolation. Evaluators must think of how an entire system can 

be broken. Total systems design solutions are needed. 

•	 Certificates for the general public are somewhat problematic; it is difficult to really verify 

the initial identifier (e.g., of the person associated with a certificate) without context. 

•	 Verifying that the object code in a computer is the “same as” the source code is a difficult 

problem. 

•	 We should look and flag websites containing malware and warn users about visiting a 

flagged website. 

•	 Communicating parties should seek and use increased levels of trust, based on having a 

common security policy. 

•	 A security analysis should start with a risk analysis, including an inventory of keys, 

certificates, and applications. An application must be configured for enterprise-wide 

encryption, which includes client protection, servers, networks and archival data storage. 

•	 Fair exchange is where both communicating parties obtain exactly the information and 

assurance they need. Non-repudiation of a transaction is needed, even with digital 

signatures. A virtual trusted party is needed to complete transactions, even if the receiver 

does not want to use non-repudiation. 

•	 An online trusted third party (TTP) is not acceptable because of the required 

communication connectivity overhead. An offline Trusted Post Office (TPO) model is 

acceptable; certified email was used as an example. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Example: A TTP is offline. The TTP is unaware that (the Sender) S and (the Receiver) R 

are transacting. If S and R are both trusted, no additional security is needed; otherwise, a 

trusted offline “electronic post office” is needed to provide additional security. Details of 

the mathematical transformations needed for a transaction are contained in Silvio 

Micali’s slides. 

•	 One laptop computer can handle the role of a Trusted Electronic Post Office for the entire 

country. 

•	 Economic justification for a Fair Electronic Exchange system was provided by the Silvio 

Micali. 

•	 Fair Contract Signing between two un-trusted parties was the next example; group 

keying4 is necessary in many electronic transactions, because not all parties are available, 

but a predetermined subset of all the parties is acceptable. 

•	 The security system that implements and supports cryptography is more important than 

specific cryptographic algorithms in many circumstances. A trusted system that enforces 

access control is needed for security. A system that can be virtualized is needed for 

physical security. 

3.3 Impediments 

Impediments are barriers that must be circumvented or overcome in order to achieve a goal. 

Impediments to designing, implementing, and using a CKM system include: patents owned by 

others that cover parts of the system, competition by others in a closed market, no standards for 

the product that might enlarge the market, and too many standards that confuse the customer and 

reduce the market. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that discuss impediments. 

•	 We have institutional issues, including getting the useful security mechanisms into place. 

•	 We need to understand the requirements of the Federal government. We have to be 

working hand-in-hand with industries. What are our resources and what are our practical 

constraints? 

•	 We need to understand the potential impediments to satisfying requirements in technical, 

social, and institutional contexts. We have to evaluate alternative approaches, and then 

we need to analyze the benefits versus the costs. 

•	 Some impediments to vastly improving CKM include: organizational requirements that 

are often conflicting, funding issues, using the funds effectively, and intellectual property 

interests. 

•	 Creating a standard that is widely used is difficult if the standard infringes on someone's 

intellectual property. Standards can only succeed if they may be used satisfactorily 

within existing intellectual property constraints. 

4

 In this context, group keying is normally implemented as follows: The key K is formed by combining at least M key 

components out of a total of N key components, where M ≤ N. Each of the N key components is held by a different entity. Any 

M or more key components can be combined using a mathematical process to form the key K. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 KM brings expense to the Internet because of the complexity, required infrastructure, and 

computation power needed to perform cryptographic protection. 

•	 The initial enrollment of a subscriber is the most expensive and hardest part of key 

management, because it takes human interaction with a subscriber in a trusted 

environment. 

•	 KM is a major requirement that is difficult and complex. There is a need to analyze an 

entire system for both security and reliability. An enterprise KM is an untrusted client in 

a trusted server, rather than a trusted client in an un-trusted server, as is the case when a 

consumer uses cloud computing . 

•	 Users don’t care about keys. Users don’t like to worry about details, but need to be 

guided. Humans tend to be the weak link. There needs to be a crypto administrator in 

charge of cryptography and who controls user identification and authentication. 

•	 The biggest problem is manual key distribution. There is a problem with replacing the 

keys and updating revocation lists. We need to be able to streamline the distribution 

process and replace manual key distribution with a minimal impact process. 

•	 There is an education gap. The conventional wisdom is that “computer security systems 

can’t be effective unless they are complex and difficult to use.” While this may once have 

been true, the security profession has witnessed dramatic improvements over the last ten 

years. 

•	 There is a perception gap. The conventional wisdom is that security technologies are too 

expensive to implement with sensor and control networks, due to energy constraints, and 

computational and storage constraints. There is also a gap between security perceived by 

the user and actual security provided to the user. 

•	 There is an affordability gap. The conventional wisdom is that the licensing cost of 

security technologies may present a hurdle. Licensing models, such as those used with 

the consumer electronics industry, may have some merit for ubiquitous computing as 

well, since both are concerned with mass-scale deployment of networked devices ("the 

internet of things") and enforcement of compliance. 

•	 Issues that need further work: problems with setting up secure links; devices and device 

IDs; reusing a key at different layers (e.g., of a network); a multi-application device in 

which various applications could have different security requirements; certificate 

generation; communication encapsulated in one protected part of a device that can be 

trusted; idealized provisioning where there is no security perimeter versus where there is 

a security perimeter with specified trust inside; trusted modules are possible, but we 

would like to minimize trust dependencies; various network technologies; little human 

involvement in secure system operations; having many root keys permanently in a device 

that are seldom used, except in accordance with security policy. 

•	 More vulnerabilities will be found in browsers, operating systems, routers, domain name 

resolution processes, DPI-based attacks (e.g., Against TCP) and MANETs (auto 

configuration and overrun conditions). 

•	 Vulnerabilities include zombies, botnets, drive-by downloads, and zero day attacks. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Attackers could threaten to bring parts of the Internet down if not paid a ransom. 

•	 If hosts and routers must authenticate themselves, the overhead will be too high. 

•	 Computer configurations that have gone “bad” are difficult to detect. 

•	 Encryption challenges include: data security, key security, enforceability, operational 

efficiency, system availability, reputational risk, business continuity, disaster recovery, 

and privacy. 

•	 How can applications be secured in a cloud-computing environment? Can virtual 

machines maintain separate security policies?
 

•	 Challenges (i.e., what makes CKM hard)? Cost; user enrollment; system complexity; 

future computing paradigms that are unclear (e.g., Cloud Computing); user-friendly 

requirements; accurate security analyses; and competing solutions that do not 

interoperate. 

3.4 Usability 

Usability is a metric for measuring the ease of correct use of a system by a human user the 

satisfaction of a person that is using a system. A CKM system requires several user-performed 

operations, ranging from easy to very difficult, depending on the design. CKM operations 

include: user registration, key initialization, certificate creation, KM service responses, and KMUser interfaces. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop related to usability. 

•	 Standards must not only be technically correct and precise, but they must be 

understandable to, and easily used by, the general public. We need to be able to 

communicate what we're doing and why we're doing it to the people who make policies, 

procurement regulations, and user instructions. 

•	 When protecting stored data, good information management methods must be able to 

discover three years from now what algorithm and what key were used to encrypt the 

information. 

•	 We rely on other Federal agencies to state their specific requirements so that we can 

come up with CKM standards that satisfy their requirements and are user-friendly, cost 

effective, and secure. 

•	 Key management starts with identifying user needs and requirements in a KM planning 

document. 

•	 Virtually no additional training should be required for a user in order to effectively use 

cryptography if CKM is properly designed. 

•	 We need to take the user’s perspective into account when designing cryptographic 

systems if we want the security to be actually used, as opposed to being circumvented. 

•	 It is not acceptable to only have a choice between usability with little security and 

security with little usability. A CKM system designer has to know the prospective user 

and to understand that security is not the primary task of the user. A system must be 

efficient, effective and understandable; there is no complex system that is secure. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Conventional wisdom is that “computer security systems can’t be effective unless they 

are complex and difficult to use.” 

•	 PKI enrollment is often the most difficult computer task to perform. Usability is more 

than just the user interface. CKM designers have to adopt the mantra of making it easy 

for users to do the right thing. Designers have to align the design to the user’s conceptual 

model of a security system. The interface has to use terminology that is intuitively 

obvious to the general computer user. The complexity of the CKM system has to be 

minimized for the user if it is to be used effectively. 

•	 Certificate pop-ups have to be minimized, because users have become accustomed to 

ignoring pop-ups. Factors that inhibit the adoption of new technologies have to be 

eliminated, and those that promote the adoption of effective security technologies have to 

be encouraged. 

•	 Applicable Models: Cryptographic key life cycle (key birth to death management); 

security analysis; model all system actors and their actions; information management 

models must be the foundation of key management. 

•	 Users of a CKM System are humans, devices, applications, programmers, and 

administrators.
 

•	 Design Considerations must include a mix of long-term symmetric and asymmetric keys 

for some applications, algorithm agility, security parameters, and a desire to keep it 

simple and keep it cheap. 

•	 When the CKM policies, components, and recommended security practices are properly 

selected from the CKM System Design Framework and combined properly in a CKM 

system design, we have a well-defined CKM solution. 

•	 We would like to see a leap in ease of implementation, management, and use; we have 

already made significant progress in this area. Electronic distribution of wrapped keys led 

to an improvement over manually distributed keys, and public key based key distribution 

led to an improvement over key wrapping. PKI has been a major leap ahead over 

previously-used manual keying or point-to-point symmetrically keyed systems. 

•	 We build systems, we implement them, and then we find out that the users consider them 

unacceptable. We must not wait until the last minute to get the user’s opinion. We need to 

build prototypes of a system and test them with real users before we extensively field the 

final product. 

•	 We need to explore the advantages of alternative approaches, e.g., identity-based key 

management. 

3.5 Scalability 

Scalability is a metric for a CKM system that is used to measure and describe the ease of 

enlarging the number of entities it supports. This metric depends on the amount of personal use, 

organizational use, inter-organization use, and global use of the system. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to scalability. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 One requirement is to have scalable solutions in very large applications. While we know 

how to handle key management reasonably effectively for up to a million people, we 

need to go a couple of orders of magnitude beyond that in the relatively near future. 

•	 We don’t have just a national security environment and a non-national security 

environment today; we have a collective community.
 

•	 Define a key format as a parameter that could be imported to an algorithm for 

interoperability among government and commercial devices. 

•	 Enterprise encryption policies must cover data, discovery, keys, certificates, key storage, 

applications, disaster recovery, validation and monitoring, reporting of workflow and 

process, personnel roles and assignments. 

•	 Delivery models of service providers include: internal, community, public, and hybrid. 

Each has benefits and some controversy. 

•	 Clouds are a good fit for very large-scale applications involving huge quantities of data 

and vast computing power that is often highly variable in quantity over time. 

•	 Scalability is a metric of a CKM system that depicts the ease by which the number of 

supported users (people, devices, applications) can be greatly increased; there is a great 

need for a scalable, centralized key management approach. Specifically, cost-efficient, 

scalable, secure and easy-to-use PKI applications are needed by industry. 

•	 From the vendor’s perspective, the user is the problem. There are major problems with 

distributing keys in terms of scalability when the user gets involved; the process of key 

revocation often breaks down because users do not maintain updated revocation lists. It is 

difficult to audit key usage and key actions remotely. 

•	 With a centralized key distribution system, actions do not get lost, and revocation and 

certificate control are easier. The audit of actions is much easier if a user has to go 

through a central facility to use the key. 

3.6 Interfaces 

An interfaces is the point of interaction between two entities (e.g., the point where information is 

exchanged between entities). Interfaces in a CKM system include: the KM-organization, the 

KM-manager, the KM-user, the KM-communication channel, KM-storage, and the KMapplication. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to interfaces. 

•	 API’s are being defined and implemented for cloud computing, including configuring 

storage, managing key-pairs, configuring IP addresses, and managing instances of 

control, such as run, reboot, terminate, and query. 

•	 The advantages of Identity-based Key Management (IDKM) are: the authentication of a 

user’s ID is done at decryption time, which matches a user’s expectations that 

authentication is needed to retrieve information; keys are short lived; making a new 

public key is nearly free; the time between identity binding and key issuance is short, as 

opposed to bind-first and issuer-later systems; and IDKM provides a model for thinking 

about application level key management. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Because of application vulnerabilities, some data must be encapsulated no matter where 

processed, stored, or transferred. Applications must be able to process ciphertext when 

given a security policy and the necessary credentials. 

•	 Encryption takes place in the application layer. Even though the application layer can be 

exploited, all data will be encrypted in the lower layers. Applications supporting 

encryption at the application layer (layer 7) include application vendors, POS providers, 

PABP, e-commerce, healthcare, VoIP service companies, and application development 

teams that do not control lower layers of the network architecture. 

•	 Key Management is required for the applications and consumers, including: eCommerce, banking, air traffic control, the aerospace industry, defense, emergency first 

responders, the health care industry, the Internet (Routing, DNSSEC, etc.), citizens and 

consumers. 

•	 In order to insure that the CKM solution provides adequate support for the application, 

the CKM System Design Framework needs to define methods for specifying the unique 

requirements or constraints that are imposed by the application or the organization 

performing it. For example, one input should be the desired target security strength for 

the managed information, the assurances that the CKM solution must meet to achieve the 

target security strength, and how conformance of the implementation to the CKM 

solution is to be verified. 

•	 CKM components include keys, algorithms, primitives, and protocols. Components may 

also include modules, products, and even the combination or composition of other 

components in an innovative manner to provide a secure CKM solution. 

•	 For interoperability, certain interfaces will need to be specified. Possible interfaces 

include: the cryptographic algorithm interface, the key management interface, the 

cryptographic module interface, the product interface, and the application interface. In 

general, only the interfaces that are used by entities outside the application need to be 

specified. 

3.7 Algorithms 

An algorithm is a set of rules for performing a specific operation. Cryptographic algorithms 

specify the operations of encrypting, decrypting, authenticating, digitally signing, and verifying 

digital signatures or authentication codes. Algorithms are defined in a cryptographic system and 

a supporting CKM system for data protection (C, I), key protection (C, I, A), key generation, key 

establishment (exchange, agreement, distribution), key update, key destruction, etc. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to algorithms. 

•	 There have been a lot of transitions from one algorithm to another in encryption and 

secure hashing. Transitions take 5 to 15 years because of the high cost of 

implementation, testing, and deployment, and a possible loss of interoperability. 

•	 There is an expressed preference for key distribution using public key cryptography. 

•	 Define a common set of cryptographic algorithms that can be used in creating products 

that meet a wide range of US Government needs. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Threshold cryptography5 is useful for encrypted data storage access (e.g., a minimum 

number of people must cooperate in order to retrieve sensitive, stored information). 

•	 The most prevalent problems with KM today include: weak pseudo-random generators 

for key generation, cryptographic keys that are hard-coded into the application, approving 

Certificate Authorities, cryptographic algorithms and key lengths that are not used, 

cryptographic keys that are not renewed periodically, and cryptographic keys and 

passwords that are not encrypted/protected in storage or in transit. 

3.8 Key Types 

There are several types of cryptographic keys that may be used in a CKM system: symmetric 

keys (e.g., one key used for both encryption and decryption), asymmetric-public keys (the public 

component of a public key pair), and asymmetric-private keys (the private component of a public 

key pair). Keys are further classified by their life-time: ephemeral keys, which have a short lifetime and are usually used only once; and static or long-term keys, which have a longer lifetime 

and are usually used multiple times. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to key types. 

•	 The Internet security protocols use various KM approaches, including: pre-shared keys 

(e.g., manually initialized, or communicating parties mutually derive a new key for data 

protection), PK cryptography (key agreement, key transport), and Key Distribution 

Centers (the KDC has a secret key for every subscriber, and generates and distributes a 

subscriber-subscriber data protection key using the KDC-subscriber keys). 

•	 A manufacturer often ships devices to customers with a hardwired private key, device 

certificate, and device identifier. This would give the capability to devices to authenticate 

other devices with which it will communicate. 

•	 Taxonomy of keys: This includes signature creation, signature verification, 

communication privacy, stored data privacy, authentication.
 

3.9 CK Lifecycle 

A CK lifecycle includes all the phases associated with a cryptographic key between the time it is 

generated and it is destroyed. These include: generation, distribution, storage, usage, 

replacement, revocation, deletion/zero-ing, expiry, update, etc. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to the CK 

lifecycle. 

•	 The methods for distributing keys efficiently are different from the methods of being able 

to revoke and replace keys efficiently on a large scale. 

•	 NSA requires strict accounting for keys, multi-person (between 2 and N people) control 

on plaintext keys, secure key storage, and three-layer key management, including 

transport, packaging, and key format. 

•	 A security strength: (AKA “bits of security”) is a number associated with the expected 

amount of work (often measured in binary operations) that is required to obtain any 

5	 See the previous footnote on group keying and M of N keying. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

single key used by an application by testing all possible keys. The security strength is 

specified in bits and is currently a value from the set {80, 112, 128, 192, 256}. 80 bits of 

security are good through December 31, 2010. Thereafter, NIST recommends 112 bits as 

the minimum. 

•	 For details and comparisons of algorithms, key sizes, security strengths, and 

recommended transition times, see NIST SP 800-57, Part 1 (for general key 

management), FIPS 186-3 ( for digital signatures), and FIPS 180-3 (hash functions). 

•	 Security, cryptography, and cryptographic keys can be managed using a cryptography 

management platform that can track everything throughout the life cycle of provisioning, 

enrollment, monitoring, and discovery. Included would be the processes involving keys 

and certificates, cryptography and CKM policies, secure implementation validation, 

audit, and security notifications (must notify customers affected by security breach). 

•	 The reality of lifecycle key management is that policy and workflow must be continuous, 

and all the components must be integrated properly. Enterprise encryption policies must 

be comprehensive and cover a wide range of components, including certificates, keys, 

algorithms, validity periods, and multiple person control. Policy is the overarching 

guidance and requirement that must be achieved. 

•	 Encryption management and distribution models cover a broad range, from manual to 

automated key management involving several types of agents and protocols. 

•	 Requirements and constraints driving encryption management models include the levels 

of automation, automated agents, remote access decisions, duplication of keys, 

centralized monitoring and alerting. 

•	 CKM in a cloud environment must provide the usual capability of generating, using, 

storing, distributing, revoking, verifying, and destroying keys. Two scenarios of CKM in 

a cloud are emerging: key management by the cloud infrastructure, or key management 

by specific applications that have been entrusted to run in the cloud infrastructure. 

•	 Applicable Models must consider key life cycles; a birth to death management of keys; 

security analysis; model all actors and actions; and information management models. 

3.10 CK Metadata 

Metadata is the information used to specify the uses and characteristics of cryptographic keys in 

a CKM system. Metadata may include: the key owner, the PKI service, key usage, the validity 

period, key parameters, etc. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to metadata. 

•	 Public key certificates bind a subscriber’s identity to a public key. A certificate contains: 

the subject’s name, the subject’s public key, the validity period, and the issuer’s name. 

•	 There is a tradeoff between security and simplicity. Good security requires complexity in 

certain security components, layers of protection, layers of metadata in security packages, 

and a robust metadata system to support security provisions. Some cryptographic key 

metadata can be hidden. Security packages will be as complex or simple as the user 

wants within a procured KM system. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Major design issues include: What should be done when a certificate expires? Who 

should administrator a CKM system? When information is lost, was it in encrypted form? 

When should certificates expire? Should key management be automated or manual? 

What cryptographic algorithms, protocols, and interfaces are being used? 

3.11 Standards 

Standards are accepted specifications and practices in a topic that may provide interoperability 

among various implementations, a minimum level of performance, a maximum level of risk, etc. 

Standards in the CKM area are developed by a number of organizations, including: NIST, IETF, 

ANSI, ISO, and OASIS. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to standards. 

•	 We have to come up with solutions for the next generation. From a standards point-ofview, we must have practical, adequately precise standards that will integrate effectively 

into government operations and industry business practices and product development 

cycles. 

•	 The whole concept of the Internet is based not on a single system, but a set of standard 

protocols that allow independent systems to interoperate with each other. We have to 

support this interoperability among future systems. 

•	 Standards must not only be technically correct and precise, but they must be 

understandable to, and easily used by, the general public. We need to be able to 

communicate what we're doing and why we're doing it to the people who make policies, 

procurement regulations, and user instructions. 

•	 We need to create standards that are testable. Ideally, they should be tested automatically 

so we can minimize the effort of conducting manual product assurance. 

•	 Executive and legislative oversight and resource allocation must be in the proper context. 

Expectations must be consistent with technical reality. We must work with industry, not 

just from the standpoint of innovation and technical expertise, but making sure that the 

standards that result will be implemented, not just can be implemented. 

•	 We need to work with academia because we get many creative inputs from its members, 

who are not constrained by short-term corporate goals. We also rely on obtaining 

innovative ideas from our colleagues overseas. 

•	 IETF protocol efforts include: IKEv1 and IKEv2, TLS, Secure Shell, EAP, CMS, and 

Kerberos. 

•	 The Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) provides authentication for people and 

devices. 

•	 The IETF enrollment efforts include: KeyProv and a dynamic symmetric key 

provisioning protocol. 

•	 There is a clear need for standards in certificate enrollment, but previous attempts have 

failed. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 There are few standards for: key generation, ordering, distribution, accounting, 

destruction, commercial implementation, and formats for keys. 

•	 NSA is helping to define standards packages and key formats in the IETF and PKIX for 

the Suite B cryptographic algorithms (i.e., those used to protect classified data up to 

SECRET). 

•	 NSA is now more open in its interactions with public groups, e.g., the cryptographic 

message syntax in RFC 3852, a trust anchor format and protocol, standard asymmetric 

private key formats, and symmetric and asymmetric key management packages. 

•	 NSA does not intend to recreate existing standards, but rather work with open groups to 

establish standards that also satisfy NSA’s requirements. 

•	 Matt Ball announced an IEEE key management summit meeting in Lake Tahoe, Nevada 

that will be held on May 4-5, 2010; the website url is 

http://www.keymanagementsummit.org. 

•	 Standards for cryptography are often based on legislation regarding notification of 

security breaches; the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) 

mandates security for all credit card companies, fines for non-compliance, and 

remediation. 

•	 Public Key Cryptography Standard (PKCS): this 1995 standard must evolve to keep up 

with new technology and applications. 

•	 Group Key Management (GKM) provides key management for groups consisting of three 

or more entities sharing the same key material; GKM methods can be broadly classified 

as either contributory (e.g., CLIQUES), where group members use the Group DiffieHellman Algorithm to independently derive group keying material, or centralized (e.g., 

RFC 3547 (GDOI)), where group members register with a trusted third party (group 

controller/key server) and are given group keying material. 

•	 Standards groups have concentrated on centralized GKM, because such methods best 

meet the needs of internet group applications. Authorization is straightforward, 

revocation of group members is relatively easy, and centralized methods typically use the 

existing CKM System Design Framework components. 

•	 General authenticated encryption methods can be used for key transport. It is 

recommended that the key derivation methods described in NIST SP 800-108 should be 

explicitly noted as updates in newer NIST recommendations. 

•	 Specific standards, such as IEEE 802.1 frame encryption, IEEE 802.11i, and Internet 

RFC 3740, are undergoing review regarding GKM. 

•	 The FIPS 201 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) standard card is an example of an 

authentication scheme that uses symmetric keys. The benefits of using a symmetric card 

authentication key (CAK) are: strong authentication compared to using the Card Holder 

Unique Identifier (CHUID), activation without a PIN, and the authentication can be 

performed over a contactless interface. The bad side of symmetric (CAK) authentication 

is that the symmetric key challenge-response schemes require the verifier to know the 

CAK, but the cross-agency verifier will not know the CAK. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 In the FIPS 201-1 standard, the CAK is optional; it may be a symmetric or asymmetric 

card authentication key. NIST SP 800-116 strongly recommends that the CAK be 

included in a PIV card. Single-factor authentication is not as robust as two-factor 

authentication. In a PACS (Physical Access Control System), one agency can use a 

symmetric CAK for accessing another agency in a PACS. 

•	 PKI authentication at enrollment establishes a basis of trust. Improvement in security is 

obtained via a multi-factor authentication and dynamic challenge-response pair. 

•	 The CKM System Design Framework may provide a foundation for future standards that 

needs to be developed in order to have more complete, secure, and interoperable 

solutions. 

3.12 Requirements and Recommendations 

Requirements are specifications that must be satisfied in a topic area, and recommendations are 

specifications that should be satisfied. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to requirements 

and recommendations. 

•	 We need to understand the requirements of the Federal government. We have to be 

working hand-in-hand with industry. What are our resources, and what are our practical 

constraints? 

•	 We need to develop CKM techniques for the future. We need to analyze them for 

security and ease of implementation and use. 

•	 We need to have procedures for qualifying products as meeting our standards, so that 

they may be easily procured by the government and others. The procurement 

qualification process needs to be efficient and strongly-coupled with our technical 

specifications. 

•	 We need to be able to demonstrate and test our solutions in actual applications. 

•	 We would truly like to be able to create secure systems from insecure components. 

•	 Many NSF Internet applications need security, including email, project funds 

management, travel, proposal submission and proposal evaluation. 

•	 NSF needs better integrated cryptography in its sensitive applications. Currently, NSF 

doesn’t use PKI because of cost and complexity, but does use identity management, 

including identifying users and visitors, additional authentication of NSF users, and 

authorization of NSF users to systems and data. 

•	 Cryptography is required in cyberspace and can provide more information assurance 

capabilities. 

•	 CKM is growing in complexity. Point to point communications security is old 

technology. It is desirable to have interoperability with existing legacy systems. 

•	 NSA would like to have some interoperability among high-assurance government devices 

and commercial off-the-shelf devices, especially for emergency situations, such as 9/11 

and hurricane Katrina. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 A nested security approach protects a red key (e.g., an unencrypted data encrypting key) 

with integrity, authenticity and secrecy provisions. 

•	 We need to look at the entire system; the biggest issues in crypto-based security are with 

scalability, federated systems, and the customer’s specific domain. 

•	 Hardware has different failure modes and different update capabilities than software. 

•	 Microsoft systems are designed using a tool kit of mechanisms (subsystems) and best 

practices. There is a great need for a key management tool kit of generic building blocks 

from which individually-chosen subsystems can be integrated into the total system. Key 

management is an application that must be form-fitted to the user requirement. We need 

methods to analyze the resulting system end-to-end. 

•	 A key management platform for composability with existing subsystems, such as identity 

verification and authentication, is needed. A collection of generic building blocks of 

security that can be integrated into a system and methods to analyze the resulting system 

are needed in creating a good key management platform. 

•	 We need an automated CKM system that can be implemented in existing systems. 

Requirements include: 1) the authenticated/authorized distribution of keys, 2) keys must 

persist over a long term, 3) a system that replaces/updates keys when needed, 4) key 

creation should not be centralized, and 5) minimal operational impact. Candidates for this 

type of KM system would be Kerberos (for session keys), OASIS (for storage keys) or 

GDOI (for group key management). 

•	 Security can be a justification for making a system easy to use. A good system should 

have a configuration that is easy to understand. Understanding a secure system must be 

attained. Security must be designed into the system and then be fully used in order to be 

understood. Security technology can make trust lifecycle management intuitive and 

hidden from the user. 

•	 We need to bridge the gap between state-of-the-art security that is known and security 

that is actually being used. 

•	 A security policy engine is needed that implements a user’s data security policy by 

creating or selecting an appropriate cryptographic policy and a supporting key 

management policy that achieves the data security policy. 

•	 Stronger authentication is needed for smart Internet “edge devices” (e.g., routers, routing 

switches, integrated access devices) that provide authenticated access to the backbone 

network, as well as stronger authentication for active processes, users, and digital objects, 

with the implication that we need better access controls and two-part authenticators for 

devices. 

•	 Multiple identities with multiple identifiers for an individual are a must. Attribute 

certificates stating the authorizations of differing identities must be supported. Individual 

activities must not be confused with organizational activities. 

•	 Roles for an individual must be supported, and role-based authentication is needed (i.e., 

the authentication of a person will depend on the role that person is attempting to fill). 

Roles for processes must similarly be supported. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

•	 Enterprise KM requires: the secure creation of keys; automatic replication of keys; an 

enterprise-wide KM policy, as well as application-specific KM policies; audit logging; 

role-based management; scalability across the enterprise (good availability and a large 

number of keys and applications); interoperability; standards compliance (e.g., IEEE 

P1619.3, OASIS KM interoperability protocol); and secure key export to trusted partners. 

•	 Automakers are concerned with: (1) a single point of failure in systems without sufficient 

redundancy so that KM systems are at risk of a BIG loss (catastrophe); (2) immediate 

security needs versus higher costs; (3) the need for a more flexible credentialing system 

(many are locked into the current system with no way to change. 

•	 Electronic Key Management (EKM) is needed that can leverage existing policies and 

authentication methods to lower cost and give faster deployment; 

•	 Designers must make cryptography easy to use and friendly. Currently, anti-spam tools 

are understood and desired by users, but cryptography is not. 

•	 A Chief Information Security Officer must be able to communicate with enterprise 

security developers. Access control data must be the basis of cryptographic mechanism 

control. Failures in many KM services often force users to get a key outside of the KM 

system, with disastrous results. 

•	 Centralized Key management provides a lower administration burden. An enterprise 

cannot rely on end users for security, especially managing keys. Centralized KM 

minimizes the involvement of the user and provides scalability with control. 

Organizations of all sizes can benefit from centralized key management strategies; they 

will find centralized KM both affordable and durable. 

•	 In many customers’ environments, users need to digitally sign a transaction very 

infrequently. Non-repudiation services are also seldom required. Authentication is often a 

local matter. One-time password tokens are often used, and an identity-challenge 

oftentimes suffices for a signature if it is done whenever a signature is needed. 

•	 Military applications must support very large groups of users. Examples include sensors 

remotely deployed in very large numbers (sometimes called sensor dust). Future key 

management systems must efficiently support millions of micro, unmanned aviation 

vehicles. Global support of secure wireless delivery systems, such as radios, telephones, 

and GPS, is required. 

•	 Revocation of potentially compromised keys must be completed in seconds, not minutes. 

Very large subsets of keys must be revoked upon command. In many applications, 

revocation of keys must scale according to the number of end points revoked, not to the 

total number of keys. It is permissible to miss a rekey, but not a revocation (i.e., a system 

must fail-secure). A binary-tree approach is used to design an efficient key revocation 

system. A key distribution algorithm must guarantee that only a specific subset of good 

nodes has good keys for a period. 

•	 Key management requirements of military applications include: secure global key 

distribution; responsive key revocation; and customized “last mile” delivery for special 

environments, such as the military. Scalable key encryption algorithms must support 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

secure wireless delivery. A near-zero vulnerability of the disclosure of a key must be 

maintained. An override of policy must be available when a commander demands it. 

•	 The Certificate Authority must deal with keys globally, while the end user must deal with 

them locally. The KMS must be more dynamic as the number of customers scale 

upwards. 

•	 Global presence requires globally-scalable key management. 

•	 Deterring the cyber threat requires nearly-instantaneous revocation. Operational 

requirements mandate flexible last-mile deployment strategies. Fundamental technologies 

exist that provide the needed scale, including: weighted key assignment, batched 

transmission, permutation trees, and augmented broadcast encryption. 

•	 Compliance enforcement is a motivator for reluctant users. Protection from data 

breaches should be, but often is not, the prime motivator. 

•	 There is a major need to support key management technology as part of the national 

cybersecurity initiative. The CKM project is designed to develop a comprehensive and 

interoperable CKM. 

•	 Requirements: user-friendly; easy to use, i.e., system components must “Plug and Play”; 

user-driven capability; secure; cost-effective; fault-tolerant and highly available; provide 

protection against destructive attacks; interoperable; enterprise-wide; multi-partner; 

multi-vendor; multi-application; scalable; and enhanced interoperability in time of 

emergency. 

•	 We would like network security at no extra cost (not at no cost). 

•	 Key management requires more than key establishment. Key management systems must 

provide for the secure generation, storage, access and recovery of the keys, either before 

or after they are distributed. 

•	 We must have a “leap” in ease of implementation, management, and use (recall that the 

electronic distribution of wrapped keys led to an improvement over manually distributed 

keys, and public key-based key distribution led to an improvement over key wrapping). 

•	 A holistic approach to enterprise key management is needed, where a complete standard 

set of key management capabilities would be widely available for information protection. 

•	 Customers want to defer to authorities to tell them what key management system is good, 

better, and best. There is a need for a public-private partnership that allows the new 

CKM technologies to incubate and be evaluated, so that consumers will accept the 

solutions when they become available. The RSA algorithm had to be vetted for some 

time before it became accepted. 

•	 We must have a uniform solution to a uniform family of problems. We need a glossary of 

security to minimize undefined buzzwords that are used to sell commercial products. A 

well-understood standard lexicon is needed in security. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

3.13 New Technologies 

New CKM technologies are needed to keep up with the increased demand for security, due to 

significant increases in computer capability, applications, and usage. New or greatly improved 

technologies are needed in: quantum cryptographic algorithms/computing, cloud computing, 

identity-based cryptography, security improvements, speed improvements, usability 

improvements, and cost reductions. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to new 

technologies. 

•	 In computer technology, we keep moving faster and faster. We have seen an 

improvement of price-performance in computer technology by a factor of nearly one 

million in the past 30 years. 

•	 Cloud computing will provide convenient, remote, on-demand utilization (e.g., rental) of 

computing power and applications that the user cannot afford to maintain locally, but 

may need from time to time. This capability will provide ubiquitous network access, ondemand self-service of computing power, metered-use (rent by the hour), elasticity of 

capability meeting real-time requirements, and resource pooling. 

•	 There will be software, hardware, and infrastructures as services to be obtained at will. 

The question that must be asked is where and how will security in general, and CKM 

specifically, take place? Who or what is responsible for security while data is being 

processed within the cloud: by the cloud itself or by the application? 

•	 A cloud capability may be deployed by various cloud providers to a multitude of cloud 

customers in various ways, including: software as a service, platform as a service, and 

infrastructure as a service. 

•	 Cloud computing already has a wide array of interested participants, both providers and 

consumers. 

•	 A cloud infrastructure CKM model might have a centralized cloud security center for 

multiple data storage and computation centers. 

•	 In cloud computing, virtual machines may be used for security. Having fully trusted 

virtual machines is not as simple as it looks, because virtual machines can be suspended, 

copied, moved, or lost. A Virtual Machine Manager implementation was tested for 

quality, and all systems failed the tests; device emulation was particularly vulnerable. 

•	 Cloud infrastructures can help in some key management areas. Clouds are designed to 

separate users. Users may be able to leverage the cloud infrastructure as a trusted third 

party. 

•	 One workshop participant asserted that cloud computing is the most insecure technology 

to come along and cannot be secured. 

•	 Fair Electronic Exchange is defined so that both parties of an electronic transaction get 

what they need or neither party gets anything. One party gets the message only if the 

other party gets a receipt for the message. Fair exchange is crucial to electronic 

commerce, but not easy, even with digital signatures. 

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•	 Future directions of key management include: central KM solutions for managing keys in 

Hardware Security Modules (HSM’s); a cryptographic key management framework is 

needed to simplify the understanding of KM; key management should be isolated from a 

key users; guidance on the use of key attributes; KM policy must be easily defined and 

enforced, especially for symmetric keys; and KM policy negotiation/mapping is required 

for effective interoperability among applications. 

•	 Identity Based Key Management (IBKM) must yield automatic identity authentication at 

decryption time. Users must provide their ID and authenticator to access data. Identity 

Based Encryption (IBE) is required for binding users into groups (i.e., ID = group or 

role). The key server must authenticate identity for access authorization. 

•	 An Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) signature scheme must be made 

into a Fast ECDSA signature scheme (40% faster) so that it can achieve fast digital 

signature verification. There should be a transition from ECDSA to Fast ECDSA. 

•	 Considerations for future key management systems must include: a design of CKM 

systems for high availability, survivable CKM Systems, emergency access to keys, and 

worry about unintended consequences, both good and bad. 

•	 In light of quantum computing, CKM system designers must look at means other than 

public key-based key management systems; they must look at quantum computingresistant algorithms and schemes. 

•	 Technologies and Standards must support identity-based encryption, enterprise key 

management, OASIS KMIP, CMC, and factory-generated device keys for enterprise 

enrollment and registration. 

•	 Identity based symmetric keys should be used to reduce the scale of the symmetric key 

distribution problem. 

•	 The CKM System Design Framework should encourage a CKM solution developer to 

think about future transitions and address when the CKM solution will need maintenance, 

when it will need to be replaced, and how it might best be phased out 

•	 Quantum cryptography should be reviewed as a candidate for providing us with the leap 

in key management capabilities that we seek. 

•	 A Cloud Cryptographic Key Management system is needed. There should be a trusted 

part of the cloud to provide a key to communicate securely with anyone else on the 

network or any service provider in the cloud. There should be a way to go to the trusted 

part of the cloud to establish a secure connection to any service or other user in the 

“cloud.” Security should be automatically provided by the cloud for all communications. 

3.14 Framework 

A framework is a basic structure consisting of a set of components that can be combined in a 

variety of designs within a set of defined architectures. The components are described in detail 

in a framework, but are not restricted on how they must be combined or used when designing a 

system or other functional entity. A System Design Framework may describe the characteristics 

of each component, which standards the components comply with, and provide examples of how 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

they may be used. A framework is not intended to suffice as an architecture, a design, 

blueprints, or specifications of an entity that may be created from the described components. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to the future 

Cryptographic Key Management Framework. 

•	 A CKM framework is needed; SP 800-57 is a good start. Security has to be built into 

applications and systems, security best practices have to be supported by security 

toolkits, and algorithm agility is necessary. We need to know what system state is 

expected by a user, and the user must be able to determine the security state of an 

application. 

3.15 Applications 

An application in information processing is program that is designed to perform one or more 

tasks using a set of data. Security needs to be considered for applications to protect the data 

during communication or while in storage, to authenticate the users performing the applications, 

and to assure that performance of the tasks is authorized for the users. Cryptography is often 

used to provide or support one or more of the tasks. Key management is required when using 

cryptography to assure that one or more cryptographic keys are properly generated, that they are 

distributed where they are needed for cryptographic processing, and that they are stored securely 

so they are available when needed and not disclosed to unauthorized users or processes. 

The following are highlights of presentations from the workshop that are related to applications. 

•	 The role of key management in cybersecurity is critical. We have cryptographic 

functions that are used for identification and authentication, both from the standpoint of 

protecting privacy, but more importantly, for integrity and authentication mechanisms. 

•	 Even when we look at biometric methods for identification and authentication to control 

access to critical functions, we're still dependent on cryptographic functions for 

protecting the integrity of the biometrics. 

•	 Key management is critical for all sensitive information processing applications. 

Economic prosperity is a major goal and needs information security. 

•	 The Internet has changed the world. It has increased global productivity, manufacturing, 

and communications. It has changed the United States. It has increased our standard of 

living and is a very wonderful device that we all enjoy. These are all due to the 

innovative applications created for the Internet and its users. 

•	 Nearly all Internet security protocols use cryptography for authentication, integrity and/or 

confidentiality, and hence, require key management (KM). 

•	 A Southeast Michigan pilot program within a health provider community utilizes 

Federated Identity Management systems to manage health data bases. 

•	 A workshop participant asserted that small, distributed databases are inherently safer than 

very large, centralized ones for several reasons. He stated that some approaches used 

health care “silos” to manage health care information. He discussed first-responder 

emergency access to patient data (i.e., the EMT doesn’t know where the emergency 

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victim’s healthcare data is located when the responder first starts to look for it) in 

unplanned circumstances, which caused special security provisions to be needed 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

4. Summary of Comments Received Subsequent to Workshop 

NIST created an Email address and a WebLog6 (Blog) to facilitate discussion among participants 

regarding cryptographic key management subsequent to the workshop and to disseminate new 

information to the workshop participants and other interested parties. Five initial questions (A 

through E) were posted on the blog in order to initiate discussion. Each question had multiple 

sub-questions. This is a summary of the comments or responses received from the public. 

Question A dealt with leap-ahead technologies. A comment was received from Stephen Lange 

Ranzini who thought that an on-demand Federated Identity Management System, based on the 

Liberty Alliance’s Identity Assurance Framework, would enable a leap-ahead in securing 

cyberspace. He believes that this would be a major improvement in both security and ease of use 

over the existing user name and password systems. The Federated system would not require 

multiple one-time password tokens. Mr. Ranzini feels that banks are best equipped to provide 

this single sign-on service, and notes that strong security across the Internet for users is identified 

in various Federal Government cybersecurity strategy documents as one of the top hard problems 

that need to be addressed. 

Question B asked “What constitutes a key management framework? Mike Markowitz responded 

to a comment by Santosh Chokhani who stated that the security of keys “can be ensured using 

standards, such as FIPS 140-2.” Mr. Markowitz quoted a portion of FIPS 140-2 that states that 

“conformance to this standard is not sufficient to ensure that a particular module is secure.” He 

feels that there is a perception that standards accomplish much more than they actually do. Mr. 

Markowitz proposed that a Question F be posted that asks “What can we expect to accomplish 

with a KM standard?” As a result, Question F was posted. 

Question C asked “Do you see new applications requiring key management?” Stephen Lange 

Ranzini responded that “If a Federated Identity Management system were widely deployed, new 

industries would be created” (see response to Question A). 

Question E asked “What R&D activities should be undertaken to advance the key management 

technology?” Larry Hofer stated that a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) may be problematic for 

implementations with limited memory. He then wondered “What do we see happening to 

resolve this technical issue?” 

Mike Markowitz responded to Larry Hofer by pointing out that the OCSP and SCVP efforts are 

intended as CRL alternatives. 

Stephen Lange Ranzini felt that a permanent test bed in the healthcare industry would yield rapid 

progress in creating a trusted computing environment and assist in the nationwide deployment of 

an identity assurance Federation. 

Comments received through email: The following comments were sent directly to NIST. 

Steven Wierenga, HP Distinguished Technologist, appreciated the opportunity to participate in 

the workshop and would do so in the future. However, he stated that the technical arrangements 

for the workshop’s remote presenters and panelists were extremely difficult because of 

interference in the sound systems. He hopes that these problems will be resolved for future 

workshops (Note: see summary following this section.) 

6

 May no longer be available. 

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CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP SUMMARY 

Chii-Ren Tsai, Senior Vice President of Citigroup O&T Risk Management, felt that the 

workshop was very successful. He fully supports the directions that NIST has taken to improve 

key management. Trusted insiders are the major threat. We need more awareness of the threat 

and the importance of sound key management. Mr. Tsai will be happy to contribute to the 

Framework discussions as much as he can. Citigroup has been conveying its key management 

requirements to product vendors with some nice results. He looks forward to a comprehensive 

framework and the products to make secure solutions. 

Chii-Ren Tsai, Senior Vice President of Citigroup O&T Risk Management, provided some 

thoughts for consideration. 

1.	 Each key management system is supposed to have a secure key store where asymmetric and 

private keys are kept in encrypted form. The master key used to encrypt the keys may need 

to be protected in a HSM (hardware security module). 

2.	 Cryptographic keys should be managed via a key management interface that is separate 

from the key use interface. 

3.	 Security administrators who manage keys via the key management interface are not 

authorized to browse keys in the clear, nor access the key use interface.
 

4.	 Dual control should be embedded in key management functions that must be performed 

manually, such as key export, key injection, key deletion, etc. 

5.	 Cryptographic keys that will be centrally managed may need to be defined like a key object, 

with attributes to simplify key management. For example, the following attributes may be 

useful if they are coupled with keys, especially symmetric keys: 

a.	 Key Label 

b.	 Cryptographic Algorithm 

c.	 Key length 

d.	 Key type 

e.	 Key renewal policy (e.g., renewal frequency, renewal method, etc.) 

f.	 Creation date 

g.	 Application 

h.	 Owner 

i.	 Exportable 

6.	 The KM framework should allow key management policies to be created so that each 

organization can define its own policies to comply with its standards. The syntax of KM 

policy definition can be standardized for interoperability.
 

7.	 A KM protocol (e.g., KMIP) is required to allow central management of keys in various 

platforms and products. Such a protocol should be able to carry key attributes, as well as 

policy mapping, and support mutual authentication with access control.
 

8.	 It (a key management system) must be implemented with sufficient security features, such 

as strong authentication, audit/logging, access control, data confidentiality and integrity. 

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9.	 Each key management system should allow additional key management protocols or APIs to 

be plugged-in to automate certain KM functions in business applications. 

10. Ideally, newly developed applications based on such a KM framework can be seamlessly 

managed by a KM tool, built out of the same framework. 

In a separate email, Chii-Ren Tsai, Senior Vice President of Citigroup O&T Risk Management, 

provided additional comments: 

1.	 What I previously described does not cover (apply to) KM domains that are application 

specific. Some of them can be generalized or will benefit from the general purpose 

framework if re-engineered, but quite a few are narrowly focused and tightly coupled 

with the application architecture. 

2.	 Public key-enabled applications, such as secure email, IPSec, and certified document 

signing, have key management that is synonymous with certificate management, even if 

their certificates are populated with slightly different attributes. 

3.	 With secure tape archiving, key generation protection, retention, and recovery are critical. 

4.	 Hardware security modules tend to have different flavors and architectures (e.g., 

network-based versus locally attached). 

Summary: Email responses seemed better at dealing with significant issues than the workshop 

Blog. The Citigroup participant’s interest in CKM is quite apparent, and his follow-up ideas on 

the essential elements of a cryptographic key management framework are very much worth 

considering. The Computer Security Division normally conducts small workshops of technical 

experts who are divided into working groups to discuss specific topics. Remotely provided 

participation is mostly one-way communication to the individual watching the real-time video, 

and few questions or comments were received by email. As an experiment and to save two 

presenters time and travel costs, they gave their presentations remotely using the audio facilities 

that were shared with many other participants. This turned out to be unacceptable because the 

background audio noise from the non-presenters was louder than the presentation. The 

experiment resulted in a strong recommendation that more audio facilities should be used in the 

future to assure that the presenter had an exclusive audio connection with the workshop. 

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Appendix A: Acronyms 

Acronym Definition 

AKA Also Known As 

ANSI American National Standards Institute 

API Application Programming Interface 

CAK Card Authentication Key 

CDSA Common Data Security Architecture 

CHUID Card Holder Unique Identifier 

CIA C = Confidentiality assurance, I = Integrity assurance, A = Availability 

assurance 

CIO Chief Information Officer 

CISE Computer and Information Science and Engineering 

CK Cryptographic Key 

CKM Cryptographic Key Management 

CKMS Cryptographic Key Management System 

CMS Cryptographic Message Syntax 

CRL Certificate Revocation List 

DAR Data-At-Rest 

DBMS DataBase Management System 

DNS Domain Name System 

EAP Extensible Access Protocol 

ECDSA Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm 

EKM Electronic Key Management 

EKMS Electronic Key Management System 

EMT Emergency Medical Technician 

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency 

GDOI Group Domain of Interpretation 

GKM Group Key Management 

GUI Graphical User Interface 

HSM Hardware Security Module 

IBE Identity=Based Encryption 

IBKM Identity-Based Key Management 

ID Identity 

IDKM Identity-Based Key Management 

IEEE Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers 

IETF Internet Engineering Task Force 

ISO International Standards Organization 

IT Information Technology 

KDC Key Distribution Center 

KM Key Management 

KMS Key Management System 

MKD Multipoint Key Distribution 

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology 

NSA National Security Agency 

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NSF National Science Foundation 

OASIS Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards 

OCSP Online Certificate Status Protocol 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

PABP Payment Application Best Practices 

PACS Physical Access Control System 

PIV Personal Identity Verification 

PK Public Key 

PKCS Public Key Cryptography System 

PKI Public Key Infrastructure 

PKIX Public Key Infrastructure for X.509 Certificates 

PKM Public Key Management 

POS Point of Sale 

R & D Research and Development 

RFC Request For Comment 

RSA Rivest-Shamir-Adelman (algorithm) 

SCVP Server-based Certificate Validation Protocol 

SDL Security Development Lifecycle 

SKMS Secure Key Management System 

TPO Trusted Post Office 

TTP Trusted Third Party 

VMM Virtual Machine Manager 

VOIP Voice Over IP (Voice Over the Internet Protocol) 

WWW Word Wide Web 

59