The way you implement your PKI affects your compliance and level of trust, making it the cornerstone of a zero trust architecture.

In the digital age, security is of paramount importance, especially when it comes to protecting sensitive data and ensuring the integrity of online transactions. Public key infrastructure (PKI) is a proven framework that uses cryptography to establish secure communication channels and verify the authenticity of digital transactions. However, with the evolving threat landscape, it is crucial to modernise your PKI to maintain robust security.

The way you implement your PKI affects your compliance and level of trust, making PKI the cornerstone of zero trust architecture (if correctly implemented).

Key PKI levels of trust – do you know what level of trust you have?

a. Level 1: no trust

i. No policies and processes

ii. Soft keys

iii. No segregation of duties or failover

iv. Limited certificate use (L1,2)

b. Level 2: some trust

i. Self-managed internal policies and processes

ii. Soft keys

iii. No segregation of duties or failover

iv. Moderate certificate use (L1,2,3,5)

c. Level 3: trusted

i. Audited policies and processes

ii. Hard keys (in HSM)

iii. Segregation of duties and failover

iv. Maximum certificate use (L1,2,3,4,5)

Practical steps in modernising your PKI using the SmartCrypto Crypto Framework include:

1. Assess and audit your current PKI

We evaluate the existing infrastructure, using a GAP analysis and health check against the ISO standard 21188 providing management with a benchmark and plan of action.

We provide feedback and recommendations on your current PKI technical design.

We then provide business enablement recommendations.

2. Built for purpose

PKI has evolved over time, just like any technology. Where certificates were originally used for managing devices on a network (auto enrolment), the need to use certificates for user, application and process authentication as well as encryption requires a PKI that is flexible and more secure with high availability and verification services that can handle the requirement. Each secure PKI is designed and built per customer objectives and future needs as well as customer skills with options of modular, integrated, managed, supported and as a service.

3. Implement certificate life cycle management

Effective management of digital certificates is essential to ensure the security and smooth operation of your PKI. Introduce an automated certificate life cycle management system to streamline processes such as certificate issuance, renewal, revocation and expiration tracking. This helps minimise human error, improves efficiency and enhances overall security.

4. Explore cloud-based solutions

Consider leveraging cloud-based PKI solutions to enhance the scalability and flexibility of your infrastructure. Cloud-based PKI services offer centralised management, rapid deployment and on-demand scalability while ensuring the highest levels of security.

5. PKI support and training

SmartCrypto provides dedicated support services that complement and provide segregation of duty or replace on-premises skills – not limited to:

a. Providing segregation of duty and guideline support to the policy authority and compliance.

b. Providing support to the PKI incident management process and the operational authority.

c. Provides a key ceremony.

d. Provides support to the operational certificate authorities.

e. Provides support to the hardware security modules (HSMs).

As a trusted and reputable technology provider, we empower organisations to establish a strong security foundation, protect sensitive information and build trust among their customers, employees and partners in an increasingly digital world.