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SafeNet SafeNet HSMs and appliances are deployed into a wide variety of markets and environments. Arranging for the eventual disposal of a SafeNet HSM or HSM appliance that is no longer needed can be a simple accounting task and a call to your local computer recycling service, or it can be a complex and rigorous set of procedures intended to protect very sensitive information.
Some users of SafeNet HSMs employ cryptographic keys and material that have a very short "shelf life". A relatively short time after the HSM is taken out of service, any objects that it contains are no longer relevant. The HSM could be disposed of, with no concern about any material that might remain in it.
The majority of our customers are concerned with their keys and objects that are stored on the HSM. It is important to them that those items never be exposed. The fact is that they are never exposed, but see below for explanations and actions that address the concerns of auditors who might be more accustomed to other ways of safeguarding HSM contents.
The design philosophy of our SafeNet HSMs ensures that contents are safe from attackers. Unlike other HSM products on the market, SafeNet HSMs never store sensitive objects, like cryptographic keys, unencrypted. Therefore, SafeNet HSMs have no real need - other than perception or "optics" - to perform active erasure of HSM contents, in case of an attack or tamper event.
Instead, the basic state of a SafeNet HSM is that any stored keys and objects are strongly encrypted . They are decrypted only for current use, and only into volatile memory within the HSM.
If power is removed from the HSM, or if the current session closes, the temporarily-decrypted objects instantly evaporate. The encrypted originals remain, but they are unusable by anyone who does not have the correct HSM keys to decrypt them.
In addition to encryption with the user specific access keys or passwords, all objects on the HSM are encrypted by the HSM's global key encryption key (KEK) and the HSM's unique Master Tamper Key (MTK).
If the HSM experiences a Decommission event (pressing of the small red button on back of SafeNet Network HSM, or shorting of the pins of the decommission header on the K6 HSM card, or removal of the battery while main power is not connected to a SafeNet USB HSM) then the KEK is deleted.
If the HSM experiences a tamper event (physical intrusion, environmental excursion), then the MTK is destroyed.
Destruction of either of those keys instantly renders any objects in the HSM unusable by anyone. In the case of a Decommission event, when the HSM is next powered on, it requires initialization, which wipes even the encrypted remains of your former keys and objects.
We recognize that some organizations build their protocols around assumptions that apply to other suppliers' HSMs - where keys are stored unencrypted and must be actively erased in the event of an attack or removal from service. If your policies include that assumption, then you can re-initialize after Decommission - which actively erases the encrypted objects for which no decrypting key existed. For purposes of security, such an action is not required, but it can satisfy pre-existing protocols that presume a weakness not present in SafeNet HSMs.
A percentage of our customers are very high-security establishments (like some government entities) that have very rigorous protocols for removing a device from service. In such circumstances, it is not sufficient to merely ensure that all material is gone from the HSM. It is also necessary to clear any possible evidence from the appliance that contains the HSM, such as IP configuration and addresses, log files, etc.
If you have any concern that simply pressing the Decommission button and running sysconf config factoryreset is not sufficient destruction of potentially-sensitive information, then please refer to Declassify or Decommission the HSM Appliance.