Security Policies and User Roles

This chapter covers considerations administrators should make when selecting and setting a security policy for the SafeNet ProtectToolkit-C environment. Many factors can affect operational security, and the various security features provided may affect SafeNet ProtectToolkit-C performance and security during runtime operations.

A security policy is a set of security settings that control how SafeNet ProtectToolkit-C is allowed to function. For example:

>whether PINs may be passed across the host interface in an unencrypted form

>whether a soft tamper (erase all internal secure memory) should occur as part of a firmware upgrade

Organizations can create unique security policies to satisfy their own needs, or they may adopt policies defined by standards bodies or other organizations.

A number of security settings offered as a part of SafeNet ProtectToolkit-C implement typical security policies that meet certain standards or satisfy application integration requirements. These or any other custom security policy can be activated. The available options are fully described inTypical Security Policies.

If you are implementing a security policy to satisfy application integration requirements, other information may be available. See the documentation for your specific application.

Compliance with the PKCS #11 standard will vary from policy to policy. Generally, stricter compliance results in lowered security. See PKCS #11 Compliance and Security for further information.

Some security policy settings have effects that are specific to different user roles. See User Roles.

SafeNet ProtectToolkit-C security policies are implemented by setting or clearing security flags to switch different functions on or off. A policy might be implemented by setting a single security flag. In other cases, more than one flag must be set. See Security Flags for specific procedures.

PKCS #11 Compliance and Security

SafeNet ProtectToolkit-C can be configured for strict compliance with the PKCS #11 standard by using the security policy PKCS #11 Compatibility Mode. If a greater level of security is required, an alternate standard or custom security policy may be adopted. These and all other typical security policies are discussed in Typical Security Policies.

By default (after initial HSM installation or following a tamper event) the SafeNet Default Mode security policy is applied. This mode offers a greater level of security than PKCS #11 Compatibility Mode, while offering more PKCS#11 functions than other possible security policies.

For more about how SafeNet Default Mode differs from PKCS #11 Compatibility Mode, and the related security issues, see PKCS #11 Compatibility Mode.