Clear DefinitionsKey Management Audit
1 min read
Pronunciation
[kee man-ij-muhnt aw-dit]
Analogy
Like auditing a bank vault’s procedures for issuing, tracking, and destroying safe deposit box keys.
Definition
A systematic review of processes, controls, and technologies used to generate, store, rotate, and retire cryptographic keys to ensure they meet security and compliance requirements.
Key Points Intro
Key management audits verify that cryptographic keys are handled securely throughout their lifecycle.
Key Points
Policy review: Validates key usage, rotation, and retirement policies.
Access controls: Checks RBAC, MFA, and segregation of duties.
Technical testing: Assesses KMS configuration, HSM tamper logs.
Logging & monitoring: Ensures audit trails for key operations.
Example
An enterprise hires a security firm to audit its AWS KMS setup, verifying that CMKs rotate every 90 days and that deletion is protected by a 7‑day waiting window.
Technical Deep Dive
Auditors inspect KMS key policies, IAM roles, CloudTrail logs for `CreateKey`, `Encrypt`, `Decrypt`, `ScheduleKeyDeletion`. They test unauthorized access attempts and review HSM FIPS‑140 logs.
Security Warning
Gaps in rotation or excessive key access permissions can lead to undetected compromise.
Caveat
Audits are point‑in‑time; continuous monitoring is needed for ongoing assurance.
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