What Is a Hardware Security Module (HSM)?
A Hardware Security Module (HSM) is a physical computing device that provides extra security for sensitive data and cryptographic operations. It is designed to protect encryption keys, digital certificates, passwords, and other confidential information from unauthorized access or malicious attacks. HSMs are typically used in applications such as banking systems, payment processing networks, government agencies, healthcare organizations and cloud services providers.
HSMs provide an additional layer of protection by securely storing the most important pieces of data within their secure environment. They also offer advanced features such as tamper-proofing mechanisms which prevent any tampering with the stored data or its associated processes. Additionally they can be configured to support multiple authentication methods including biometrics and two factor authentication protocols like OTPs (One Time Passwords). Furthermore HSMs can be integrated into existing IT infrastructures allowing them to interact with other components while still maintaining their own level of security.