Visa Inc.
Cryptographic services utilizing commodity hardware

Abstract:

The solution herein describes a software module that works in combination with certain hardware (e.g., a particular chipset) to obtain the level of security provided by an HSM. The software module can be implemented on a commodity server. The software module can utilize an HSM or key custodian to obtain cryptographic keys. The cryptographic keys may be stored on the commodity server within a secure memory space managed by the commodity server's chip set. While stored, access to the cryptographic keys may be managed by the chip set. The chip set can ensure that only protected applications associated with the cryptographic keys may access said keys.