Recap of Key Management

In this chapter, we have discussed key management—the aspect of cryptography that is of greatest relevance to cryptography users since it’s the most likely to require decision making and process design in unique application environments. We have observed that key management is always necessary but never easy. In particular, we have:

• Stressed the importance of keeping in mind the entire cryptographic key lifecycle from key generation to key destruction.

• Examined the various phases of the cryptographic key lifecycle in detail.

• Noted that policies, practices, and procedures must ultimately govern key management.

In the subsequent lessons, we examine further issues that arise when managing key pairs in public-key cryptography.