Different Aspects of Key Management and Key Control
Key management deals with cryptographic authentication in the areas of usage, storage and handling of keys under several protocols. It is a high-end solution to access control and protection. Imagine you have a strong-box and you have lost your key. There are two possibilities here. First, it would take time and energy to find the key; you might never even find them. Second, it can fall into the wrong hand that might prove disastrous.
Proper encryption ensures the effectiveness of managing the keys and determines how the system conforms to the industry standards. For instance, in key control that assures only the authorized personnel or employees have the keys, it records every transaction and maintains a log. Encryption accentuates confidentiality, upon which the whole premise of management and control is built.
Other factors such as security policy, user knowledge and interaction between the different sections of an organization also ascertain its strength.
Several features and options distinguish the level of its potentiality. We have listed five of them below:
1. We can place and identify the right keys easily
2. We can return them to their correct location
3. It takes up very less area, and conversely, it allows more space for storage
4. Easy access control is its synonym and it goes along well with a number of devices
5. Despite its complex set-up, it has an ergonomic design making it user-friendly
Still, there are some issues, which pose a challenge to the management system. For example, there are issues of dealing with millions of keys. Encryption helps but there are chances of hacking and unlawful intrusion. A foolproof system should allow authorization to get access, whenever required, without any hitch and so on. On one hand, the important aspect of key management is in its requirement for verification to get access. The cryptographic encryption guarantees that there is no breach, on the other. Now, we can see how it is closely related to key control.
The first striking feature of key control is its ability to secure assets and property. Usually, it is elaborate and complex, but it rarely compromises on its user-friendly features. As mentioned above, it also facilitates in placing and the identifying the right keys plus the location and the identity of the personnel having them. It can as well prevent the duplication of keys in almost every sized organization with having different key management goals. Lastly, an alarm management system completes the system.