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What is Systems Management for Encryption?
Systems Management for Encryption is the practice of applying proven systems management techniques—already in use for many of the most common computing environments—to encrypt sensitive data, and applying them horizontally across diverse operating environments.

Organizations use systems management for encryption to centralize the deployment, management and control of encryption technologies such as digital certificates and keys (both symmetric and asymmetric). Benefits of systems management for encryption include a reduction in system failure due to under-managed encryption, increased operational efficiency, lower operating costs, and improved compliance and data security.

Why the Need for Systems Management for Encryption?
Today, the growing threat of security breaches and a proliferation of government regulations increases the need to protect data like never before. According to Paul Stamp, analyst at Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, “Every year brings new attack strategies from hackers, greater pressure from management for results, the potential of changing legislative and regulatory environments, and shifting organizational priorities.” Encryption technologies are therefore needed across enterprise systems where data is both stored and accessed. However, the manual management of encryption without a central, holistic approach exposes corporate data to vulnerabilities and leaves business operations at risk.

An example that highlights the need for better managed encryption is the May 2008 announcement by Debian that a flaw had caused SSL (secure socket layer), SSH (secure shell) and other keys generated on the Linux variant to be dangerously weak. In addition to patching code on the affected systems, organizations needed to quickly identify and replace all SSL and SSH keys at risk. In a “Security Catalyst” podcast on May 21, 2008, “The right way to address the Debian OpenSSL vulnerability,” analyst Michael Santarcangelo explains how systems management for encryption benefits Debian users immediately and keep future vulnerabilities at bay.

What Does Systems Management for Encryption Do?
Systems management for encryption combines and automates many of the most common manual tasks associated with managing encryption. Best practices for systems management for encryption includes the following four components:

 Discovery: Easily identifies un- or under-managed certificates and keys and allows administrators to place them under management, which, in turn, helps to enforce policy. Lifecycle management: Continuously automates maintenance of certificates and keys throughout all stages of their lifecycle—from request to renewal or revocation. Application configuration: Automatically deploys and configures applications to use certificates and keys according to administrator-defined policies. Monitoring & reporting: Generates comprehensive dashboards that summarize the state security and compliance states across all environments, delivering actionable data to key decision makers. 