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1 min read
Unveiling Obsidian: The Next-Gen Payment Platform for the Cloud Era
We are delighted to announced the launch of Obsidian, a cutting-edge payment platform designed to meet the evolving needs of the payment industry....
7 min read
Quantum-Resistant Short-Lived Certificates
Short-lived certificates play a vital role in current infrastructures, finding a suitable quantum-resistant alternative to the currently used...
2 min read
Cryptomathic and PQShield form strategic alliance to offer PQC solutions for code signing and data protection in compliance with latest NIST and CNSA recommendations
Two foremost software security experts and pioneers in cryptographic agility and post-quantum cryptography join forces to offer comprehensive,...
4 min read
The Challenges of Certifying the EUDI Wallet: A Deep Dive
As the European Union solidifies the framework for the EUDI (European Digital Identity) wallet, the certification process outlined in the...
6 min read
Qualified Electronic Signatures – Best Practice Implementation of the Signature Activation Module (SAM)
Edlyn Teske: 06. September 2024
This article evaluates the implementation options for the Signature Activation Module (SAM) in the context of eIDAS 2. Based on this analysis we...
2 min read
Hard Truths About Hardware: Why the EUDI Wallet Needs More Than Just Secure Chips
Mobile phones are increasingly vulnerable to hacking and fraud, presenting significant challenges for securing sensitive applications like the EUDI...
2 min read
Assessing the EUDI Wallet Reference Implementation Code
The EUDI wallet reference implementation serves as a practical guide for developers to create secure digital identity management solutions based on...
3 min read
Key Vulnerabilities of the EUDI Wallet Solution Reference Architecture (ARF)
The EUDI (European Digital Identity) wallet solution reference architecture (ARF) is designed to provide a secure framework for managing digital...
2 min read
Cryptomathic Signer and KeyCloak Integration: A Powerhouse for eIDAS-Compliant Remote Signing
Guillaume Forget: 09. August 2024
To deliver trust services, managing user´s identities and access is paramount. eID schemes and trust service providers all require IdP solutions for...
3 min read
7 essential strategies to secure mobile-first consumer-driven banking
North America is catching up fast to the open banking initiatives that are currently thriving across Europe, South America and Asia Pacific. As...
1 min read
Cryptomathic names new Sales Director for South Europe, Africa & LatAm
Cryptomathic is delighted to welcome Edmundo Diaz as its new Sales Director for Southern Europe, Africa and Latin America (LatAm). Edmundo’s...
1 min read
Secure Your Data in Azure with External Key Management and BYOK
Data security can be complex, but it's essential in today's business world, especially when using cloud services. One effective approach is adopting...
1 min read
Cryptomathic welcomes new Sales Director for North America
Cryptomathic further bolsters its leadership team, welcoming Davin Cooke as Sales Director for the company’s North American operations.
2 min read
Key Management for HSMS and post-quantum cryptography
In today's fast-evolving digital landscape, robust key management has become an essential part of securing sensitive data and communications. The...
1 min read
Cryptomathic assures security of Belgium’s new digital identity wallet
Cryptomathic’s Mobile App Security Core (MASC) delivers the highest levels of security, protection and privacy for citizens using the app
4 min read
Key Management in the Automotive Domain
Edlyn Teske: 16. May 2024
Today’s cars are computers on wheels which operate in a connected world and ecosystem of other cars, roadside infrastructure, and the cloud. Car...
1 min read
Cryptomathic strengthens senior leadership with Chief Revenue Officer
Cryptomathic is delighted to announce the appointment of Anna Russell as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).
7 min read
Exploring DORA
Edlyn Teske: 21. March 2024
Cryptomathic solutions support your financial institution towards compliance. The financial sector is increasingly dependent on technology and on...
1 min read
Cryptomathic launches Signer 6
Francis Richards: 10. January 2024
signer 6 enables future-proofed, scalable digital signing to support the upcoming european digital identity wallet (eudi) We are delighted to...
2 min read
NIS2 succeeds NISD, and can now affect you too
Edlyn Teske: 08. January 2024
Cryptomathic guides you towards compliance. EU Directive 2022/2555 on Network and Information Systems, also known as NIS2, entered into force on Jan...
4 min read
Steps to Achieve State-of-the-Art Protection for Your Mobile Apps
In today's digital landscape, ensuring the security of your mobile applications is paramount. Cryptomathic's Mobile App Security Core (MASC) is at...
2 min read
Mobile Point of Sale Compliance – What is it all about?
PCI have recently released the new standard and compliance program for Mobile Payments on Commercial off-the-shelf devices (MPoC). This blog is the...
2 min read
eIDAS 2.0 – What’s New?
Edlyn Teske: 02. August 2023
The European eIDAS regulation, short for the Electronic IDentification, Authentication and Trust Services Regulation, was created in 2014 to ensure...
2 min read
Demystifying Mobile Application Hardening: Techniques and Best Practices
What is Mobile Application Hardening? Mobile application hardening refers to the process of securing mobile applications against various threats and...
2 min read
More Post-Quantum Digital Signature Candidates!
Edlyn Teske: 19. July 2023
On July 17, 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a new set of 40 candidates to compete in their Post-Quantum...
3 min read
Cloud Data Security: Why Centralized Key Management is Vital for Banks
In today's digital era, banks are increasingly leveraging cloud and multi-cloud environments to drive operational efficiency. However, the security...
2 min read
The European Digital Identity Wallet as a Means of Authentication
Edlyn Teske: 28. June 2023
The European Commission, as part of the eIDAS 2.0 proposal promotes the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) as an app that enables...
3 min read
AWS External Key Store (XKS) with the Crypto Service Gateway
Glen Leonhard: 22. June 2023
AWS Key Management Service (KMS) has long provided cryptographic services to safeguard your AWS resources. This involves generating and managing keys...
3 min read
Cybersecurity Paradox: How Too Many Solutions Makes You Less Secure
Stefan Hansen: 02. June 2023
Believing that more cybersecurity solutions increase safety is a common misconception. An overload of security measures can ironically generate more...
4 min read
Improving Cloud Key Management with the Enclave Security Module
Glen Leonhard: 01. June 2023
When organizations make the strategic decision to shift their applications and infrastructure onto the cloud, they face a myriad of challenges. These...
7 min read
Top 10 Mobile App Security Threats and How to Protect Your Data
The ubiquity of mobile applications has made them part of our day-to-day lives, but with the increased use comes the risk of potential security...
7 min read
WHAT IS AN ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE? HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM DIGITAL SIGNATURES?
Francis Richards: 18. May 2023
Were I to ask you what a handwritten signature looks like, with an air of confidence will you grab a pen and scrawl your name on a piece of paper,...
4 min read
Payments from a European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet
The European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) is at the forefront of the European Commission's eIDAS initiative to establish a secure and...
4 min read
PQC and How Organizations are Preparing for the Quantum Security Era
Quantum computers offer potential transformational power for organizations dealing with complex computational problems in various industries such as...
4 min read
How FinTech is Helping Build a More Sustainable Financial Future
Harriet Taylor: 11. May 2023
Along with the increased convenience and security offered by digital payment technology, many consumers are now showing greater interest in...
5 min read
The evolution of zero-trust security
Chris Allen: 10. May 2023
The zero-trust approach to enterprise cybersecurity assumes that no connections to corporate systems and networks should be trusted. It requires...
4 min read
How Cryptomathic's Mobile App Security Core Protects the EUDI Wallet
Cryptomathic Mobile App Security Core (MASC) is a comprehensive security software solution for the European Digital Identity (EUDI) wallet, eID apps,...
1 min read
Banks Ask EU to Reconsider Inclusion of Payments in EUDIW Legislation
The European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) has the potential to serve as a comprehensive identity gateway, enabling individuals to manage their...
3 min read
Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) as Part of Your Company's Data Security Strategy
Chris Allen: 02. May 2023
The adoption of cloud computing has altered the approach organizations take toward security. Rather than concentrating on securing the perimeter of a...
4 min read
Why is Zero Trust Important?
Stefan Hansen: 25. April 2023
Zero Trust security is a concept that has been discussed extensively. However, there are many different interpretations of what it means. Some...
2 min read
New Partnership : Cryptomathic and Fidentity
Harriet Taylor: 24. April 2023
Cryptomathic is excited to announce that we have partnered with fidentity, an expert in online identity verification, to enable automated identity...
6 min read
Resources to Help You Develop and Test EUDI Wallet App Security
Edlyn Teske: 20. April 2023
Itemizing the potential risks of the European Digital Identity (EUDl) Wallet scheme is a complex task that involves assessing the attack surface of...
3 min read
Threats to the EUDI Wallet App
Francis Richards: 18. April 2023
The European Digital Identity wallet (EUDI wallet) is proposed by the European Commission to provide a secure, safe and standardized digital identity...
5 min read
Payment Fraud and Mitigation Trends in 2023
Stefan Hansen: 11. April 2023
Merchants must remain vigilant against fraud and ensure they have the necessary tools to combat it. Failure to do so may render their fraud detection...
4 min read
Will Cyberattacks Cause the Next Financial Crisis?
Stefan Hansen: 06. April 2023
The recent instability of a major bank that catered to US tech startups caused concern for several prominent tech companies and venture capitalists,...
5 min read
Encryption for GDPR Compliance
Chris Allen: 05. April 2023
Under the GDPR, organizations must take appropriate measures to protect personal data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, or destruction. One...
6 min read
Outline of the Players in the EUDI Wallet Ecosystem
Harriet Taylor: 04. April 2023
The European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet aims to offer digital wallets to all EU citizens and businesses for identification purposes and document...
5 min read
What is an Assurance Protocol in Mobile App Security?
Edlyn Teske: 28. March 2023
Mobile apps and mobile software components are rarely stand-alone as they frequently perform their most important operations on various backend...
4 min read
PQC & Crypto-agility: Protect Against Steal Now, Decrypt Later
Stefan Hansen: 24. March 2023
Large-scale quantum computing is coming soon, and with that comes new cybersecurity threats. One of these threats is "steal now, decrypt later,"...
2 min read
HSM remote key loading using CKMS and PCI-certified KLD
Hardware security modules (HSMs) are physical devices that provide cryptographic functions such as encryption/decryption and digital signing. They...
5 min read
Cybersecurity Trends To Watch Out For In 2023 And Beyond
Stefan Hansen: 14. March 2023
Each year, various events within the cybersecurity industry have a significant impact on the industry, leading experts to predict an increase in the...
2 min read
Preparing For Post-Quantum Cryptography In 10 Steps
With post-quantum technology having the potential to trigger a new wave of cyber threats, we identify 10 steps that organizations should take to...
4 min read
Will The UK Follow The EU On Digital Identities?
Guillaume Forget: 07. March 2023
The UK's relationship with the EU has been tumultuous in recent years, especially in the wake of Brexit. With regards to digital identities, former...
4 min read
Exploring The EMV Personalization Process
EMV Personalization of a payment card is the process of writing data to the card in order to make it ready for use. This includes loading the card...
5 min read
Protecting the European Digital Identity Wallet
Edlyn Teske: 27. February 2023
The European Commission promotes the European Digital Identity wallet (EUDI wallet) as part of its effort to digitize the economy and help foster...
4 min read
How BYOK Provides Schrems II Compliance for AWS-hosted Data
Companies who use Amazon Web Services (AWS) often choose to do so because of its scalability, ease of use and lower costs than other services or...
2 min read
NIST Picks Lightweight Cryptography Algorithms to Secure Small Devices
Stefan Hansen: 13. February 2023
Security experts from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have declared Ascon - a group of cryptographic algorithms - as the...
3 min read
Secure BYOK Service for AWS S3 Buckets
Keeping data safe in the Cloud has always been a concern for users, hence the need for encrypting data. With more businesses taking advantage of what...
4 min read
The Four Corners Model for Card Payment Security and Key Management
Martin Rupp (guest): 10. February 2023
The “Four Corners” model, also called the “Four Party Scheme”, is utilized in almost all standard card payment systems across the globe. Here, we...
3 min read
Get Quantum-Ready with Crypto Service Gateway
When it comes to preparing for post-quantum computing, the legacy mechanisms for effective implementation, integration, and management of...
4 min read
Exploring Digital Signing Services: What's Involved in Setting Them Up?
Stefan Hansen: 06. February 2023
Digital transformation has been a critical focus for businesses and institutions prior to the pandemic. Digital documents and e-signatures are a...
3 min read
How Cryptomathic’s AWS BYOK Service Provides Industry Grade Compliance
The AWS cloud is enjoying increasing popularity with its very high levels of scalability, durability, and availability. It releases companies from...
8 min read
Cybersecurity for connected vehicles
Stefan Hansen: 31. January 2023
Vehicles today come with an array of convenience and safety features driven by software. This means that the cybersecurity of these vehicles must now...
3 min read
EMV Personalization cryptographic requirements
Martin Rupp (guest): 26. January 2023
EMV Personalization is a process used to get card data into cards, mobile phones, and wearables. The process includes a variety of complicated...
3 min read
Cryptomathic AWS BYOK: Secure Scalability, Durability & Availability
In today’s dynamic business landscape, companies need to be agile with their cloud processes to remain competitive. But at the same time, they must...
3 min read
Secure BYOK for AWS Simple Storage Services (S3)
Cloud storage via AWS Storage Services is a simple, reliable, and scalable way to store, retrieve and share data. As a third-party cloud vendor, AWS...
3 min read
Why BYOK is Essential for Data Security and Privacy in the Cloud
The 2020 Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report focuses on the key risks and challenges organizations face as they implement and maintain cloud...
3 min read
How Prepared are Companies for Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Risk?
This article discusses how prepared companies are for quantum computing cybersecurity risks based on a recent Deloitte poll and what the current...
5 min read
Malware Protection for Mobile Banking Apps: What You Need to Know
Martin Rupp (guest): 20. December 2022
To bank safely online, you need additional mobile app security mechanisms that go beyond standard OS security features. In this article, we take an...
3 min read
Mobile Banking Application Protection: Challenges and Techniques
Martin Rupp (guest): 02. December 2022
As the use of mobile phones for mobile banking and payment applications increases, so too do the security threats. Most smartphones use only two...
4 min read
TR-34 Key Blocks for the TR-34 Exchange Protocol: Basic Principles
Martin Rupp (guest): 01. December 2022
Among all the various key block formats, the TR-34 format is undoubtedly one of the most sophisticated. The TR-34 norm is an implementation of the...
3 min read
EU AWS Hosting: Data Residency, Regionality, Digital Sovereignty, GDPR
This article sheds light on the intersection of legal and technical aspects when hosting data on AWS as a European company.
3 min read
Explaining the Java ECDSA Critical Vulnerability
Edlyn Teske: 12. November 2022
On April 19, 2022, information about a severe vulnerability in recent versions of Java shook up the security community.
3 min read
Key blocks and PCI PIN requirements: FAQs
Martin Rupp (guest): 05. November 2022
This article proposes a few answers to a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about key blocks and their use with PCI.
3 min read
What is a Secure Signature Creation Device? Types and Requirements
As defined by Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), which took effect on 1 July 2016, an electronic signature creation device is software or hardware...
5 min read
Crypto Service Gateway: Enabling Crypto-Agility with the CSG Policy Engine
Edlyn Teske: 29. October 2022
Today's businesses rely heavily on cryptography to authenticate people and processes, secure communications, and safeguard critical data.
4 min read
EMV Payment Security - Acquirers
Martin Rupp (guest): 19. October 2022
In the “four corner model”, acquirers are apparently the less active party as their role seems ‘only’ to forward the transaction flow originating...
3 min read
Digital vs Wet Signatures: The Impact of Forgery On House Buying
Mortgage fraud is a serious crime. Once executed and signed, a mortgage deed is a legally binding contract. The responsibility of trying to prove...
5 min read
Centralized Authentication and Signing for E-Government
Achieve Non-Repudiation of Origin (NRO) and Non-Repudiation of Emission (NRE)
5 min read
Classification of Cryptographic Keys
This article is meant to be an introduction to the different types of cryptographic keys that are used to protect digital applications in encryption...
3 min read
EMV Payment Security - Issuers
Martin Rupp (guest): 22. September 2022
An issuer is one of the corners in the ‘four corner’ model. An issuer is a financial organization (e.g. a bank) that produces payment cards and...
3 min read
Key Management Challenges for EMV Personalization
Martin Rupp (guest): 20. September 2022
The EMV personalization data processing in itself is not the topic of this article, we will instead focus on the cryptographic schemes involved in...
2 min read
An Overview of the Different Key Block Formats
Martin Rupp (guest): 10. September 2022
A key block is a unique piece of cryptography that is used to protect cryptographic keys while they are being sent over networks that might not be...
4 min read
An Introduction to z/OS and the IBM Common Cryptographic Architecture
Martin Rupp (guest): 10. September 2022
IBM’s mainframe computers have been a rock-steady part of banks’ security infrastructure for many years. Originating from the local data-center...
3 min read
Introducing the Digital Signature Activation Protocol for Remote Server Signing
This article explains the digital Signature Activation Protocol (SAP) in the context of eIDAS-compliant central signing. It sheds light on its...
4 min read
How to Secure Mobile Payment Apps with Tokenization
Martin Rupp (guest): 07. September 2022
The use of mobile payments is expected to continue to rise and become the second most popular payment method after debit cards by 2022. Analysts...
4 min read
Remote Electronic Signatures: How to Improve Performance and Scalability
Guillaume Forget: 15. August 2022
National digital signature schemes that utilize remote electronic signature technology can achieve very high usage rates, whereas Trust Service...
3 min read
Understanding IBM CCA & the Importance of Banking-grade Key Management
Martin Rupp (guest): 12. August 2022
The IBM Common Cryptographic Architecture (CCA) is a cryptographic platform providing several functions of special interest for securing financial...
2 min read
NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization: SIKE Bites the Dust
Edlyn Teske: 09. August 2022
Just a month ago, NIST announced its selection of three digital signature algorithms and one key establishment mechanism (KEM) for future use in...
3 min read
Advantages of Centralized Key Management
Traditionally, end-to-end lifecycle key management was achieved through inefficient paper-based procedures and highly resource intensive tasks...
3 min read
7 Tips for Correct Usage of Encryption to Secure eGovernment Processes
Encryption has become the most essential part of securing data online. The biggest headache to the Cybersecurity industry is a data breach. The last...
3 min read
How to Deploy and Manage Cryptography in a Project the Right Way
With the ever increasing number of online services and electronic transactions, business owners are becoming ever more dependent on the use...
2 min read
What You See is What You Timestamp: An Attractive Alternative to QES
Edlyn Teske: 25. July 2022
In this article, we proposeWhat-You-See-Is-What-You-Timestamp (WYSIWYT) as an attractive alternative to Qualified Electronic Signatures, for certain...
5 min read
Electronic Signature Use Cases: Which Industries MUST Use E-signatures?
Certain industries have a duty to protect confidential information, as well as a requirement for authentication - proving that a document was sent by...
3 min read
NIST Releases Quantum-Resistant Cryptography Standards. Act Now!
Edlyn Teske: 22. July 2022
An over five-year-long process has come to a preliminary end: On July 5, 2022, NIST issued the long-awaited announcement of the winners of Round 3 of...
2 min read
How to Convert Key Blocks
Martin Rupp (guest): 15. July 2022
There are several types of key block formats used in different industries, especially the retail banking industry. The systems that use these key...
3 min read
Integrating PSD2 and eIDAS
With the introduction of PSD2, banks are forced to provide third party payment service providers (PSPs) with access to the bank’s customers’ account...
5 min read
Resolving Common Pain Points of Key Management
Many organizations struggle with cryptographic key management for multiple reasons. However, these pain points can be resolved with the right tools.
4 min read
EMV Payment Security - Cardholders
Martin Rupp (guest): 16. June 2022
Cardholders (or consumers) are one of the corners of the ‘four corner’ model in the payment card world. Here we take a brief look at the payment...
2 min read
The eIDAS-compliant Printout of a Digitally Signed Document
This article describes a model that could enable an electronically signed document to be printed out and used as an original in legal proceedings, in...
3 min read
Mobile App Data Obfuscation Techniques for Banking
Martin Rupp (guest): 05. June 2022
Code obfuscation is one of the most effective techniques for protecting sensitive data in mobile banking and payment apps. However, it's not always...
5 min read
Qualified Digital Signing and Electronic Signature UK Law
This article aims to demystify electronic signature UK law and explain how it supports all types of electronic transactions in accordance with UK...
5 min read
Bring Your Own Key: What is the Difference Between BYOK, CYOK & HYOK?
Here we look at what it means to “bring your own key”, “control your own key” and “hold your own key” and what the differences are between these...
8 min read
The PSD2 - Directive and Distributed Authentication
PSD2 breaks up the ways in which banks do their business, by forcing them to open up their APIs. By doing so, PSD2 challenges the way in which data...
3 min read
Crypto-agility: The Gold at the End of the Rainbow for NIST PQC
Cryptography is the backbone of data security technology. In this article, Jo Lintzen, MD at Cryptomathic Inc. explains the preparations for...
3 min read
How to Integrate eIDAS Qualified Remote Signing Tools with Your Systems
The demand for remote digital signatures to enhance security and customer experience continues to grow across the EU, as the banking and financial...
2 min read
ANSI X9.24-1-2017: Key Replacement, Destruction, and Archiving
Martin Rupp (guest): 10. May 2022
One aspect of key management is dealing with what happens when a symmetric cryptographic key is no longer needed. The section ‘Key Replacement,...
3 min read
The four pillars of eIDAS
The eIDAS regulation sets the standard for electronic identification, electronic signatures, and trust services. It paves the way for delivering...
3 min read
Digital Identity and eIDAS in Banking
The eIDAS Regulation lays the groundwork for creating a robust digital identity framework. The idea is to provide EU citizens with a secure, robust...
3 min read
Symmetric Cryptography in Financial Institutions: Key Management Challenges
This article addresses some of the challenges of symmetric cryptography as applied in banks, describing how it works and what are its unbeaten...
2 min read
ANSI X9.24-1-2017: Key Loading
Martin Rupp (guest): 31. March 2022
The ANSI X9.24-1-2017 standard defines the requirements for the loading of key components or shares, and the loading of cleartext keys. The loading...
4 min read
NIST PQC Finalists Update: It’s Over For The Rainbow
Edlyn Teske: 26. March 2022
Last month, one of the three NIST finalists for post-quantum signature schemes received its final nail in the coffin: Ward Beullens, a PostDoc at IBM...
2 min read
UK eIDAS and EU eIDAS: Implications for Cross-Border & Digital Transactions
The eIDAS Regulation (No 910/2014) (EU eIDAS) came into force in 2016. It created a Europe-wide legal framework for electronic identification,...
5 min read
Crypto-Agility in the Advent of Post Quantum Computing
There is no question that quantum computing is coming. However, organizations need to question themselves as to whether they will be vulnerable to...
2 min read
Examining the NIST's Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Process
Most current public-key cryptography (asymmetric) algorithms are vulnerable to attack from large-scale quantum computers. In its efforts to...
2 min read
Q: What's in a Logo? A: Mathematics
Maybe you have wondered where our logo comes from and what it actually means. If you have, we hope the following will answer these questions. Just as...
2 min read
Why Emulator Detection is Essential for Mobile Banking and Payment App Security
Martin Rupp (guest): 28. January 2022
Attacks on mobile banking and payment applications frequently begin with the use of an emulator for the mobile operating system, where the targeted...
6 min read
How to Enable Legally Binding Mobile E-signatures On Your device
Stefan Hansen: 27. January 2022
The ever-growing number of applications and uses for mobile devices has long been a hot topic. Using mobiles to electronically sign transactions and...
2 min read
eIDAS and PSD2 – A perfect symphony in the digital marketplace?
The European Union is leading the way in the move towards the creation of a single digital market. There are many advantages a digital business has...
6 min read
Cryptographic Key Management - the Risks and Mitigation
With the growing need for cryptography solutions to protect digital assets and communications, the ever-present security holes in modern computer...
2 min read
Manage, Handle and Control Your Own Key in the MS Azure Key Vault
Microsoft’s Azure Key Vault Managed HSM allows customers to safeguard their cryptographic keys for their cloud applications and be...
3 min read
Payment & Banking Cryptography: The Benefits of z/OS & the Z Platform
This article looks at some reasons for popularity of the IBM mainframe platform in the banking sector and touches upon its limitation for...
2 min read
Meltdown & Spectre – What you Need to Know about Protecting your Keys
A number of serious security vulnerabilities, collectively known under the names of “Meltdown” and “Spectre” [1][2], have recently been discovered in...
3 min read
What the European Interoperability Framework & eIDAS Means for You
The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) adopted in 2017 is the primary thrust in the EU’s effort to improve the efficiency of public service...
3 min read
How Digital Signature Deployment Models Optimise eIDAS Implementation
The eIDAS regulation provides both the technical and legal framework for electronic identification and digital signatures that the banking sector...
4 min read
Common Key Management System Models for the Cloud
This article explains the four primary cloud KMS pattern combinations and which are best suited for use with Cryptomathic’s Key Management System...
3 min read
eIDAS Trust Services – Strengths and Challenges in Implementation
A study published in early 2018 by the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA), revealed that 90% of the respondents...
3 min read
Why Key Management Systems Must Understand ANSI X9.24/TR-31 Key Blocks
Martin Rupp (guest): 26. November 2021
The PCI Council requires most actors of payment networks to implement ANSI X9.24/TR-31-compliant key blocks to wrap and securely transmit, transfer,...
5 min read
The Weakest Link in Many Cryptosystems - Part 2 of 2
Peter Landrock: 26. November 2021
RSA, a short recap In a public key scheme, and for the sake of simplicity, assume a public scheme based on encryption-decryption (as opposed to e.g....
2 min read
What is the right user interface for a Key Management System?
User interface design and usability are the deciding factors in attaining a good user experience for most IT deployments, including key management...
3 min read
Understanding the Concepts of Bring Your Own Key
Bring your own key (BYOK) is a popular term relating to key management for cloud applications. However, a lack of standardization makes it confusing...
3 min read
IBM z15 Mainframe & Secure Key Management for FS Platforms
Banks continue to feel the profound transformational effects that digital technologies have on their business. This can be seen in the creation and...
4 min read
How Tokenization May Reduce False Declines
Martin Rupp (guest): 05. November 2021
This article discusses how tokenization may reduce false declines with credit card transactions that could negatively impact merchants.
3 min read
What is a Crypto-Abstraction Layer?
Chris Allen: 23. October 2021
A crypto-abstraction layer (CAL) is, in its most general sense, an application programming interface (API) - also known as a library- that hides...
2 min read
Introduction to Cryptographic Key Blocks - FAQs
Martin Rupp (guest): 21. October 2021
This article proposes answers to a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about key blocks.
3 min read
How Common Criteria Helps Organizations Choose the Right HSM
Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) are used in all card payment systems (as well as various other applications that require strong security) to protect...
3 min read
Signer: The Most Advanced, eIDAS-compliant Remote Signature Solution
As part of the global drive for digital transformation, legally binding digital signatures are at the forefront of many businesses’ ambitions to...
5 min read
How an e-Signature Failure Derailed a €3bn Swiss-Austrian Transport Deal
Guillaume Forget: 30. September 2021
Last week order for 186 double-decker trains was nullified due to a legal formality surrounding the Qualified Electronic Signature used to ink the...
5 min read
Maximizing Payment Card Industry (PCI) & Cryptographic System Security
This article talks about how different factors and controls can affect the strength and effectiveness of a cryptographic system's security. It gives...
3 min read
How FinTechs can benefit from the European eIDAS Regulation
The financial service industry has always been innovator in technology adoption. This is not surprising considering the nature of the industry with...
4 min read
Where 2FA and PKI Meet
Guillaume Forget: 19. September 2021
Under pressure from sophisticated attacks and rising fraud, many B2C organisations of the financial industry are currently enhancing the static...
3 min read
ANSI X9.24-1-2017: Key Utilization and Storage
Martin Rupp (guest): 18. September 2021
This article briefly summarizes the symmetric cryptographic key utilization and storage requirements as described by the ANSI X9.24-1-2017 (part 1)...
2 min read
Case Study – Fully digital trade transactions
Great strides have been made in the retail banking and payments space via innovative financial technology products. However, in the corporate banking...
6 min read
epassport inspection: The Need for Speed
Ever since the EU mandated the introduction of biometric ePassports containing fingerprints there has been a flurry of technology development and...
4 min read
Issuing MULTOS Cards
MULTOS cards are being deployed in steadily increasing numbers and Cryptomathic is delighted to be involved in MULTOS projects across the globe....
3 min read
Why IBM z/OS Needs a Banking-grade KMS for Hybrid Cloud
The IBM mainframe series (“z-series”) has become a backbone for security, privacy and resilience in a large share of payment and banking related...
3 min read
How to use Thales Key Blocks in payShield HSMs
Martin Rupp (guest): 19. August 2021
Thales Key Blocks are an essential cryptographic key wrapping format. In comparison to other key block formats, they are proprietary and only work...
3 min read
Bridging the gap between eIDAS and Anti-Money Laundering Directives
Banks and other financial institutions are playing a key role in countering global challenges like money laundering and terror financing.
2 min read
Cryptomathic CKMS: Centralized, Automated Key Management for payShield
Banks and financial institutions must adhere to a rigorous set of security and regulatory practices to protect data, communications, and processes.
3 min read
Selecting the Right Key Management System
The protection and secure management of cryptographic keys is crucial for ensuring that cryptography is used in the most effective way to keep data...
3 min read
Attacks on PDF Certification and the impact on Approval Signatures
In May 2021, researchers published two attacks on certified PDFs, which enabled unintentional and fraudulent modifications to be applied to signed...
4 min read
Take Control of Your Keys: BYOK for the MS Azure Key Vault
This article explores how Cryptomathic CKMS combines BYOK for the MS Azure Key Vault with banking-grade key lifecycle management; to address the...
4 min read
Encryption Key Management Challenges for IaaS in the Cloud
This article discusses key management methods for the IaaS Cloud model, and security problems to be dealt with because of its virtualization...
3 min read
eIDAS Enabled Solutions: Market and Stakeholders Analysis
The ultimate aim of regulations like eIDAS is the creation of a true Digital Single Market (DSM). eIDAS plays its role by providing the necessary...
3 min read
The UUM&DS Project – How eIDAS Improves the EU’s Customs Interface
With each passing year, the volume of international trade in goods and services keeps rising. With all of this trade, however, comes an associated...
4 min read
Air India's Data Breach - data security is more crucial than ever.
Recent global events have demonstrated that high-profile hackers and state-sponsored security breaches have been steadily increasing since 2020. It...
2 min read
Payment Security and Key Blocks: Why are key blocks so secure?
Martin Rupp (guest): 18. June 2021
How can keys be securely exchanged over potentially unprotected channels? The answer to this question is “key blocks”. A key block is an essential...
3 min read
The Federation of eID Providers: A Polish Perspective
The growth of electronic identification systems has been different for each European country during the past several years. European countries have...
3 min read
Centralized Key Management Systems: Challenges and Opportunities
Over the last 10 years, enterprises have moved on from decentralized and distributed key management to centralized key management systems to provide...
5 min read
Introducing a PCI DSS compliant Key Management System to a Bank
A key management system is a critical component in achieving PCI DSS compliance for a banking institution. It involves implementing a crypto system...
3 min read
eIDAS - What You See is What You Sign (WYSIWYS) for Non-Repudiation
What You See is What Your Sign (WYSIWYS) is a term that is used to describe an enhanced level of data integrity within a digital signature system....
4 min read
Integrating Microsoft Banking Accelerator with On-prem Key Management
The cloud services provided by Microsoft Dynamics 365 are gaining rapid market share in the banking world. A burning question for the security...
4 min read
Enterprise-grade code signing: Securing the Signing Process
This article outlines the importance of code signing and describes a centralized approach for securing and streamlining the code signing process...
3 min read
Managing Keys for ATM Remote Key Loading using CKMS
ATM Remote Key Loading has become a common practice in the industry. Yet managing the top-level keys to establish trust between the Host and the ATM...
3 min read
Misuse of X.509 Certificates & Keys Involved in SolarWinds Attack
This article discusses the misuse of X.509 certificates and keys in the SolarWinds attack and how Cryptomathic CKMS and CSG could help protect...
3 min read
How to Simplify Key Management System Compliance Audits
This article explains some of the cryptographic key management tasks involved in demonstrating and proving compliance to acceptable standards, and...
3 min read
eIDAS & RTS for Strong Customer Authentication
The Delegated Regulation on Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) by the European Commission aims to facilitate Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)...
3 min read
Key Management Interoperability Protocol: Achievements and Challenges
The Key Management Interoperability Protocol standard intends to provide interoperability across various key management environments and hence to...
3 min read
Introducing the CEF Building Blocks: eDelivery, eID, eSignature & more
The CEF building blocks of the digital service infrastructure, as defined under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), cover essential components like...
2 min read
The SolarWinds attack and best practices for code-signing
Edlyn Teske: 08. March 2021
Since the announcement of the SolarWinds supply chain attack, intensive analysis has been done by Crowdstrike, FireEye (with additional details),...
3 min read
Understanding Symmetric Key Creation, Components & Keyshare Generators
Martin Rupp (guest): 05. March 2021
In this article, we look at the process of a keyshare generator and key derivation as described by the ANSI X9.24-1-2017 standard. This process is...
5 min read
BYOK for Google Cloud Unlocks Opportunities for Financial Institutions
This article discusses the concerns surrounding key management for cloud environments and how Cryptomathic addresses them by bringing banking-grade...
2 min read
E-signatures vs Digital Signatures: Key Differences and Regulations
People often use the terms e-signature and digital signature interchangeably. However, they aren't the same thing. Everything from the processes that...
5 min read
Common Mobile Banking App Security Issues and How to Solve Them
An investigation conducted by "Which?", a consumer watchdog group based in the UK, found serious vulnerabilities in the security of banking security...
2 min read
Protecting Mobile Banking and Payment Apps from Malicious Attacks
Guillaume Forget: 24. February 2021
We are constantly reminded by news stories how complex it can be to secure mobile banking and payments apps. A recent study has found that 11%...
3 min read
Introduction into PAdES for Trust Service Providers
The term PAdES stands for PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures. It refers to a group of extensions and restrictions that are used with PDF and ISO...
3 min read
Mobile App Hardening: Root and Jailbreak Detection
Martin Rupp (guest): 14. January 2021
Unlike other operating systems like Windows, Linux, or OSX, both Android and iOS operating systems are usually shipped with built-in user rights...
3 min read
Quantum Computing and Cryptography Infrastructure Investments
The rise of quantum computing is expected to have significant impacts on both financial and technological considerations when evaluating...
3 min read
Recommendations for Providing Digital Signature Services
With the ever-growing number of electronic transactions and documents, the use of digital signatures make it possible to trust and act upon these...
4 min read
Understanding the Certificate Authority in the Context of eIDAS
In this article, we will discuss the Certificate Authority (CA) in the context of eIDAS and what is required of this entity in ensuring the integrity...
4 min read
Exploring the EBA's New ICT and Security Risk Management Guidelines
Considering the COVID-19 impact on digitalization, EBA’s updated Guidelines on ICT and Security Risk Assessment will help focus on priority areas,...
3 min read
Banking-Grade BYOK for Office 365
Securing data and keeping it private is essential for many organizations and institutions, including banks or ministries, where data security and...
4 min read
Certificates supporting the Payment Services Directive PSD2
The PSD2 Directive opens a considerable market for new solutions in e-banking, account information services and payment initiation services.
2 min read
BYOK: a Solution for EBA’s New ICT and Security Risk Management Guidelines
The European Banking Authority's (EBA’s) new ICT and Security Risk Management Guidelines provide guidance for cybersecurity requirements for...
4 min read
The link between HSMs and a Centralized Key Management System
Even in small-scale environments, managing cryptographic relationships and crypto key lifecycles can be difficult. The list of barriers to success...
5 min read
Open Banking: Why Agile Alignment is the Key to Success
Open banking can offer opportunities for retail banks that are faced with competition from newcomers to the banking and finance industry. For those...
6 min read
Advanced vs. Qualified eIDAS Electronic Signatures
The Electronic Identification and Trust Services Regulation (EU Regulation 910/2014/EC - also known as eIDAS) is a complex set of laws (including...
3 min read
EBA On Customer Authentication Under PSD2: Inherence
A fundamental objective of the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) has been to reduce the risk of fraud to the maximum extent possible and...
3 min read
Postbank Master Key Breach: Why Strong Key Management is Essential
Martin Rupp (guest): 04. August 2020
In the last couple of months, facts regarding breaches that occurred during December 2018 at PostBank, the national postal bank operator of South...
4 min read
Tokenization in Banking and Financial Services
Martin Rupp (guest): 24. July 2020
Tokenization is a generalized concept of a cryptographic hash. It means representing something by a symbol (‘token’).
3 min read
Why a Banking Key Management System Must Support Atalla Key Blocks
Martin Rupp (guest): 30. June 2020
Invented by Mohamed Atalla, the Atalla key block is the root of all key blocks. All over the globe, hundreds of millions of financial transactions...
3 min read
Why Native Code Obfuscation Techniques is Essential for Mobile Apps
Martin Rupp (guest): 25. June 2020
In the mobile environment, source code is often distributed without enough security. Programs compiled as bytecode, such as the ones developed for...
5 min read
W3C's suggestion for a Web Cryptography API
The World Wide Web Consortium or W3C as it is commonly known was founded in 1994 by the original architect of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee. It...
8 min read
Securing the Life-cycle of a Cryptographic Key
Chris Allen: 13. May 2020
This article discusses the main phases involved in the life-cycle of a cryptographic key, and how the operational lifetime of a key and its strength...
6 min read
Symmetric Cryptography & Key Management: Exhaustion, Rotation, Defence
With data protection standards, such as GDPR, and the sheer mass of data that companies collect and accumulate, the protection and control of...
3 min read
10 Anti-debugging Techniques for Mobile Banking and Payment Apps
Martin Rupp (guest): 01. May 2020
In the mobile environment, while debuggers are legal and legitimate development tools, hackers can also use them to reverse mobile banking and...
2 min read
Addressing HTTPS Vulnerabilities in Mobile Banking and Payment Apps
Martin Rupp (guest): 16. April 2020
Here we describe some of the HTTPS vulnerabilities in the context of mobile banking and their countermeasures.
2 min read
The need to manage both symmetric and asymmetric keys
A well-rounded solution for securing digital transactions includes the use of both symmetric and asymmetric cryptography and keys. Each method of...
3 min read
ANSI X9.24-1-2017: Key Distribution
Martin Rupp (guest): 02. April 2020
Key distribution is perhaps the most important and crucial aspect of the ANSI X9.24-1-2017 part 1 standard. But first, let us explain what...
5 min read
Symmetric Encryption Algorithms And The Need For Crypto-Agility
In this second installment of a three-part series on symmetric key encryption technology, we look at the evolution of symmetric key encryption...