Apparatus and methods for managing key material in heterogeneous cryptographic assets

A method for managing key material in a plurality of heterogeneous cryptographic assets that require different key material and employ different cryptographic algorithms, the cryptographic assets having a communications interface defined therebetween, the method comprising:

• defining a respective key management interface between a cryptographic processor and each of the cryptographic assets;
• generating, via the cryptographic processor, key material to secure the communications interface;
• and
• distributing the key material, via the respective key management interfaces, from the cryptographic processor to the cryptographic assets.

A method for managing key material in a plurality of heterogeneous cryptographic assets that require different key material and employ different cryptographic algorithms, comprising:

• generating, for each of the cryptographic assets, respective first key material having an associated cryptoperiod;
• distributing the respective first key material to the cryptographic assets;
• monitoring a cryptographic asset selected from the plurality of heterogeneous cryptographic assets to determine, based on the associated cryptoperiod, whether the respective first key material has expired;
• generating second key material for the selected cryptographic asset;
• and
• if the respective first key material has expired, automatically distributing the second key material to the selected cryptographic asset.

A method for securing a communications interface, comprising:

• defining a plurality of equipment classes;
• registering at least one cryptographic asset with each equipment class;
• defining secure communication interfaces between the cryptographic assets by grouping selected cryptographic assets selected from the registered cryptographic assets into a plurality of secure communication services that include a plurality of heterogeneous cryptographic assets that require different key material and employ different cryptographic algorithms thereby defining secure communication interfaces between the cryptographic assets;
• defining key material for each communications interface;
• and
• scheduling an automatic delivery of the key material to the selected cryptographic assets.

Apparatus for managing key material for cryptographic assets, comprising a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for:

• defining a plurality of equipment classes;
• registering at least one cryptographic asset with each equipment class;
• defining secure communication interfaces between the cryptographic assets by grouping selected cryptographic assets selected from the registered cryptographic assets into a plurality of secure communication services that include a plurality of heterogeneous cryptographic assets that require different key material and employ different cryptographic algorithms thereby defining secure communication interfaces between the cryptographic assets;
• defining key material for each communications interface;
• and
• scheduling an automatic delivery of the key material to the selected cryptographic assets.

A method for managing key material in a plurality of heterogeneous cryptographic assets that require different key matenal and employ different cryptographic algorithms, comprising:

• generating respective key material corresponding to each of the cryptographic assets via an integrated key management system having a database and a plurality of key management interfaces that couple the key management system to the plurality of cryptographic assets, each said key management interface having a key distribution method associated therewith;
• generating a key distribution schedule that includes, for each said cryptographic asset, an entry based on the key distribution method associated wth the key management interface that couples the key management system to the cryptographic asset;
• storing the key distribution schedule in the database;
• and
• automatically distributing the respective key material from the integrated key management system to each of the cryptographic assets, based on the key distribution schedule, via the respective key management interfaces.