01 September 2020

nCipher Security, an Entrust Datacard company and vendor of hardware security modules (HSMs), said its nShield HSMs are now available as a Red Hat OpenShift certified container, delivering enhanced security and "providing a root of trust" for containerised applications.

The new optimisation is the latest in a 10-year technology collaboration between the companies that includes nShield HSM integrations with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Certificate System, and Red Hat OpenStack Platform.

Red Hat OpenShift is an enterprise-ready Kubernetes platform that helps developers manage hybrid cloud and multi-cloud deployments. On-premises nShield HSMs or nShield as a Service can now run on OpenShift, together with the nShield Container Option Pack, to help enhance the security of containerised applications using cryptographic services. Applications requiring scalable, dynamic cryptography to generate keys or to sign and encrypt data can now use nShield HSMs to deliver these services with confidence that the solution is Red Hat certified and fully supportable for production use.

“Developers use Red Hat OpenShift because it includes everything they need for hybrid cloud, enterprise container, and Kubernetes development,” said Lars Herrmann, senior director, Red Hat partner connect, Red Hat. “As the use of containerized applications grows, so do the instances where higher-assurance security is required. OpenShift provides a platform to run the nShield Container Option Pack, giving third-party container applications access to nShield HSMs for key generation, decrypt and encrypt operations.”

Juan Asenjo, director of product, solutions and partner marketing, nCipher Security, added: “Application development teams increasingly rely on containers and Kubernetes because they deliver the flexibility and scalability required to meet today’s demands.  Applying cryptography when developing containerized applications is critical for security. nShield HSMs provide high-assurance security on Red Hat OpenShift to create a root of trust, generate encryption keys and sign, verify, and encrypt sensitive data.”