New datacenters will enable customers to address regional data sovereignty requirements while taking advantage of the flexibility and convenience of cloud services
Entrust, providers of trusted identities, payments, and data protection solutions has announced the geographic expansion of its nShield® as a Service hardware security module (HSM) offering. Responding to rising demand for cloud services, the company has opened two new datacenters in Australia in 2022 as part of a general expansion in the Asia Pacific region. As reported by Telstra, 79 percent of Australian organizations recorded a cloud-related cyber security incident in 2021, suggesting a growing need for geo-fencing and cloud-centric hardware protection.
Entrust nShield as a Service was initially launched in 2019 using datacenters located in the UK and the US. Entrust is now expanding its service with the official opening of multiple datacenter locations in Australia in January 2022, following the recent announcement of its German datacenter openings. This launch enables customers in each region to geo-fence their critical cryptographic keys within their own jurisdiction to respond to concerns regarding data sovereignty and facilitate compliance with regional data protection regulations.
The use of multiple sites within each country helps customers to meet high-availability and disaster recovery requirements. Closer proximity to datacenters also provides optimal performance for regional customers. Entrust nShield as a Service delivers the same functionality as on-premises nShield HSMs, in a subscription-based solution. As such, nShield as a Service enables the generation, access, and protection of cryptographic key material using dedicated FIPS 140-2 Level 3 nShield HSMs, without the need to host and maintain the appliances.
“Cloud adoption in Australia and New Zealand remains very high compared to many of our neighbours, with companies moving more of their core business applications to the cloud. This is partly due to accelerated digital transformation as a result of changed business conditions, and part of a wider strategy to shift from capital to operational expense models. Since many security regulations require critical cryptographic keys and data to physically remain within the customers’ own geographies, these new datacenters will enable customers to take advantage of the cloud while maintaining strict regulatory compliance and improving governance,” said Marc Airo-Farulla, Regional Sales Director, Oceania (AU, NZ & Pacific Islands), Entrust.
“By opting for an Entrust nShield as a Service solution, Foxtel has maintained a very high level of security and reliability for its customer facing infrastructure while reducing the workload of its highly trained security personnel,” added Stephen Joyce, Senior Technologist, Content Security, The Foxtel Group.
Whether embarking on a complete or selective cloud migration, nShield as a Service makes it easy to implement a cloud-first, hybrid, and multi-cloud encryption strategy that enables consistent enforcement of security policies. Entrust nShield as a Service works in unison with the major cloud service providers (CSPs) including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud, while giving customers flexibility, visibility, and control of their cryptographic keys throughout their lifecycle. With this level of control, customers can migrate to the cloud with the assurance that they can also keep an on-premises environment running for specific regulatory needs.
“Looking beyond compliance, development teams are also using cloud-based services more during the application lifecycle. When those applications rely on HSMs, the move to nShield as a Service can free up skilled personnel to focus on more strategic tasks and projects. As those models move to hybrid and multi-cloud, developers are looking for cloud-based HSMs that can address their security needs while providing the flexibility and accessibility of the cloud. The new datacenter locations will also enable Entrust to expand its other cloud-based service offerings in Australia and other regions,” continued Airo-Farulla.
Entrust nShield HSMs are among the highest-performing, most secure, and easy-to-integrate HSM solutions available, facilitating regulatory compliance and delivering the highest levels of data and applications security for enterprise, financial and government organisations. They generate, safeguard and manage cryptographic keys on behalf of applications. The unique nShield Security World key management architecture enforces important separation of duties with dual controls that segregate security functions from administrative responsibilities. A secure execution environment also enables customers to run sensitive application code within the secure hardware boundary whether deploying on premises or as a service.
