3 Encryption Endpoints (Agents)

OKM supports a variety of encryption endpoints (also referred to as agents), such as:

  • Encryption capable tape drives
  • Oracle Transparent Database Encryption (TDE) 11g and higher
  • Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance
  • Oracle Solaris 11 ZFS file systems

Potential Threats

Customers with encryption-enabled agents should be aware of potential threats.

  • Disclosure of information in violation of policy
  • Loss or destruction of data
  • Unacceptable delay in restoring data in case of catastrophic failure (for example, in a business-continuity site)
  • Undetected modification of data.

Encryption Endpoint Tools

Encryption endpoint tools enable applications to obtain keys from an OKM cluster.

KMS PKCS#11 Provider

KMS PKCS#11 allows certain platforms to integrate with OKM.

A KMS PKCS#11 provider, known as pkcs11_kms, accompanies the Oracle Key Manager release. The Solaris version is bundled with the OSAn administrator can download the Linux PKCS#11 KMS provider from the My Oracle Support website and install it on an Oracle Enterprise Linux server. The KMS PKCS#11 provider has the same security characteristics and authenticates with Oracle Key Manager appliances as other agents do.

  • The Solaris version of the PKCS#11 provider is bundled with the Solaris operating system.
  • The Linux version of the PKCS#11 provider is available for download from the My Oracle Support web page, and can be installed on the Oracle Enterprise Linux server.

The KMS PKCS#11 provider has the same security characteristics and authenticates with Oracle Key Manager appliances as other agents do.

The KMS PKCS#11 provider is available for the following platforms:

  • Oracle Solaris 11
  • Oracle Linux Server 5, 6, or 7
  • Oracle Database 11g or 12c on a supported pkcs11_kms platform
  • Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance running 2014.x or later

For more information about the KMS PKCS#11 provider, refer to the Oracle Key Manager 3 Installation and Administration Guide.