Key Management
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Understanding Key Usage: When to Use Which Key (Signing, Encryption, MAC, KDF)
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In many projects I worked on, especially payment systems and backend services, cryptography was always there. Sometimes very visible, sometimes hidden deep inside libraries or infrastructure. One thing I noticed over the years is that people often talk about keys…
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Key Management Failures I’ve Seen (And How NIST Prevents Them)
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Key management is one of those topics that sounds boring until something goes wrong. In many projects I worked on, encryption was already implemented, HSMs were already deployed, and everyone assumed security was handled. Then audits happened. Or incidents. Or…
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Key States and Key Lifecycles: From Generation to Destruction
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When people first learn about cryptography, the discussion almost always starts with algorithms and key sizes. AES 256, RSA 2048, elliptic curves, and similar topics usually get all the attention. In real systems, especially in payments, fintech, and regulated environments,…
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How Cryptographic Algorithms Work (Hashing, Symmetric, Asymmetric, RNG)
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When I started working on real systems that handle money, cards, and sensitive data, I quickly realized that cryptography is one of those topics everyone talks about but very few people truly explain in a simple way. Most explanations I…
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Security Strength 101: AES-128 vs AES-256, RSA-2048 vs ECC
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I want to share something that I wish someone explained to me earlier in my career. In the payments world and even in normal software engineering work, people love to ask which one is better AES-128 or AES-256? RSA-2048 or…
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Cryptoperiods Explained: How Long Should Keys Live and Why It Matters
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There are some topics in security that sound very deep and complicated at first. Cryptoperiods is one of those. The first time I encountered this in a real project, I honestly thought it was something only big banks cared about….
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Understanding Cryptographic Keys: The Beginner Friendly Breakdown
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Whenever I talk to people who are new in security or payments, one thing always surprises me. The moment I say the word keys they immediately think it is something complicated or something only seniors can understand. I get that…
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What is NIST SP 800-57? A Practical Guide for Payments, Fintech, and Security Teams
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I want to share something that honestly took me years to fully understand. If you work in fintech, in payments, or anywhere near security and compliance, you will eventually hear this one document again and again. It is called NIST…