Fortanix, Inc. announced a new integration between Fortanix Data Security Manager (DSM) Accelerator and AWS Nitro that significantly improves app performance without increasing data exposure risk. Available now, this integration ensures the highest degree of data security with Confidential Computing. A similar integration with Intel SGX will be released in early 2025.

Hardware security modules (HSMs) often run in data centers separate from the web farms hosting applications that are dependent on the cryptographic keys stored in the HSMs. This can create latency that causes poor performance of some mission-critical applications, especially those requiring high volumes of data. To address this problem, Fortanix created the DSM Accelerator, an innovation that enables enterprises to cache keys locally where the applications are hosted, thereby improving application performance.  

In the latest innovation, the DSM Accelerator now integrates with AWS Nitro (and soon Intel SGX) environments securing cached keys with Confidential Computing, further fortifying their protection. By running on Confidential Computing, DSM Accelerator runs in an isolated execution environment, ensuring keys are protected from unauthorized access during cryptographic operations. This combination benefits cryptographic workloads with both enhanced security and performance without compromising application performance.

"The demand for high-performance apps has never been greater, and enterprises are looking to optimize both performance and security," said Anuj Jaiswal, chief product officer at Fortanix. "The integration between DSM Accelerator and AWS Nitro does just that by leveraging Confidential Computing to fortify the security of cryptographic keys while creating much greater flexibility to deploy in AWS environments."