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OpenDNSSEC Developer Wiki
OpenDNSSEC Documentation
SoftHSM Developer Wiki
SoftHSM Documentation
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Welcome to the SoftHSM site for the OpenDNSSEC Project!!
SoftHSM is an implementation of a cryptographic store accessible through a PKCS#11 interface. You can use it to explore PKCS#11 without having a Hardware Security Module. It is being developed as a part of the OpenDNSSEC project.
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OpenDNSSEC handles and stores its cryptographic keys via the PKCS#11 interface. This interface specifies how to communicate with cryptographic devices such as HSM:s (Hardware Security Modules) and smart cards. The purpose of these devices is, among others, to generate cryptographic keys and sign information without revealing private-key material to the outside world. They are often designed to perform well on these specific tasks compared to ordinary processes in a normal computer.
A potential problem with the use of the PKCS#11 interface is that it might limit the wide spread use of OpenDNSSEC, since a potential user might not be willing to invest in a new hardware device. To counter this effect, OpenDNSSEC is providing a software implementation of a generic cryptographic device with a PKCS#11 interface, the SoftHSM. SoftHSM is designed to meet the requirements of OpenDNSSEC, but can also work together with other cryptographic products because of the PKCS#11 interface.
The first version of SoftHSM was developed for OpenDNSSEC using the general requirements for DNSSEC. It uses the library Botan for the crypto operations and the keys are stored in a database backend using SQLite.
Visit the SoftHSM v1 page for more information.
It focuses on a higher level of security by encrypting sensitive information and using unswappable memory. There is also a more generalized crypto backend, where you can use Botan or OpenSSL. Visit the SoftHSM v2 page for more information.