ISC2 Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP) Practice Question

During threat modeling for a payment-processing platform deployed in public cloud, the team must secure the AES and RSA keys used for tokenizing card data. The architect suggests integrating a FIPS 140-2 Level 3 network HSM. Which specific security benefit does this provide compared with keeping keys in encrypted files on the server?

  • Continuous availability is guaranteed because the HSM automatically mirrors all keys to alternate cloud regions without any additional configuration.

  • Keys are generated, stored, and used exclusively inside tamper-resistant hardware, making extraction virtually impossible even for privileged operators.

  • Key rotation is no longer required because the HSM automatically re-wraps keys whenever its firmware is updated.

  • Side-channel attacks against application servers are blocked because the HSM monitors CPU power consumption in real time.

ISC2 Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP)
Secure Software Architecture and Design
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