Why businesses need a Crypto Center of Excellence (CryptoCOE)

Cryptography is far from static. As a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity, this technology is constantly evolving to keep pace with emerging threats and adapt to new technologies. Unfortunately, enterprises often struggle to keep up with this swift rate of change, especially while navigating an increasingly complex landscape of cybersecurity standards, compliance requirements, and evolving encryption protocols.

Many organizations attempt to improve their cryptographic strategies with a patchwork of tools and solutions. However, without a centralized approach, managing encryption, certificate lifecycles, and security policies becomes inefficient and risky. This is where the Crypto Center of Excellence (CryptoCOE) comes in.

A CryptoCOE serves as a strategic hub for cryptographic governance, ensuring encryption practices are standardized and scalable. Keep reading to learn what this involves and how it can help prepare businesses for the postquantum era.

What is a crypto center of excellence?

A Crypto Center of Excellence (CryptoCOE) offers a structured, yet dynamic framework to drive the strategic development, management, and enforcement of cryptographic policies and best practices across entire organizations. According to Gartner(R), by 2028, organizations with a CryptoCOE will save 50% of costs by switching to postquantum cryptography, compared with organizations without a CryptoCoE.

Purpose

A CryptoCOE serves an essential function: providing a roadmap to clarify cryptographic strategies so that they are easier to understand and implement. This aims to boost cryptographic solutions both in the present and future, promoting seamless, wide-scale integration while also revealing how cryptographic strategies can address emerging challenges. Despite this broad scope, CryptoCOE also aims to consolidate cryptographic functions to allow for straightforward management.

Core components

Many moving parts allow a CryptoCOE to serve its core purpose of guiding and enhancing organizational cryptographic strategies. These may vary from one enterprise to the next, but central components typically include the following:

• Policy enforcement. Well-defined policies determine how cryptographic tools and technologies are implemented and managed. This means that only approved algorithms and protocols are used but may also touch on strict standards for key management and reporting.

• Continuous monitoring. Real-time visibility promotes policy adherence while also ensuring that vulnerabilities are quickly detected and addressed. Certificate lifecycle management (CLM) solutions may track essential processes such as certificate issuance and renewals, with in-depth audits helping to reveal incorrect cryptographic configurations.

• Planning for postquantum cryptography. A well-rounded CryptoCOE offers not only immediate cryptographic guidance, but also a blueprint to reveal how future challenges can be addressed. Increasingly, this effort centers around postquantum cryptography (PQC). A CryptoCOE plays a key role in this transition by identifying at-risk encryption, advocating for quantum-resistant algorithms, and promoting crypto-agility to ensure seamless adaptation to emerging threats.

Key elements

To achieve its objectives, a CryptoCOE integrates and optimizes several advanced cryptographic solutions. Some of the common key elements include:

• SSL/TLS certificates. Digital certificates form the basis for reliable encryption and authentication. A well-structured CryptoCOE recognizes the importance of implementing an automated certificate lifecycle management (CLM) solution to reduce the risk of expired certificates.

• User authentication. Ensuring that only authorized individuals access critical resources or information, user authentication represents a fundamental building block of modern cybersecurity. A CryptoCOE can leverage the power of public key infrastructure (PKI) to verify identities and also support Zero-Trust security models.

• Document signing. Digital signatures use secure cryptographic keys to prove ownership and prevent unauthorized tampering. This represents yet another opportunity to leverage PKI solutions. A CryptoCOE can support secure document management by integrating PKI-based digital signing.

• IoT Security. As IoT devices become more widespread, organizations must secure their communications and data flows. A CryptoCOE helps protect these devices by standardizing cryptographic policies, ensuring strong encryption, device authentication, and firmware integrity to prevent unauthorized access and tampering.

Why organizations need a CryptoCOE now

The elements highlighted above are not merely helpful; they are instrumental in safeguarding sensitive information while also keeping up with cybersecurity's rapid pace of change. Key reasons to adopt a CryptoCOE include:

The growing complexity of cryptography

Cryptographic systems have always been complex, and their complexity has only increased with the expansion of diverse IT infrastructures. A well-structured CryptoCOE offers an opportunity to streamline cryptographic strategies, enabling consistent implementation while reducing confusion.

This complexity is expected to grow as quantum computing becomes a realistic possibility. When this new era of quantum computing arrives, traditional encryption methods will be rendered ineffective. Postquantum cryptography can address these concerns, but could be difficult to achieve without a clear vision or easy-to-follow cryptographic roadmap.

Security and compliance risks without a CryptoCOE

Decentralized cryptographic solutions may be inconsistently implemented or managed. These inconsistencies can lead to significant risks, including greater susceptibility to data breaches. Decentralization is also problematic from a compliance standpoint. Proactive cryptographic governance is crucial, and centralized solutions such as a CryptoCOE can help standardize implementation, strengthen security, and ensure compliance.

The role of a CryptoCOE in enhancing security and agility

Bringing a centralized approach to cryptographic management, a CryptoCOE holds the secret to enhancing both cybersecurity and operational agility. This fosters resilience against current and future cybersecurity threats, providing the guidance needed to help enterprises effectively defend themselves against a growing range of digital hazards.

Standardizing cryptographic policies and best practices

Many organizations find themselves stuck in a cycle of reacting — constantly responding to active security issues rather than achieving a strong security posture that emphasizes proactive resilience. A centralized approach can aid this shift to proactive cybersecurity, guiding IT teams by helping them follow cryptographic best practices.

Standardized policies ensure that the strongest encryption algorithms are consistently utilized and may also lead to improved incident response. Uniform practices can achieve the simultaneous effects of elevating an organization's security posture while reducing operational overhead.

Reducing the risk of cryptographic failures

Cryptographic failures can take many forms, from expired digital certificates and misconfigured encryption settings to the use of deprecated algorithms that no longer provide sufficient security. These risks can be mitigated by proactively monitoring cryptographic strategies across all business operations.

One key way a CryptoCOE reduces these risks is by integrating automated Certificate Lifecycle Management to monitor, renew, and revoke certificates before they expire.

Preparing for the quantum threat

Many leaders recognize the threats posed by eventual breakthroughs in quantum computing but still struggle to determine how or when these hazards should be addressed. Proactive preparation is needed, and, although the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers valuable insights, it still takes considerable time and effort to shift to postquantum cryptography.

A CryptoCOE can bring greater urgency and efficiency to this process. This should encompass a detailed PQC migration plan, which reveals how quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms will be identified and implemented. This is key to achieving quantum-readiness.

Key benefits of a CryptoCOE

If implemented strategically, a CryptoCOE can deliver impressive advantages, both on a short and long-term basis. Potential benefits include:

• Operational efficiency. Redundancy is currently a major source of concern in cryptographic operations, prompted, in part, by multiple teams independently managing certificates and other cryptographic assets. A CryptoCOE promotes centralized governance to limit redundancy while also advocating for automated solutions that can bring about significant improvements in overall efficiency. This further enhances the already strong ROI of today's most impactful cryptographic solutions.

• Cost savings. From a strictly financial perspective, organizations have much to gain from prioritizing the development of a CryptoCOE. Specifically, enterprises that adopt a CryptoCOE solution are expected to save a 50% by 2028, according to Gartner — savings.

• Improved incident response. Enterprises that maintain a strong security posture are fully prepared to identify and respond to a wide range of threats. A CryptoCOE can play a valuable role in establishing and maintaining a solid security posture, largely by facilitating the swift identification of cryptographic vulnerabilities — and providing the framework needed to respond to these issues swiftly and effectively.

• Future-proofing. The quantum era is upon us, and, while this may lead to impressive gains in computing power, it also significantly increases risks, making it easier for bad actors to break once effective algorithms. Now is the time to prepare, and a CryptoCOE provides a roadmap to guide the transition to postquantum cryptography.

Steps to building a Crypto Center of Excellence

Organizations ready to leverage the far-reaching benefits of a CryptoCOE will need to put in upfront effort, but remember: this proactive approach will be well-rewarded in the long run. The process typically includes the following steps:

• Assess your current cryptographic landscape. It is practically impossible to organize or protect assets that remain unknown. Therein lies the need for a comprehensive cryptographic assessment, which should provide thorough insight into current cryptographic systems while also revealing their susceptibility to quantum concerns. Use this opportunity to determine which assets are best positioned to elevate postquantum strategies.

• Establish governance and leadership. Once cryptographic assets are fully understood, the next immediate step involves determining who will oversee cryptographic strategies — and how. This means clearly defining roles and responsibilities while also establishing accountability.

• Develop and implement policies. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) reveal what is required for adhering to industry standards and otherwise elevating cryptographic processes. These SOPs may stipulate how algorithms are selected, how cryptographic keys are generated (or rotated), and how digital certificates are managed throughout their lifecycle.

• Integrate crypto-agility and quantum readiness. Crypto-agility is a core component of quantum readiness as it allows enterprises to rapidly adjust in response to emerging threats. Many advanced technologies contribute to crypto-agility, including automated solutions that allow for the swift deployment of new algorithms. This should be purposefully integrated into any CryptoCOE. For example: SOPs should also define a structured process for eventually adopting PQC algorithms.

• Continuously monitor and improve. Developing and implementing a CryptoCOE is only the beginning. Continuous monitoring helps to ensure that the full benefits of a CryptoCOE are not only realized, but also, sustained. This should also be accompanied by a spirit of continuous improvement, including a proactive effort to identify new challenges and opportunities.

Where to start

A CryptoCOE has the power to transform your enterprise's cybersecurity strategy, bringing structure and efficiency to a myriad of cryptographic systems and solutions. Capable of boosting compliance, reducing costs, and even preparing for inevitable quantum threats, it is the key to staying a step ahead in a quickly evolving cybersecurity landscape.

As a leader in postquantum cryptography, Sectigo offers valuable support, including solutions closely tied to the core advantages of implementing a CryptoCOE. Sectigo Certificate Manager (SCM) streamlines cryptographic operations by automating the entire digital certificate lifecycle, from issuance and deployment to renewal and revocation. Sectigo also supports the shift to postquantum cryptography. Learn more about Sectigo Quantum Labs and our Q.U.A.N.T. blueprint for transitioning to quantum-safe cryptography.

Gartner discusses the importance of establishing a CryptoCOE to reduce cryptographic risks and improve operational efficiency. Learn more by reviewing Gartner’s insights on CryptoCOEs.

Want to learn more? Get in touch to book a demo of Sectigo Certificate Manager!

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Gartner® Infographic: Why You Need a Crypto Center of Excellence Now

Why cryptography is important and how it’s continually evolving

Quantum computing: Exploring top concerns & the positive impact it could have