Part 1: General - Computer Security Resource Center - National ...

March, 2007
Transition 7: Some applications will require that access be preserved for a period of time,
and then the keying material may be destroyed. When it is clear that a key in
the post-operational phase is no longer needed, it may transition to the
destroyed phase.
The combination of key states and key phases is illustrated in Figure 5. The pre-operational and
operational phases contain only one state each, while the post-operational and destroyed phases
have two states each.
Pre-
Activation
Active
(Protect Only
Process Only
Protect and Process)
Deactivated
(Process Only)
Destroyed
Pre-Operational Phase
Operational Phase
Compromised
(process only)
Post-Operational Phase
Destroyed
Compromised
Destroyed Phase
Figure 5: Key management states and phases
The following subsections discuss the functions that are performed in each phase of key
management. A key management system may not have all identified functions, since some
functions may not be appropriate. In some cases, one or more functions may be combined, or the
functions may be performed in a different order. For example, a system may omit the postoperational
phase if keys are never archived and compromised keys are immediately destroyed.
In this case, keys would move from the operational phase directly to the destroyed phase.
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