KEY MANAGEMENT USING TRUSTED PLATFORM MODULES

Described herein are techniques for distributed key management (DKM) in cooperation with Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs). The use of TPMs strengthens the storage and processing security surrounding management of distributed keys. DKM-managed secret keys are not persistently stored in clear form. In effect, the TPMs of participating DKM nodes provide security for DKM keys, and a DKM key, once decrypted with a TPM, is available to be used from memory for ordinary cryptographic operations to encrypt and decrypt user data. TPM public keys can be used to determine the set of trusted nodes to which TPM-encrypted secret keys can be distributed.