How does BYOK work?

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) is a cloud security model that allows customers to generate, manage, and control their own encryption keys while using cloud services. The cloud provider stores and manages the encrypted data, but only the customer holds the key to decrypt it. This ensures data privacy and compliance with regulations, as the provider cannot access the data without customer permission.

How it works:

1. The customer generates an encryption key using their own key management system (KMS) or a third-party solution.
2. The key is securely transferred to the cloud provider’s KMS, where it is stored in a hardware security module (HSM) for protection.
3. When data is uploaded to the cloud, it is encrypted using the customer’s key.
4. The cloud provider processes the encrypted data but cannot decrypt it without the customer’s key.
5. The customer can revoke or rotate keys at any time, immediately cutting off access to encrypted data if needed.

Example:
A financial institution stores sensitive customer data in the cloud. Using BYOK, they generate and manage their own encryption keys. Even if the cloud provider’s systems are compromised, the data remains secure because only the institution holds the decryption key.

Tencent Cloud Solution:
Tencent Cloud offers Key Management Service (KMS) with BYOK support, allowing customers to import their own keys or generate keys within Tencent Cloud’s HSM-backed environment. This ensures compliance with data sovereignty and regulatory requirements.