CKMS is an on-premises key management system that provides centralised lifecycle management for encryption keys across enterprise applications, cloud environments, and mainframe platforms. First deployed in 1998, CKMS manages the full lifecycle of both symmetric and asymmetric keys, enforces role-based access controls, and provides the audit trails required to demonstrate compliance with regulatory and industry standards including PCI DSS.

Unsung implements CKMS for UK customers in banking, government, and enterprise environments where centralised control of cryptographic keys is required for regulatory compliance, operational security, and audit readiness.

As organisations deploy encryption across an increasing number of applications, databases, cloud services, and infrastructure components, the volume of cryptographic keys they must manage grows significantly. Without centralised key management, keys are created, stored, and rotated in isolation by individual applications and teams, creating fragmented processes with unclear ownership, inconsistent policies, and difficulty demonstrating compliance to auditors.

Manual, decentralised key management is costly and error-prone. Keys may not be rotated according to policy, retired keys may not be properly destroyed, and there is often no single view of the organisation’s cryptographic estate. In regulated sectors such as financial services, organisations must demonstrate that key management meets specific standards — a requirement that becomes increasingly difficult as key volumes and application diversity grow.