Balancing cloud migration with key custody and control and business success as the corporate enterprise slowly becomes a cloud endpoint.
It’s a question of when not if, your corporate enterprise will migrate to the cloud! Every organization is at a different stage in their journey to the cloud. Every Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) now has to manage trust behind the corporate firewall as well as up in the public cloud! Naturally, strong data protection continues to be a core operational element when operating in globally distributed cloud infrastructures that maximize collaboration capabilities and workflows. Integrating Utimaco’s Enterprise Secure Key Manager (ESKM) and Enterprise Key Manager as a Service (EKMAaS) as an external key service for Google Workspace Client-Side Encryption brings trust to tomorrow’s distributed workspace.
Below, we explore how this integration works, its technical foundation, real-world applications, and the core benefits for organizations.
Understanding Google Workspace Client-Side Encryption
Google Workspace collaboration suite replaces an organizations legacy, enterprise work tools with a collaborative cloud-based service suite that optimizes access, data, communications & workflows for tomorrow’s corporate operations! Client Side Encryption (CSE) provides the built-in security feature to encrypt files, folders, as well as communications data generated, utilized and stored by Google’s Workspace collaboration suite like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Drive, Docs and more, providing security officers the peace of mind in the cloud!
With CSE, data is encrypted and decrypted on the user’s device, wherever it is connected, before reaching Google servers. And while the data is encrypted in the cloud with a key managed by Google, organizations generate & manage a second customer encryption key which is never shared with the Google cloud! This eliminates the risk of data access in the cloud by shifting complete control from the cloud (service) providers to the business itself - an approach that enhances information security, enables data sovereignty and supports regulatory requirements while providing that peace of mind!
The Role of Centralized Key Management for Complete Google Workspace Application Security
Integrating Google Workspace CSE with external key management lets enterprises own and govern their encryption keys off-cloud, preventing unauthorized access to the keys and with that to the data and information encrypted with these keys. Whether secure key storage and key lifecycle management is provided on-premise, back behind the corporate firewall or acquired as a managed service from a 3rd party security provider, Google servers never have access to your corporate data – because they never have access to the key used to encrypt it in the cloud!
Technical Foundations of the Integration with ESKM
ESKM allows organizations to store and manage encryption keys in the most secure and reliable way, using proven Hardware Security Module-based technology. Acting as an external key store, ESKM ensures to keep the keys completely separate from the Google cloud environment. This separation is vital: it ensures that Google Workspace data remains protected by keys solely under the organization’s control.
This setup allows businesses to use their own encryption keys - maintaining control and ensuring compliance - while still benefiting from Google Workspace’s productivity and collaboration tools and their unique features.
Key technical benefits include:
- Centralized Key Management: ESKM provides a single pane of glass for storing, accessing, managing and auditing all encryption keys, even across heterogenous data protection environments. Your organization can change your key whenever you want!
- Reliable Key Security: Strict access management to the keys is provided by customizable role-based access control (RBAC) ensuring only authorized users can manage or use keys. Fine-grained policies enhance oversight and compliance.
- KMIP Compatibility: With its support for the Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP), Utimaco’s key management solutions and services enable seamless integration with Google Workspace and other environments.
- Disaster Recovery and Recovery Assurance: Centralized management allows organizations to recover encryption keys, ensuring business continuity in case of a disaster situation or data breach.
- No User Disruption: The addition of CSE to existing Workspace collaboration services is nearly transparent! In addition, the cloud-agnostic setup of ESKM requires no workflow changes or extra training for employees, making it easy to secure data and information across large, distributed work setups.
- Future-Ready Security: As cyber threats evolve, ESKM as external key store delivers a scalable, updatable foundation for maintaining strong, modern encryption across the organization, including the option to update to future algorithms.
Top Use Cases for Google Workspace’s Integration with ESKM
1. Secure Confidential Communications
With Google Workspace email encryption utilizing ESKM as external key store for CSE, sensitive business emails are reliably encrypted - even Google cannot access the content. For example, a law firm’s correspondence with clients remains private, as only recipients with access privileges can decrypt messages.
2. Regulatory Compliance
Strict regulations like GDPR or CCPA often require organizations to control their own encryption keys. Google Workspace CSE and Utimaco’s ESKM are a powerful combination ensuring confidential records for sensitive and personal data, such as healthcare patient files or financial transactions. By secure storage, central key access and management of the encryption keys in ESKM the data stays private and compliance-ready, with all encryption and key usage recorded in audit logs.
3. Intellectual Property Protection
Collaborating on proprietary designs using Google Drive or Slides can expose valuable data. By adding ESKM as highly secure external key manager, organizations make sure only trusted contributors can access the encryption keys and with that the encrypted files, preventing leaks of trade secrets.
Why Your Organization Should Utilize the Integration of Utimaco’s ESKM with Google Workspace’s CSE
Combining Google Workspace CSE with Utimaco’s ESKM radically improves data security and compliance. This approach enables organizations to confidently adopt cloud collaboration while meeting strict regulatory and operational demands.
By adopting this powerful team, combining collaborative productivity with the highest security, businesses safeguard sensitive information such as confidential emails, intellectual property, and regulated records, ensuring only authorized access and audit-ready control.
The result is robust, trustworthy protection for both your data and your reputation in the digital age.
Start Securing the Keys to Your Kingdom Today
Enterprise Secure Key Manager (ESKM) and Enterprise Key Management from Utimaco’s Trust as a Service portfolio is Utimaco’s central key management solution and managed service, respectively, that enables unified access and management as well as secure storage of all cryptographic keys through one single pane of glass.
As external key store it enables organizations to maintain full control over their keys, whether they are utilized on premises or in the cloud – they are stored separate from your data, off-cloud in your ESKM or within an ESKM hosted and managed in Utimaco’s datacenters.
To learn more about how our flagship solution for key management can enhance the security of your complete digital ecosystem, find out more details on our website, download the data sheet or contact us directly.
Do you want to learn more about Google Workspace CSE with Utimaco’s ESKM? Register for our upcoming webinar!
