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Mahipal 2fb6a9faff Rewrite 548 skill descriptions to the activation rubric
Each rewritten description now states both what the skill does (concrete
capability, named tools/artifacts) and an explicit when-to-use trigger,
improving agent discovery/activation. Grounded in each skill's own body;
changes confined to the `description` field only (bodies and all other
frontmatter untouched). Produced by a gated audit->rewrite->recheck loop
(548 -> 0 flagged) with a sampled anti-invention check (0 ungrounded).

Schema: 817/817 pass. Framework-ID gate: 0 defects.
2026-08-02 09:32:13 -07:00

2.4 KiB

name, description, domain, subdomain, tags, version, author, license, nist_ai_rmf, atlas_techniques, nist_csf, mitre_attack
name description domain subdomain tags version author license nist_ai_rmf atlas_techniques nist_csf mitre_attack
performing-hardware-security-module-integration Integrates Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) via the PKCS#11 interface using python-pkcs11, performing key generation, signing, encryption, verification, and token/slot queries against SoftHSM2, AWS CloudHSM, or YubiHSM2. Use when implementing HSM-backed key management or validating HSM configuration for FIPS 140-2/3 compliance. cybersecurity cryptography
HSM
PKCS11
CloudHSM
YubiHSM2
key-management
cryptographic-operations
hardware-security
1.0 mahipal Apache-2.0
MEASURE-2.7
MAP-5.1
MANAGE-2.4
AML.T0070
AML.T0066
AML.T0082
PR.DS-01
PR.DS-02
PR.DS-10
T1600
T1573
T1553
T1078.004
T1530

Performing Hardware Security Module Integration

Overview

Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) provide tamper-resistant cryptographic key storage and operations. This skill covers integrating with HSMs via the PKCS#11 standard interface using python-pkcs11, performing key generation, signing, encryption, and verification operations, querying token and slot information, and validating HSM configuration for compliance with FIPS 140-2/3 requirements.

When to Use

  • When conducting security assessments that involve performing hardware security module integration
  • When following incident response procedures for related security events
  • When performing scheduled security testing or auditing activities
  • When validating security controls through hands-on testing

Prerequisites

  • HSM device or software HSM (SoftHSM2 for testing)
  • PKCS#11 shared library (.so/.dll) for the HSM vendor
  • Python 3.9+ with python-pkcs11
  • Token initialized with SO PIN and user PIN
  • For AWS CloudHSM: cloudhsm-pkcs11 provider configured

Steps

  1. Load PKCS#11 library and enumerate available slots and tokens
  2. Open session and authenticate with user PIN
  3. Generate RSA 2048-bit or EC P-256 key pairs on the HSM
  4. Perform signing and verification using on-device keys
  5. List all objects (keys, certificates) stored on the token
  6. Query mechanism list to verify supported algorithms
  7. Generate compliance report with key inventory and algorithm audit

Expected Output

  • JSON report listing HSM slots, tokens, stored keys, supported mechanisms, and compliance status
  • Signing test results with key metadata and algorithm details