US Patent 9124430 Centralized policy management for security keys

Example embodiments include centralized systems for managing cryptographic keys and trust relationships among systems. Embodiments may include a centralized key store and a centralized policy store. Key sets comprising public/private keys may be stored in or identified by key objects. Key objects within the key store may be organized into key sets and trust sets. Policies may apply at any level within the key store. Policies and associated keys may be grouped and organized to manage groups of keys according to common policies and to present complex relationships to a user. Lower level keys may inherit policy properties from higher levels. Higher levels may be locked to preclude changes at lower levels. Policies may include a variety of properties/fields to facilitate key management. Policies may determine what actions are taken with respect to a key or group of keys.