{"id":60491,"date":"2026-04-16T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/?p=146516"},"modified":"2026-04-16T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:00:00","slug":"building-your-cryptographic-inventory-a-customer-strategy-for-cryptographic-posture-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/building-your-cryptographic-inventory-a-customer-strategy-for-cryptographic-posture-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Building your cryptographic inventory: A customer strategy for cryptographic posture management"},"content":{"rendered":"

Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) is coming\u2014and for most organizations, the hardest part won\u2019t be choosing new algorithms. It will be finding where cryptography is used today across applications, infrastructure, devices, and services so teams can plan, prioritize, and modernize with confidence. At Microsoft, we view this as the practical foundation of quantum readiness: you can\u2019t protect or migrate what you can\u2019t see.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As described in our Quantum Safe Program strategy<\/a>, cryptography is embedded in all modern IT environments across every industry: in applications, network protocols, cloud services, and hardware devices. It also evolves constantly to ensure the best protection from newly discovered vulnerabilities, evolving standards from bodies like NIST and IETF, and emerging regulatory requirements. However, many organizations face a widespread challenge: without a comprehensive inventory and effective lifecycle process, they lack the visibility and agility needed to keep their infrastructure secure and up to date. As a result, when new vulnerabilities or mandates emerge, teams often struggle to quickly identify affected assets, determine ownership, and prioritize remediation efforts. This underscores the importance of establishing clear, ongoing inventory practices as a foundation for resilient management across the enterprise.<\/p>\n

The first and most critical step toward a quantum-safe future\u2014and sound cryptographic hygiene in general\u2014is building a comprehensive cryptographic inventory<\/strong>. PQC adoption (like any cryptographic transition) is ultimately an engineering and operations exercise: you are updating cryptography across real systems with real dependencies, and you need visibility to do it safely.<\/p>\n

In this post, we will define what a cryptographic inventory is, outline a practical customer-led operating model for managing cryptographic posture, and show how customers can start quickly using Microsoft Security<\/a> capabilities and our partners.<\/p>\n

What is a cryptographic inventory?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A cryptographic inventory is a living catalog of all the cryptographic assets and mechanisms in use across your organization. This includes the following examples:<\/p>\n

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\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Category<\/th>\nExamples\/Details<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
\n

Certificates and keys<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

X.509 certificates, private\/public key pairs, certificate authorities, key management systems<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Protocols and cipher suites<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

TLS\/SSL versions and configurations, SSH protocols, IPsec implementations<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Cryptographic libraries<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

OpenSSL, LibCrypt, SymCrypt, other libraries embedded in applications<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Algorithms in code<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Cryptographic primitives referenced in source code (RSA, ECC, AES, hashing functions)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Encrypted session metadata<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Active network sessions using encryption, protocol handshake details<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Secrets and credentials<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

API keys, connection strings, service principal credentials stored in code, configuration files, or vaults<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Hardware security modules (HSMs)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Physical and virtual HSMs, Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Why does this inventory matter? First, governance and compliance<\/strong>: 15 countries and the EU recommend or require some subset of organizations to do cryptographic inventorying. These are implemented through regulations like DORA, government policies like OMB M-23-02, and industry security standards like PCI DSS 4.0. We expect the number and scope of these polices to grow<\/a> globally.<\/p>\n

Second, risk prioritization<\/strong>: Cryptographic assets present varying levels of risk. For example, an internet-facing TLS endpoint using weak ciphers poses different threats compared to an internal test certificate, or local disk encryption utilizing the AES standard. Maintaining a comprehensive inventory enables effective assessment of exposure and facilitates the prioritization of remediation efforts, ensuring that risk-based decisions incorporate live telemetry and data sensitivity.<\/p>\n

Third, it helps enable crypto agility<\/strong>: When a vulnerability is discovered in an encryption algorithm, an inventory can tell you exactly what needs updating and where.<\/p>\n

Customer-led cryptography posture management lifecycle<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cryptography Posture Management (CPM) is not a single product, it\u2019s an ongoing lifecycle that customers build and maintain using a combination of tools, integrations, and processes. Many organizations are building Quantum Safe Programs as a broader umbrella for cryptographic readiness. Whether or not you use that exact label, the technical foundation tends to look the same:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Define what you are managing<\/strong> (the inventory scope and critical assets).<\/li>\n
  2. Define how you make decisions<\/strong> (risk assessment and prioritization).<\/li>\n
  3. Define how you execute change safely<\/strong> (remediation and validation).<\/li>\n
  4. Define how you keep it current<\/strong> (continuous monitoring).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n