blockchainAlthough we do not give much thought to hardware security modules (HSMs), they are a critical element of security in an organisation’s IT infrastructure used for securing sensitive data.

All HSMs securely generate and store cryptographic keys and can be used to perform cryptographic functions (such as encryption, decryption, signing and authentication). Different HSMs provide different levels of functionality and are approved to different security standards, but they can be considered in two main groups: General Purpose (GP) HSMs and Payment HSMs, the latter can also be referred to as Financial Service HSMs or Transaction HSMs.

You can read more about the differences here.