AKMSecure: Zero Trust Key Management Without PKI

Securing the Mission with Autonomous Key Management™

Every government agency relies on encryption to protect sensitive data—whether it’s an email between offices, a classified file on a secure network, a sensor reading from a power grid, or a command sent to a drone in the field. Behind that encryption is a system called Public Key Infrastructure, or PKI, which issues and manages the digital certificates that allow systems to trust one another. PKI has been the standard approach for decades, but it was designed for a simpler era and is now showing its age across the three domains where government operates.

Tactical Edge
At the tactical edge—military field operations, disaster response, remote installations, unmanned vehicles, and satellite communications—connectivity is intermittent or nonexistent. PKI depends on the ability to reach a certificate authority to validate trust, which makes it unreliable in disconnected or contested environments. When warfighters, first responders, or autonomous systems cannot reach back to a server to verify a certificate, communication security degrades or fails entirely.

Operational Technology (OT)
Operational technology refers to the physical systems that run critical infrastructure: power plants, water treatment facilities, transportation networks, building management systems, and industrial control systems. These environments often use older equipment that was never designed for modern encryption. PKI’s heavy processing requirements and reliance on internet connectivity make it impractical for many OT devices, which may have limited computing power and operate on isolated networks with no connection to a central certificate authority. The result is that much of the nation’s critical infrastructure remains difficult to secure with traditional approaches.

Information Technology (IT)
In traditional IT environments—data centers, cloud platforms, enterprise networks, and end-user devices—PKI requires agencies to issue digital certificates to every server, application, and user. Each of those certificates has an expiration date and must be manually renewed, tracked, and revoked if compromised. For large agencies managing thousands of certificates, this creates a constant administrative burden. When a certificate expires unnoticed, the result can be anything from a website outage to a broken authentication chain that locks personnel out of critical systems.

Where AKMSecure Fits
AKMSecure’s Autonomous Key Management™ (AKM) platform was built to solve these challenges across all three domains. AKM replaces certificate-based encryption with a system that autonomously generates, distributes, and rotates cryptographic keys without human intervention, without centralized infrastructure, and without requiring internet connectivity. It works on everything from cloud servers to legacy industrial controllers to embedded devices on disconnected platforms.
The platform aligns with Zero Trust Architecture principles and employs quantum-resistant algorithms, preparing agencies for the post-quantum era without a disruptive migration. AKMSecure’s founding team brings over 100 years of combined experience across aerospace, defense, and critical infrastructure cybersecurity, and the platform is aligned with NIST 800-137 and IEC 62443 standards.
AKMSecure maintains offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Newport Beach, California.