Marvell, Microsoft and Oracle form data center security working group

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL), Microsoft and Oracle have established a new working group under the Open Compute Project (OCP) to develop an open specification for an integrated hardware security module (HSM) for cloud and hyperscale data center infrastructure.

The working group, operating under OCP's Security Track, aims to define specifications for embedding a NIST FIPS 140-3 Level 3 compliant HSM directly into servers, enabling secure key caching and cryptographic key lifecycle management at the server level. Current cloud and enterprise servers typically rely on network-attached HSMs or software-only key management, which requires cryptographic keys to traverse the network or reside in memory that lacks FIPS 140-3 Level 3 certification.

The proposed specification would embed a hardware security boundary, key vault and attestation chain directly into the server so that cryptographic operations execute where data is processed and keys remain within a certified hardware boundary.

"An integrated HSM will allow cryptographic key operations to execute where the workload runs, satisfying both regulatory compliance and zero-trust architecture requirements, all without compromising higher performance for security," said Cary Ussery, senior vice president and general manager of the Multimarket Business Group at Marvell.

Mark Russinovich, CTO, deputy CISO and technical fellow at Microsoft Azure, said the effort aims to advance interoperability and accelerate the adoption of post-quantum cryptography.

Pradeep Vincent, executive vice president of Compute and AI Infrastructure at Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), described the specification as "an important step toward enabling cryptographic operations where data is processed."

An initial draft of the technical specification is targeted for release at the OCP Global Summit in October 2026, with version 1.0 to follow. The three companies plan to demonstrate the technology at the OCP Global Summit, scheduled for October 12–15 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. Organizations can join the working group through the Open Compute Project.

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