The information presented in this white paper discusses various approaches to cryptography and key management, and can be used as a starting point for developing an effective policy-based key management solution. Taking a proactive approach to data protection—planning, policies, and process—results in a smoother implementation and a positive return on investment. Disparate, multi-vendor point solutions can create limited “islands” of security. The approach outlined in this paper provides an integrated security platform with centralized policy management and reporting. This is ideal for seamless, cost-efficient management of encrypted data across databases, applications, networks, and endpoint devices. Centralized encryption and key management also provides a uniform and ubiquitous way of protecting data while reducing the cost and complexity associated with compliance and privacy requirements.