DuoKey

Microsoft 365 Double Key Encryption

DuoKey vs Entrust

Entrust offers Microsoft 365 DKE through KeyControl Vault, now Cryptographic Security Platform Vault, optionally backed by nShield HSMs and deployed by the customer as an active-active cluster. DuoKey is a Swiss DKE service operated by DuoKey (ISO 27001, SOC 2, TISAX AL3) or deployed on your own infrastructure, with keys protected by Multi-Party Computation or an HSM backend.

DuoKey

30 / 33

Entrust

15 / 33

Compared capabilities supported, based on public documentation.

Only DuoKey

  • 24/7 support with SLA response times
  • Decrypt authorized by Entra ID groups
  • Fine-grained administrator RBAC
  • Quorum (four-eyes) approval
  • Contextual access on key use
  • Access rules changed live
  • Block rules that override allows
  • Several identity providers
  • Tamper-evident audit log
  • Optional mTLS on decrypt calls
  • Built-in end-to-end key test
  • Old documents open after rotation
  • Rotation without a new Purview label
  • Vendor-hosted DKE service (SaaS)
  • Automatic Entra ID app registration
  • No end-of-life runtime or OS
  • Key never assembled in one place

Feature by feature

DuoKey and Entrust, side by side

CapabilityDuoKeyEntrust

Vendor and support

124/7 support with SLA response times

Round-the-clock support with contractual response times for critical incidents.

Yes24/7 on Platinum, 1-hour critical responseSource
Partial24x7 support; KeyControl targets in business hoursSource

2Evaluation or trial licence

A free trial or proof-of-concept licence to test before buying.

YesFree 30-day proof of conceptSource
Yes30-day KeyControl trialSource

Microsoft DKE coverage

3Native Microsoft 365 DKE endpoint

Serves the Microsoft GetKey and Decrypt calls used by Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

4Decrypt authorized by Entra ID groups

The key service itself restricts decryption to members of directory groups or roles.

YesEntra ID or Okta group rulesSource
PartialKey checks tenant GUID; groups set in PurviewSource

5Multi-tenant and partner (B2B) tenants

One key service shared with several Entra ID tenants or external partners.

YesAllow-list of tenant GUIDsSource

Administration and access control

6Admin SSO and MFA

Administrators sign in through the corporate identity provider with multi-factor authentication.

YesOIDC, TOTP and passkeysSource
YesOIDC and two-factorSource

7Fine-grained administrator RBAC

Custom roles and permissions scoped to keys, services or organisational units.

YesRoles scoped to organisational unitsSource
PartialThree built-in admin rolesSource

8Quorum (four-eyes) approval

Sensitive key operations need approval from several administrators.

YesM-of-N on key and vault deletion, vault rotationSource
PartialDual control claimed; n-of-m for restoreSource

9Contextual access on key use

Decrypt allowed or denied by IP range, country or time of day.

YesIP, country and time rulesSource
Not documented

Monitoring

10Audit logs exported to a SIEM

Key and admin events forwarded to Splunk, Sentinel, QRadar or syslog.

YesSplunk, Sentinel, QRadar, syslog/CEFSource
YesSyslog/CEF to SentinelSource

11Built-in monitoring dashboard

Health and usage dashboard shipped with the product.

YesPer-service health, GetKey and Decrypt countersSource
YesCompliance Manager dashboardSource

12SNMP monitoring

SNMP polling or traps for the operations team.

Not documentedNot in public docs
YesSNMP v2c and v3Source

Zero Trust and audit

28Access rules changed live

DKE access rules are edited in a UI or API and apply at once, without config files or redeployment.

YesPolicies apply without restartSource
PartialTenant-level onlySource

29Block rules that override allows

Explicit deny rules to cut decrypt access for a user, group, network or country during an incident.

YesBypass > Block > Allow > default denySource
PartialDisable a whole key onlySource

30Several identity providers

Entra ID plus Okta, Keycloak or other OIDC providers for sign-in and group-based rules.

YesEntra ID, Okta, Keycloak and other OIDCSource
PartialOne authentication type per vaultSource

31Tamper-evident audit log

Each audit record is signed or hash-chained, so edits and deletions are detectable.

YesHMAC-SHA256 per record plus SHA-256 chainSource
Not documentedRead-only log; no signing statedSource

32Optional mTLS on decrypt calls

A client-certificate check on DKE decrypt calls, on top of the Entra ID token.

YesClient CA, allowed subjects, headerSource
Not documented

33Built-in end-to-end key test

The key and backend are tested with a wrap/unwrap round-trip before the service goes live.

YesPreflight wrap/unwrap checkSource
PartialManual browser and Office testSource

Availability and key lifecycle

13High-availability cluster

Active-active nodes so the key service survives a node failure.

YesN+1 Cockpit, 3+ MPC nodesSource

14Multi-site or geo-redundant deployment

Survives the loss of a whole data centre.

YesThree-site MPC clusterSource
YesCluster across two sitesSource

15Key backup and recovery procedure

Documented backup and restore of keys after an incident.

YesAutomatic backups every 12 hoursSource

16Old documents open after rotation

Content protected with a previous key version stays readable.

YesRotated keys kept decrypt-onlySource
Not documentedNot statedSource

17Rotation without a new Purview label

Rotating the key does not require a new label or a relabelling campaign.

YesLabel URL unchanged since Cockpit 2.0.8Source
Not documented

18Scheduled key rotation

Automatic rotation on a schedule.

Not documentedManual one-click rotation documented
YesYearly, 6 months, 30 days, customSource

Hosting and deployment

19Vendor-hosted DKE service (SaaS)

The vendor runs the DKE endpoint; nothing for the customer to host.

YesOperated by DuoKeySource
PartialKeyControl as a Service; DKE not namedSource

20On-premises option

Run the whole DKE stack inside your own perimeter.

YesOpenShift or VMsSource

21Automatic Entra ID app registration

The DKE app registration is created for you instead of manual portal steps.

YesCreated through Microsoft GraphSource
NoManual Azure portal stepsSource

22No end-of-life runtime or OS

The documented deployment does not depend on an unsupported framework or operating system.

YesSupported OpenShift 4.xSource
Not documentedHardened appliance

Key storage, compliance and exit

23FIPS 140 Level 3 key storage

Keys protected by a FIPS 140-2 or 140-3 Level 3 validated module.

YesWith an HSM backend such as SecurosysSource
YesWith nShield HSMSource

24Key never assembled in one place

Multi-Party Computation or threshold cryptography: no single node holds the whole key.

YesWith the MPC key backendSource
Not documented

25Vendor ISO/IEC 27001 certified

The vendor's own operations are ISO/IEC 27001 certified.

YesISO 27001, SOC 2, TISAX AL3Source
YesEntire operationsSource

26Customer chooses the hosting region

Pick where the key service and keys are hosted.

YesEU, Switzerland or USSource

27Key export in standard formats

Reversibility: keys can be exported through KMIP, PKCS#8 or PKCS#12.

Not documentedKeys marked non-extractableSource
Not documentedKMIP server; DKE key export not statedSource

Why teams choose DuoKey

Key differences with Entrust

01

Group-aware decrypt

Entrust's DKE key checks the tenant GUID; user and group targeting happens in Purview labels. DuoKey also enforces group, IP, country and time rules at the key service on every decrypt.

02

Rotation behaviour documented

Entrust schedules DKE key rotation but its public guide does not state what happens to documents protected with earlier versions. DuoKey keeps rotated keys decrypt-only and never changes the Purview label URL.

03

Automatic Azure wiring

Entrust's integration guide walks through manual Entra ID portal steps. DuoKey creates the app registration through Microsoft Graph.

04

MPC instead of a single HSM

With nShield the key sits whole inside certified hardware. With DuoKey's MPC backend it is split across independent nodes and never assembled.

What Entrust does well

Entrust documents scheduled DKE rotation, tenant allow-lists, two-site active-active clusters, automatic backups, SIEM export to Sentinel, SNMP and a 30-day trial. Organisations standardised on nShield and KeyControl can keep DKE in that estate.

FAQ

Is DuoKey an alternative to Entrust for Microsoft 365 DKE?

Yes. DuoKey provides the customer-held second key and the DKE service that Microsoft 365 calls, operated by DuoKey or deployed on your own infrastructure.

Can I migrate from Entrust to DuoKey?

Yes. Create a DuoKey DKE service and a sensitivity label for new content, and keep the existing Entrust service running for documents already protected with it until they are re-labelled or reach the end of retention.

How were these criteria chosen?

They follow the sections of a customer DKE and key management RFP: support, Microsoft DKE coverage, administration, monitoring, availability, hosting, key storage and exit. Every cell links to the public document it is based on.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, sourced

Entrust

  1. [1]www.entrust.comcriteria 1https://www.entrust.com/it/sites/default/files/2026-08/entrust-support-welcome-pack-sb.pdf
  2. [2]www.entrust.comcriteria 2https://www.entrust.com/resources/trials/keycontrol
  3. [3]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 3https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/10.2/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/Cloud-Key-Management-Vault/DKE/About-DKE.html
  4. [4]nshielddocs.entrust.comcriteria 4, 28, 29, 16https://nshielddocs.entrust.com/interops-docs/ms-dke-kc/create-dke-key.html
  5. [5]nshielddocs.entrust.comcriteria 5, 21https://nshielddocs.entrust.com/interops-docs/ms-dke-kc/configure-azure.html
  6. [6]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 6https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/10.3.1/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/Cloud-Key-Management-Vault/CK_Auth/Cloud-Authentication-OIDC.html
  7. [7]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 7https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/10.2/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/KC-Groups-and-User-Accts/KC-User-Accts.html
  8. [8]www.entrust.comcriteria 8, 14, 27https://www.entrust.com/es/sites/default/files/documentation/datasheets/keycontrol-kmip-ds.pdf
  9. [9]nshielddocs.entrust.comcriteria 10https://nshielddocs.entrust.com/interops-docs/ms-sentinel-kc/intro.html
  10. [10]www.entrust.comcriteria 11, 19https://www.entrust.com/it/sites/default/files/2024-04/dps-keycontrol-as-a-service-ds.pdf
  11. [11]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 12https://docs.hytrust.com/CryptographicSecurityPlatformVault/10.5.1/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/KC-System-Config/SNMP/Configuring-System-Lvl-SNMP-Traps.html
  12. [12]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 30https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/KC-Groups-and-User-Accts/Vault-Authentication-OIDC.html
  13. [13]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 31https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/GUI-Reference/Audit-Log-Page.html
  14. [14]nshielddocs.entrust.comcriteria 33https://nshielddocs.entrust.com/interops-docs/ms-dke-kc/test-integration.html
  15. [15]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 13https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/Online/Content/Books/aaCommon/Product-Overview/KeyControl.html
  16. [16]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 15https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/KC-Cluster-Maintenance/KC-Backup-and-Restore.html
  17. [17]docs.hytrust.comcriteria 18https://docs.hytrust.com/DataControl/Online/Content/Books/Admin-Guide/Cloud-Key-Management-Vault/DKE/Creating-CloudKey-for-DKE.html
  18. [18]www.entrust.comcriteria 20, 23, 26https://www.entrust.com/ro/digital-security/hsm/services/packaged-services/double-key-encryption-integration
  19. [19]www.applytosupply.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.ukcriteria 25https://www.applytosupply.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud/services/476565860516863

DuoKey

  1. [1]docs.duokey.comcriteria 1, 2https://docs.duokey.com/docs/why-mpc
  2. [2]docs.duokey.comcriteria 3https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/cockpit-v2/overview
  3. [3]docs.duokey.comcriteria 4, 29https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/cockpit-v2/access-policies
  4. [4]docs.duokey.comcriteria 5https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/operations/b2b-collaboration
  5. [5]docs.duokey.comcriteria 6, 31https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/security
  6. [6]docs.duokey.comcriteria 7https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/administration
  7. [7]docs.duokey.comcriteria 8https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/key-policies
  8. [8]docs.duokey.comcriteria 9https://docs.duokey.com/docs/cockpit/access-policies
  9. [9]docs.duokey.comcriteria 10https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/security/compliance-audit
  10. [10]docs.duokey.comcriteria 11, 32, 33https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/setup/dke-service-deployment
  11. [11]docs.duokey.comcriteria 28https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/operations/zero-trust-access-control
  12. [12]docs.duokey.comcriteria 30https://docs.duokey.com/docs/developer/administration-api
  13. [13]docs.duokey.comcriteria 13https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/vm-deployment
  14. [14]docs.duokey.comcriteria 14https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/mpc-cluster
  15. [15]docs.duokey.comcriteria 15https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/operations/backup-recovery
  16. [16]docs.duokey.comcriteria 16, 17, 21https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/cockpit-v2/dke-configuration
  17. [17]docs.duokey.comcriteria 19https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/knowledgebase
  18. [18]docs.duokey.comcriteria 20, 22, 24https://docs.duokey.com/docs/openshift-on-prem/prerequisites
  19. [19]docs.duokey.comcriteria 23https://docs.duokey.com/docs/oracle-tde/overview
  20. [20]duokey.comcriteria 25https://duokey.com/en/compliance/iso-27001
  21. [21]docs.duokey.comcriteria 26https://docs.duokey.com/docs/double-key-encryption/faq
  22. [22]docs.duokey.comcriteria 27https://docs.duokey.com/docs/pkcs11-lib/function-coverage

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