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Typically, a TLS server uses an X509 Certificate and associated Private Key to sign a TLS session. Both the certificate and private key used for signing the certificate form an asymmetric cryptographic key-pair. Revealing the traffic-private-key makes it possible to perform men-in-the-middle type of attacks. Typically, private-key is stored on the server’s hard disk. Even if it is stored in encrypted form, at some point the HTTPS server needs to have a possibility to decrypt it to use for signing. It means that at runtime the key in the plaintext will be available in memory of an HTTPS process. In the case of software errors, attackers may be able to steal a private key (see [Heartbleed](https://heartbleed.com/)). On the other hand, in multiple domains, there is a need for binding of secret keys to the hardware on which software is running comes with multiple (IoT devices, software deployments on the edge networks). |