HSM (Hardware Security Modules) are pieces of hardware used to protect sensitive cryptographic keys and perform cryptographic operations. These devices are typically used in the banking and defense industry. Developers can use existing APIs or extend the devices capabilities. In the case of nCipher devices, the framework for implementing extensions is called CodeSafe and the code is typically written in C (e.g. see Subzero, Square's HSM-based Bitcoin Cold Storage wallet).

One of my last hacks while working at Square was to build a prototype showing how CodeSafe code could be written using Rust. I shared it on April 1st as an anti hoax (since the whole thing actually works). The main appeal for using Rust is memory safety/better guarantees compared to C. Rust also enables leveraging a rich ecosystem of packages and libraries.