In contrast, while you could think of, say, an ssh key agent as a sort of "software security module", such things are inherently vulnerable to low-level attacks that side-step the intended interface. Say, a kernel exploit that grabs the decrypted key straight from the agent's memory.
So if you need to keep your secrets safe even if you unwittingly use them on a comprised OS, you can only pull that off with a hardware module.
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