The Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA) is a multiplatform, industry-standard security infrastructure. Starting with Version 7.3-1, HP provides CDSA as part of the OpenVMS operating system. CDSA is compatible with OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2-2 and higher, and OpenVMS I64 Version 8.2 and higher.

CDSA provides a stable, standards-based programming interface that enables applications to access operating system security services. With CDSA, you can create cross-platform, security-enabled applications. Security services, such as cryptography and other public key operations, are available through a dynamically extensible interface to a set of add-in modules. These modules can be supplemented or changed as business needs and technologies evolve.

CDSA is security middleware that provides flexible mix-and-match solutions across a variety of applications and security services. CDSA insulates you from the issues of incorporating security into applications, freeing you to focus on the applications themselves. The security underpinnings are transparent to the user.

CDSA was originally developed by Intel® Architecture Labs and was released to the OpenSource community in May 2000. HP's CDSA implementation is based on the Intel V2.0 Release 3 reference platform, which implements CDSA V2.0 with Corrigenda, as defined in The Open Group's Technical Standard C914, May 2000.