A secure vehicle communication system relies on credentials to provide security. A credential includes a private key and a digital certificate. A generic credential file format that is generalized to hold information from multiple credential file formats is provided. Various optimizations enhance the efficiency of the security system, keys may be pre-derived to reduce latency and digital certificates may be sorted and pre-loaded to reduce start-up time. An API may be provided to provide a common interface that abstracts away hardware dependency of secure hardware.