The subject disclosure is directed towards certifying cryptographic data for a crypto-processor outside of a controlled environment. The crypto-processor and a certifying entity maintain shared secret data for the purpose of verifying security of cryptographic key generation by the crypto-processor's firmware. In order to certify new cryptographic keys, the crypto-processor uses the shared secret data to verify the crypto-processor's firmware/hardware to the certifying entity. By protecting the shared secret data from exposure to compromised firmware, the shared secret data may be used to compute another secret conveying to the certifying entity whether the firmware can be trusted or not.