1. A method comprising: receiving a first key packet that includes a cryptographic key identifier and an encrypted cryptographic key; locating a second key packet stored in a cache by using the cryptographic key identifier of the first key packet, the cryptographic key identifier being an actual memory address in the cache; retrieving the second key packet from the cache; determining that the first key packet matches the second key packet by comparing a portion of the first key packet with a portion of the second key packet; in response to determining that the first key packet matches the second key packet, retrieving a cryptographic key associated with the second key packet from the cache; and performing a cryptographic key operation using the retrieved cryptographic key.