A secure element operating in conjunction with a secure partition of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) having set top box (STB) functionality allows for digital rights management (DRM) key handling in a mobile platform. The secure element can include a secure processing system (SPS) to be implemented as a hard macro, thereby isolating the SPS from a peripheral processing system (PPS). The secure element and the secure partition of the SoC may be operatively connected by a secure cryptographic channel.