There are varying levels of protection afforded by TRSMs:

1. Tamper-resistance: make intrusion difficult, usually by employing hardened casing
2. Tamper-evident: make intrusion attempts evident to subsequent viewers, often by employing seals which much be broken during intrusion
3. Tamper-responsive: detect the intrusion attempt and destroy the contents in the process

A TRSM is usually also a HSM.