Secrets Management
Secrets management refers to the secure storage and controlled access of sensitive information like passwords, API keys, and encryption keys in development and production environments. Secrets management solutions allow teams to store secrets externally from application code or configuration files, and grant access to authorized services and users.
Secrets management helps mitigate security risks associated with storing secrets in plaintext. Solutions like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, and Kubernetes Secrets let you centrally manage access to secrets through access control policies. Secrets are encrypted at rest and in transit. Applications retrieve secrets at runtime through API calls rather than hardcoding them. For example, a Kubernetes pod can request access to secrets stored in Vault, which gets injected into the pod. With proper secrets management, rotation policies can be enforced without having to modify application code. This reduces the blast radius if a secret gets compromised. Overall, secrets management improves security posture and enables secrets to be safely used across distributed applications.