Secrets Management is the practice of securely managing credentials, API keys, tokens, and other secrets used by applications and services.
What is Secrets Management?
Secrets Management provides a centralized and secure store for credentials, with capabilities for automatic rotation, auditing, and access control.
Main Features
Secure Storage
- Encryption: Secrets encrypted at rest
- Transmission: Secure communication
- Access: Granular permission control
- Auditing: Access logging
Automatic Rotation
- Rotation: Automatic secret change
- Notification: Expiration alerts
- Integration: APIs for applications
- Versioning: Secret history
Popular Tools
Cloud Providers
- AWS Secrets Manager: AWS secret management
- Azure Key Vault: Azure key store
- Google Secret Manager: GCP secret management
Open Source
- HashiCorp Vault: Enterprise secret management
- Kubernetes Secrets: Native K8s secrets
- Docker Secrets: Docker Swarm secrets
Related Concepts
- PKI - Key infrastructure
- HSM - Security modules
- Zero Trust - Security model
- Defense in Depth - Protection strategy