Secrets Management Best Practices: Vaults, Encryption, Rotation

Secrets—API keys, database credentials, certificates—are critical assets. Mishandling them often leads to breaches. Proper secrets management reduces risk and strengthens application security.

Best Practices

• Use secure vaults like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or Azure Key Vault
• Encrypt secrets at rest and in transit
• Enable secret rotation to limit damage from exposure
• Avoid storing secrets in code or config files

Automation is key

CI/CD pipelines should fetch secrets dynamically rather than embedding them in scripts or repositories.