9 Secrets Management Strategies that every company should adopt

While you might know your secrets vaults to store your organization’s most sensitive assets — API keys, access tokens, and certificates — a solid secrets management strategy ensures these vaults themselves are safe and secure.

In this post, we’ll dive deep into secrets management best practices and unpack the best practices and strategies that every company should adopt. Whether you’re a startup taking your first cybersecurity steps or an enterprise looking to fortify your defenses, this article is your roadmap. So, let’s get started.

1. Centralize secrets management

Benefits: Centralization streamlines auditing and boosts compliance.

Vaults may promise centralized secrets management, but they do just the opposite when an organization uses multiple vaults to store secrets. And that’s even if they make it to the vault. 80% of secrets slip through the cracks and go unnoticed.

A centralized secrets management system consolidates all your secrets into a single, secure repository. This approach facilitates easier management by allowing you to enforce uniform access policies and permissions across the board. It also integrates well with auditing tools, enabling real-time monitoring and alerting based on predefined criteria.

Source: freepik

While centralized secrets management might seem counterintuitive due to the risk of creating a single point of failure, robust security measures can mitigate this risk. Features like multi-factor authentication, encryption at rest and in transit, and regular vulnerability assessments can provide additional layers of security, making the centralized system a fortress for your secrets.

Advantages:

• Simplified auditing
• Efficient compliance

Disadvantages:

• Single failure point
• Setup complexity

2. Automate secrets rotation

Benefits: Automated rotation minimizes exposure time for all secrets.

Automated secret rotation is like having a security guard who regularly changes the locks. This proactive measure keeps attackers guessing and minimizes the damage even if some secrets do get exposed. Various compliance standards like PCI-DSS and GDPR mandate periodic secret rotation.

However, let’s not sugarcoat it; automated rotation can introduce certain complexities into your systems. When multiple services try to access the same secret, only the first service would gain access, and the other one would fail. To avoid service disruptions, you must ensure that all services depending on rotated secrets are updated simultaneously.

That said, a well-orchestrated automation pipeline equipped with secrets management best practices with rollback mechanisms can make your system work like a well-oiled machine. This reduces the risk of prolonged exposure and aids in meeting compliance standards, making it a win-win for security and regulatory adherence.

Advantages:

• Reduces risk of prolonged exposure
• Aids in meeting compliance standards

Disadvantages:

• Adds complexity to systems
• Risk of service disruptions

3. Implement context-aware access controls: smart security for smart systems

Benefits: Context-aware controls adapt to real-time conditions, enhancing security.

Context-aware access controls are the next level in smart security. They go beyond static permissions and roles, adapting in real-time to factors like user behavior, location, and access time. This dynamic approach can identify unusual activity that might go unnoticed, triggering immediate protective actions such as temporary lockdowns or multi-factor authentication prompts.

But let’s be real; the sophistication of context-aware controls comes at a cost. Implementing these dynamic rules adds another layer of complexity to your secrets management strategy.

Nonetheless, context-aware controls are excellent at reducing false positives, and they adapt to real-time conditions, enhancing your overall security posture. The system’s dynamic response to threats minimizes the risk of false negatives, making it a robust addition to any secrets management best strategy. Entro plays well here as it is the only platform offering context-rich access controls.

Advantages:

• Dynamic response to threats
• Minimized false positives

Disadvantages:

• Increased system complexity
• Potential for false negatives

4. Avoid hard coding secrets

There are significant security risks associated with hard coding secrets, such as API keys, passwords, and encryption keys, directly into code. This practice poses a serious threat to data security, as it leaves sensitive information vulnerable to unauthorized access and exploitation. Hard coding secrets makes it easier for malicious actors to compromise systems and gain unauthorized access to critical resources, potentially leading to severe consequences such as data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage for organizations.

Hard coding secrets can complicate the process of managing and rotating credentials, as any changes require modifying and redeploying the code, which can be time-consuming and error-prone.

4. Embrace zero-trust architecture: trust no one, secure everyone

Benefits: Zero-trust minimizes the attack surface by not implicitly trusting any entity.

Zero-trust architecture operates on a simple principle: Don’t trust; always verify. In this model, trust is never assumed, and verification is required from anyone trying to access resources in your network. The best part is that it eliminates all insider threats where trust is often implicitly given. By requiring constant authentication, zero-trust ensures that only verified entities can access your secrets.

Source: freepik

Now, implementing a zero-trust architecture isn’t a walk in the park. It requires a complete overhaul of your network architecture and organizational culture. The initial setup can be resource-intensive in terms of time and cost.

Nonetheless, this model is an essential secrets management strategy as it minimizes the attack surface by not implicitly trusting any entity, thereby reducing the risk of insider threats and enhancing data protection. The constant need for authentication, while cumbersome, is a small price to pay for the level of security it offers.

Advantages:

• Reduced insider threat risk
• Enhanced data protection

Disadvantages:

• Initial implementation cost
• Increased authentication steps

5. Get the pulse of your security with real-time monitoring and alerting

Benefits: Real-time monitoring provides immediate insights into suspicious activities, allowing for quick action.

Real-time monitoring and alerting are your organization’s security pulse, providing immediate insights into any irregularities or suspicious activities. This enables you to act quickly, potentially stopping a security incident. For those looking for a more comprehensive solution, Entro uses machine learning algorithms to track secret usage and raise alerts for any abnormal behavior.

However, setting up real-time monitoring requires significant resources, both in terms of hardware and expertise, to filter out the noise and focus on genuine threats. This initial investment is crucial but can be resource-intensive.

On the brighter side, the benefits of real-time monitoring are substantial. The risk of alert fatigue is there, but with the right configuration and filtering, you can minimize false positives and focus on genuine security threats.

Advantages:

• Instant threat detection
• Improved incident response

Disadvantages:

• Alert fatigue risk
• Resource-intensive setup

6. Fine-tune access with granular permissions access

Benefits: Granular permissions allow for precise control over who can access what, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

Granular permissions allow you to fine-tune who has access to what, down to the individual secrets and other resources. This approach minimizes over-permissions, where users have more access than needed, a common security risk.

Source: freepik

It goes a long way in eliminating the risk of unauthorized access. You can develop a more robust and adaptable security environment by customizing security measures to meet specific requirements.

Advantages:

• Minimized over-permissions
• Tailored security measures

Disadvantages:

• Complexity in management
• Risk of under-permission

7. Audit secrets: keeping track on secrets to stay on track

Benefits: Regular auditing ensures that you’re always aware of the state of your secrets, enabling proactive security measures.

Secrets auditing is like your organization’s regular health check-up. It involves periodically reviewing and documenting your secrets, their permissions, and how they’re being used. This practice enhances visibility into your secrets landscape and prepares you for compliance audits, making it easier to demonstrate that you’re following best practices.

However, auditing is a time-consuming process that often requires dedicated resources. The complexity of your secret landscape can make this a daunting task.

Nonetheless, this practice ensures that you’re aware of the state of your secrets at all times, enabling proactive security measures and serves as a way to keep track on secrets and stay on track, ensuring that your secrets management strategy is always up to date and effective.

Advantages:

• Enhanced visibility
• Improved compliance readiness

Disadvantages:

• Time-consuming process
• Potential for human error

8. Rotate secrets in a context-driven manner: the Entro way

Benefits: Context-driven secret rotation eliminates guesswork and enhances security.

Context-driven secrets rotation is like having a GPS for your secrets. You need to know who’s using those secrets, what cloud service they’re for, and what privileges they need. Entro’s platform offers a comprehensive map showing which application uses what secrets to authenticate to which cloud service. This context-rich approach simplifies the rotation process and minimizes risks.

The silver lining here is that Entro operates out-of-band, meaning it doesn’t interfere with R&D work. That means it can be seamlessly added to your security infrastructure, enhancing the rotation process without adding complexity. Learn more about context-driven secrets rotation from Entro.

Advantages:

• Streamlined rotation process
• Minimized security risks

Disadvantages:

• Requires initial setup
• Needs continuous monitoring

9. Detect anomalies and continuously monitor security

Benefits: Continuous monitoring detects abnormal real-time behavior, allowing immediate action.

Anomaly detection and continuous monitoring are your security system’s watchful eye, alerting you to any odd behaviors or potential risks. For instance, Entro’s platform uses machine learning algorithms to track secret usage and raise alerts for any abnormal behavior, offering an extra layer of security.

Entro alerts come with context, you will be able to learn more about your application behavior and programmatic access infrastructure, and the real win is early detection. Having said that – the  real win is the early detection of misuse and automated alerts as Entro does it. This extra layer of security is invaluable, especially in today’s complex threat landscape.

Advantages:

• Early detection of misuse
• Automated alerts

Disadvantages:

• False positives
• Resource-intensive

Parting thoughts

Managing secrets effectively isn’t just about having a set of best practices; it’s about having a comprehensive strategy that adapts to the ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity. This is where Entro comes into play. With features like context-driven secrets rotation, anomaly detection, and continuous monitoring, Entro offers a holistic approach to secrets management.

Entro goes beyond just discovering secrets; it enriches them with actionable metadata, continuously monitors for anomalies, and even helps you bring the principle of least privilege into the fold. It’s not just about keeping your secrets safe; it’s about making them work for you most efficiently.

Keeping track on secrets in real time is a crucial element in your cyber security. Click here to learn how Entro can help you.