Vault

In modern software development and operations, managing secrets—such as passwords, tokens, keys, and certificates—is critical for maintaining security and operational integrity. Secrets must be stored securely but also be readily accessible to authorized applications and services. Vaults provide secure storage mechanisms to safely manage and access secrets.

The Role of Vaults

Vaults safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access while ensuring that legitimate services can obtain the necessary data without exposing it to risks. The main advantages of using vaults include:

• Encryption: Vaults encrypt stored secrets, making them unreadable to anyone without the proper decryption key.
• Access Control: Vaults control access to stored secrets through roles and policies.
• Audit Trails: Many vault solutions offer auditing capabilities to track access and changes to secrets, enhancing security and compliance.
• Secrets Rotation: Some vaults can automatically rotate secrets, reducing the risk of compromise over time.

Supported Vault Implementations

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See the Vault Reference for more information on how to configure and use vaults.

Ascend integrates with several external vaults to cater to different environments and requirements:

• AWS Secrets Manager: A managed AWS solution with features like automatic rotation and integration with AWS services.
• Azure Key Vault: Manages secrets, keys, and certificates for applications deployed in Azure.
• Google Cloud Secret Manager: Provides secure, scalable secret storage for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) users.

Choosing the Right Vault

Choose a vault based on the following factors:

• Environment: Consider where your applications or services are hosted (on-premises, cloud, hybrid).
• Integration: Evaluate how well the vault integrates with your existing infrastructure and services.
• Security Requirements: Assess the level of security and compliance your organization needs.
• Operational Complexity: Consider the operational overhead of managing the vault, including setup, maintenance, and secret rotation.

Conclusion

Understanding different vault types and their capabilities is crucial for implementing a secure secret management strategy. Each vault offers features suited to various environments and requirements. By carefully evaluating your options, you can ensure that your secrets—and consequently, your applications and data—are well-protected against unauthorized access.