AWS Secrets Manager

AWS Secrets Manager is a service that securely stores and manages secrets such as passwords, login credentials, third-party keys and other confidential information. It allows you to modify or rotate your credentials effortlessly without the need for code or configuration changes. By using Secrets Manager you eliminate the need to hard-code credentials in your code or configuration files. Instead you can retrieve secrets programmatically by making API calls to Secrets Manager replacing any hard-coded credentials. Additionally it utilizes the AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt the protected text of a secret, ensuring your sensitive data remains secure.

What Secrets Can Be Stored in AWS Secrets Manager?

In AWS Secrets Manager you can securely manage a variety of secrets such as database credentials, on-premises resource credentials, SaaS application credentials, third-party API keys and Secure Shell (SSH) keys. Secrets Manager lets you store these sensitive pieces of information as JSON documents up to 64 KB in size, providing flexibility to manage various types of secrets in one place.

However, for certain secrets, AWS provides dedicated tools that can be even more effective.

• AWS Credentials: Instead of storing AWS credentials in Secrets Manager, use AWS IAM for secure managed access with best practices like role-based permissions.
• Encryption Keys: AWS KMS (Key Management Service) is optimized for managing encryption keys ensuring secure generation, storage and usage.
• SSH Keys: For SSH access AWS EC2 Instance Connect is a more streamlined secure alternative.
• Private Keys and Certificates: AWS Certificate Manager is ideal for managing SSL/TLS certificates and private keys.

By integrating Secrets Manager with these specialized AWS services you can enhance security while ensuring each type of sensitive data is managed using the most suitable tools. This approach helps maintain a secure scalable architecture for managing secrets across your applications and resources

Working of AWS Secrets Manager

• When we use a secret manager, our keys are encrypted by KMS, and simultaneously AWS Lambda rotates secrets on schedule.
• secrets are accessed in the application while we fetch keys stored from the secret manager.
• It can be done using Amazon RDS, Redshift, DocumentDB, and other AWS services and services outside AWS.
• Cloudwatch and Cloudtrail automate monitoring and audit compliance for secrets.

How Secrets Manager Works under the Hood?

Think of AWS Secrets Manager as a highly secure digital vault designed for safeguarding our most sensitive data. At its core Secrets Manager relies on powerful encryption with keys stored in AWS Key Management Service (KMS). This encryption framework puts us in full control allowing us to define exactly who can access our secrets through finely tuned IAM policies.

1. Encryption and Secure Retrieval

When our application needs to retrieve a secret Secrets Manager ensures this happens through a series of secure steps. First the secret is decrypted within AWS then sent directly to our application over a secure TLS connection. What’s reassuring here is that Secrets Manager never stores secrets in plain text and it avoids any caching of decrypted data keeping it away from persistent storage.

To dive deeper, Secrets Manager uses envelope encryption (AES-256) for securing secrets. Here’s how it works

• When a secret is stored Secrets Manager reaches out to KMS for a unique plaintext data key and an encrypted version of that key. This plaintext data key is used in-memory to encrypt our secret. The encrypted secret and data key are then stored securely.
• When a secret needs to be accessed Secrets Manager retrieves the encrypted data key decrypts it with KMS and uses the plaintext key to decrypt the secret right in memory. The data key itself remains encrypted never stored on disk in plain text, ensuring an extra layer of security.

2. Seamless Integration and Automation

Secrets Manager is designed to work seamlessly with AWS services through the Secrets Manager API which allows applications to access secrets directly without embedding them in code. Moreover Secrets Manager handles automatic secret rotation continuously refreshing secrets and eliminating the need for manual intervention.

3. Built-in Controls and Flexibility

With Secrets Manager access control is entirely customizable. AWS IAM policies enable fine-grained permissions so only specific applications or users can view, update or rotate secrets as needed. Additionally version control in Secrets Manager keeps historical records of secrets, allowing you to roll back to previous versions if necessary—like having a digital backup system for your sensitive information.

AWS Secrets Manager Features:

• Rotate Secrets Safely: AWS Secrets Manager allows us to meet our security requirements by properly rotating secrets without any need for code deployments.
  
• Manage Access With IAM Policies: We can manage access to secrets with the help of Secrets Manager secrets retrieval also needs IAM permissions only retrieved by user or group with IAM permissions.
  
• Secure And Audit Secrets Centrally: Secrets Manager allows us to help secure secrets by encrypting them using encryption keys managed by AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS).
  
• Pay As You Go: We are charged based on the number of secrets managed in Secrets Manager as well as the number of API calls made using Secrets Manager.
  
• Easily Replicate Secrets To Multiple Regions: AWS Secrets Manager makes it simple to replicate secrets across various AWS regions in order to support multi-region applications and disaster recovery situations.

Best Practices For Secret Manager

• Secret should be encrypted With KMS Customer Master Keys.
• Ensure that AWS Secrets Manager service enforces data-at-rest encryption using KMS CMKs.
• Secret Rotation should be enabled.
• Ensure that automatic rotation is enabled for your Amazon Secrets Manager secrets.
• Ensure that Amazon Secrets Manager's automatic rotation interval is properly configured.
• Ensure that AWS Secrets Manager is in use for secure and efficient credentials management.

Steps to Store Secrets From AWS Console

Step 1: Open and log in to AWS Management Console.

Step 2: Open AWS Secrets Manager dashboard by clicking on the service "Service Manager".

Step 3: Choose Secrets in the navigation bar.

Step 4: Click on "Store a new secret" on dashboard.

Step 5: Add secret key and value and click on "next"

Step 6: Add The Secret name as per your choice and click on "next".

Step 7: Configure rotation as optional, so click on next and see preview and click on "store". This will create new secret manager with keys stored.

Pricing of AWS Secrets Manager

AWS Secrets Manager offers a straightforward pricing model based on two primary components: the number of secrets stored and the number of API calls made. Below is a detailed breakdown

Conclusion

The use of a secrets manager, such as AWS Secrets Manager, is needed for maintaining secure and efficient handling of sensitive information within an organization. By centralizing, securing, and providing tracking and visibility for governance and auditing of secrets, organizations can significantly enhance their security measures and simplify the management of sensitive data. when we don't manage secrets correctly, it can lead to serious consequences, including data breaches, system outages, and unauthorized access. In conclusion, the use of a secrets manager is a fundamental practice for organizations seeking to strengthen their security posture and protect their valuable data from unauthorized access and exposure.