Secrets management is the practice of securely storing, accessing, and handling sensitive information, like passwords, API keys, encryption keys, certificates, and tokens, that applications, systems, or users rely on to function.

These "secrets" can often be hidden in source code, configuration files, or shared manually. For example, if a developer hardcodes a database password into an app, anyone with access to the code can steal it.

Instead of each machine keeping its own secrets, dedicated secrets management tools centralize management and storage, encrypt the credentials, and allow access only to trusted services.

A secrets management tool must feature REST APIs to support DevOps practices, integration into CI/CD pipelines, cloud deployments, and microservices setups, where systems must scale and communicate reliably. Secrets management is important because it should stop leaked secrets and attackers from compromising your entire estate.

Suppose you’re running applications across different environments: some in AWS, some in Azure, and a few on-prem. Each one needs credentials, like database passwords, API keys, and tokens. Managing those separately for each environment is a challenge-- security gets messy, and you lose control.

To avoid secrets, sprawl, and have control over secrets access, you need to consider a solution that will give you centralized visibility and management. The solution should support integration and automation, without compromising application performance and scalability.

Fortanix Data Security Manager (DSM) unifies secrets management across hybrid multicloud with a single console. It gives you one secure place to manage all your secrets, regardless of app deployment, and store them in natively integrated, FIPS-compliant HSM, available as SaaS or on-prem.

The centralized management gives you complete control and audit over who can access what services. REST APIs enable full integration and automation with the rest of our DevOps tool stack.

In DevOps, applications are built, tested, and deployed automatically—several times a day. These apps often use secrets like passwords, tokens, or API keys to talk to databases, services, or other applications. Hardcoding and sharing those secrets manually are risky and slows you down.

To automate operations, in true DevOps fashion, you need to consider a tool that stores secrets in a secure place and easily plugs into your CI/CD pipelines.

Fortanix Data Security Manager (DSM) makes this automation easy and secure-- simply connect to DSM through the REST APIs or use the readily available connectors. For example:

• In Jenkins, your pipeline can call Fortanix DSM to fetch a secret before deploying your app.
• In Kubernetes, your containers can pull secrets from DSM instead of using plain text config files.
• In GitHub Actions, you can set up secrets to be fetched securely during build or deploy steps.

With Fortanix, secrets are encrypted, access is controlled, and logs are tracked, so you know who accessed what and when. Fortanix DSM support all workloads and deployments and enables you to scale, meet performance demands, and, most importantly, keeps your secrets safe.

Software developers use login credentials, passwords, API keys, and tokens, which, if handled carelessly, can create data and application vulnerabilities. A secrets management tool is a secure vault that stores all sensitive data, encrypted and separate from the code.

Instead of developers embedding or copying secrets, applications retrieve them automatically and securely at runtime. This reduces human error, limits exposure, and keeps the development workflow secure from end to end.

A secrets management solution must allow you to manage and store all your secrets centrally and let your CI/CD tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes, or Terraform fetch them securely through API integrations.

This means secrets are never exposed in code, and developers don’t need to touch them directly. Fortanix also gives you fine-grained access control and full audit logs, so you know who accessed what and when. In short, it helps teams develop and deploy software faster while staying in control of security at every step.

Password management helps users store, organize, and use their login credentials, such as usernames and passwords, for websites, apps, and services. Services such as LastPass, 1Password, and Dashlane are available. These tools help users generate strong passwords, remember them, and auto-fill them when logging into Gmail, Netflix, or online banking. Individuals or small teams mostly use it to ensure no one uses weak passwords or writes them on sticky notes.

Secret management, on the other hand, is for developing software and systems. It helps developers and IT teams store and control access to digital secrets like API keys, database credentials, tokens, and encryption keys that applications need to communicate securely.

For example, you’ve built an e-commerce app, and you want customers to be able to pay using credit cards. Your app needs to connect to Stripe, a payment platform. Stripe gives you something called an API key—think of it as a secret password your app uses to talk to Stripe and process payments.

If that key is hardcoded in your code, it can be stolen and misused. Secret management tools safely store and rotate that key, so only trusted apps can access it securely. Secret management is used in DevOps, cloud environments, and CI/CD pipelines to avoid hardcoding secrets into source code, which could be a major security risk.

When developing an app, you want the code to be automatically built, tested, and deployed with every new update. Continuous Integration/ Continuous Deployment, CI/CD, allows you to do so, orchestrating every step of the way.

CI/CD pipelines communicate with many systems and tools as part of the process and need access to login details, passwords, API keys, tokens, and certificates, also known as secrets.

Best practices dictate that secrets should not be part of the code but should be managed and stored safely with a secret management solution.

The safest way to store secrets such as API keys, passwords, or tokens is to keep them out of your code completely. Instead, use a secret management tool that stores them in a secure vault, automatically rotates the secrets, and only hands them out for authorized and privileged services.

Fortanix Data Security Manager, DSM, offers Secrets Management. The solution provides a centralized platform to control and manage secrets, credentials, certificates, API keys, and tokens. The secrets are stored outside the application's source code in a FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified Hardware Security Module (HSM), available on-prem or as SaaS.

Key Management handles cryptographic keys used for encryption. For example, when you encrypt sensitive data (like customer information or payment details), you need encryption keys to encrypt and decrypt the data. Key management tools store these keys securely, rotate them regularly, and allow only authorized users or systems to access them. Fortanix offers Enterprise Key Managment solution that centralize enterprise key management across hybrid multicloud to eliminate data security siloes, mitigate risk of data breaches, and ensure absolute control over data access.

Secrets Management, on the other hand, manages all other sensitive information, such as API keys, passwords, and tokens, which are used for authenticating and connecting systems. These tools help protect sensitive access credentials and reduce the risk of cyber breaches.

Just like key management, secrets management tools also restrict systems or users from accessing this information and ensure that the secrets are managed, rotated, and stored properly.

We need a secrets manager because secrets such as API keys, database passwords, and tokens are scattered across various environments, opening the door to cyber vulnerabilities and business exposure. It is not uncommon for teams to leave secrets in the source code, config files, or Slack messages.

A notorious example is when hackers found Uber’s AWS keys in a public repo, costing the company millions in damage. Secrets Management solutions eliminate the vulnerabilities by keeping sensitive information in one secure place, where only approved systems or people can access it for authorized purposes. This also helps with audits, when teams can quickly demonstrate who accessed what and when.

Secrets Management solutions can store all the important information that apps and systems need to stay secure, such as passwords, API keys, database logins, and tokens. Instead of saving these details in plain text or code, which can be risky, a secrets manager keeps them secure and only shares them when needed.

In cloud infrastructure, Secrets Management solutions help keep secrets out of code, pipelines, and config files so they’re not accidentally exposed. They also manage who or what can access secrets across multi-cloud environments.

• Never hardcode secrets into source code or configuration files, as this poses a major security risk.
• Regularly rotate secrets to help minimize the impact of potential leaks.
• Monitor and audit access logs to detect any unauthorized usage is mandatory.
• Encrypt all secrets at rest, in transit, and in use.
• Limit access by applying the principle of least privilege, ensuring that only those who truly need access can obtain it.
• Automate the secure distribution of secrets wherever possible.
• Keep secrets secure in a FIPS-certified HSM that supports scalability and automation.

Every modern application, whether it's a payment system, database, or cloud service, requires secrets such as passwords, tokens, or API keys to function. While teams often store these in configuration files for convenience, this approach poses serious security risks, such as accidental exposure through version control or overly broad access.

A secrets management tool addresses these challenges by securely storing and managing sensitive credentials in a centralized system. It integrates seamlessly with cloud environments like AWS, Azure, or GCP, automatically providing applications with the right secrets during deployment without exposing them.

These tools also support automated secret rotation, fine-grained access control, and activity auditing—critical features for enterprise teams, distributed environments, and compliance needs. A secrets management tool ultimately enhances security while maintaining agility and operational efficiency.