Unlocking the power of CyberArk Secrets Hub

Managing secrets in the cloud? When you talk to your DevOps team, they will tell you it’s like a never-ending battle. More and more organizations use and implement cloud technologies like AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Therefore the challenge of keeping all your credentials and secrets safe grows exponentially.

Enter CyberArk Secrets Hub – the secret weapon for managing and securing secrets across your cloud platform

What is CyberArk Secrets Hub?

CyberArk Secrets Hub is a cloud-native service designed to simplify the management of credentials and secrets across multiple cloud platforms. By centralizing your secrets management, Secrets Hub provides a single pane of glass for managing sensitive information in AWS, Azure, and (soon) Google Cloud environments.

A key feature of Secrets Hub is its seamless integration with existing AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, and, soon, Google Cloud’s secret management services. This allows organizations to manage their credentials, secrets, and privileged accounts in a single platform, reducing the complexity of managing multiple cloud providers.

Ready to discover more? Keep reading to find out why CyberArk Secrets Hub is a game-changer for cloud security.

The challenge? secrets sprawl*

Cloud environments are dynamic and fast-paced, which makes it easy for secrets to go unmanaged or, worse, forgotten. For security teams this is especially frustrating as they are trying to keep tabs on credentials that exist in AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, as well as in other cloud platforms. A forgotten credential? You can think of them as a door you left unlocked.

It’s not only an issue for security teams, management teams are feeling the heat as well. Without a consistent security approach, secrets management can become fragmented and a difficult thing to handle. Which results in inconsistent compliance and security risks.

*Secrets sprawl refers to the uncontrolled distribution of sensitive information (think about credentials and API keys), across different systems inside and outside the organisation. This makes it hard to track and secure them.

How does CyberArk Secret Hub changes the game?

As mentioned above, this solution offers a single pane of glass to manage secrets across multiple cloud platforms.

The result of this is that we don’t need to hunt through different systems or don’t need to guess what’s stored where. With CyberArk Secrets Hub, it’s all in one place, neatly organized and secure.

“A Single pane of glass?
Single pane of glass (SPOG) refers to a platform that provides centralized, enterprise-wide visibility into various sources of information and data to create a comprehensive, single source of truth in an organization.”

The three phases of the CyberArk Secrets Hub process:

Phase 1:

Discovery phase: ​

Discovery phase: This is where CyberArk Secrets Hub shows its value. It scans the cloud environment and reveals all the secrets floating around in AWS, Azure, and soon, Google Cloud.

Phase 2:

Security assessment & developer engagement:

After the discovery phase, security teams need to talk to developers. Why are these credentials still in use? What purpose do they serve? This phase ensures that the credentials you found are actually needed. According to Jochen, "Engaging developers at this stage helps prevent idle credentials from becoming security risks."

Phase 3:

Prioritization & next steps:

With the assessment complete, it’s time to take action. This is where Arne Bieseman, another expert at ActWise, comes in: “Cleaning up idle or stale secrets and moving critical credentials into CyberArk Safe is the key to preventing secret sprawl.”

“The discovery phase is critical. It helps you see what credentials are floating around in your cloud – especially those that are unused or at risk.”
– Jochen Kerremans, CyberArk expert @ ActWise

Idle and Stale Secrets Management

One of the most significant features of CyberArk Secrets Hub is its ability to detect and manage idle and stale secrets. For example, AWS Secrets Manager can store credentials that have been unused for over 90 days, which increases the risk of exposure. Jochen Kerremans points out that cleaning up these idle secrets is a critical step in maintaining security hygiene.

As Arne Bieseman explains, idle credentials should not exist in a secure environment, as they pose a security risk. CyberArk Secrets Hub helps detect these secrets and provides security teams with the tools to clean them up, ensuring a more secure and compliant environment.

Arne Bieseman

Unique challenges and solutions for each key team

Jochen and Arne identify 3 key teams within a corporate structure which can benefit from CyberArk Secrets Hub; Developers, Security teams and Management teams. Each of these teams faces different challenges and frustrations when managing secrets in the cloud. Which makes they also need different solutions. 

Jochen and Arne explain this with an interesting analogy per key team.

Developers

Imagine developers as chefs in a busy kitchen. Every time they need an “ingredient” (a secret), they have to run to the pantry, interrupting their workflow and increasing the chance of leaving the pantry door open (a potential security risk).

With CyberArk Secrets Hub, developers gain a “kitchen assistant” that brings them exactly what they need, when they need it. This lets them focus on coding while staying assured that secrets are managed securely and consistently across cloud environments.

Security Teams

Think of the security team as firefighters who can’t locate the nearest hydrant in an emergency. Each second spent searching adds to the damage.

CyberArk Secrets Hub provides security teams with a single, centralized dashboard, much like a map that clearly marks each hydrant’s location. This central visibility means security teams can respond faster, manage risks more effectively, and ensure secrets are secure across all platforms.

Management Teams

Imagine managing secrets compliance like overseeing a library where each book (team) is responsible for critical information (secrets). Without a catalog (a unified secrets vault), locating the right “book” becomes a chaotic task.

With CyberArk Secrets Hub, management gains that all-important catalog: a clear, compliant, and centralized view of secrets management. This empowers them to streamline security, align team practices, and maintain compliance effortlessly across cloud platforms.

Is your organization in need of state-of-the-art secrets management?

A streamlined, secure solution for the cloud? Make sure to reach out for a meeting, a demo, or more information on how CyberArk Secrets Hub can transform your security strategy.

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