Advertisement
Interview Question
How would you securely store and access application secrets in a cloud-native environment?
Key Points to Cover
- Use managed secret managers (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault)
- Apply short-lived credentials and auto-rotation
- Restrict IAM access to secrets with least privilege
- Integrate secrets with CI/CD pipelines safely
Evaluation Rubric
Uses secure secret storage solutions30% weight
Implements credential rotation30% weight
Restricts access via IAM20% weight
Integrates securely into pipelines20% weight
Hints
- 💡Avoid hardcoding or committing secrets.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- ⚠️Storing secrets directly in code repositories or configuration files.
- ⚠️Using long-lived, static credentials without rotation.
- ⚠️Granting overly broad permissions to applications or services to access secrets.
- ⚠️Not encrypting secrets at rest or in transit.
- ⚠️Lack of auditing and monitoring of secret access and usage.
Potential Follow-up Questions
- ❓What about Kubernetes secrets?
- ❓How to audit secret access?
Advertisement
Related Questions
Questions that share similar topics with this one
Cloud Shared Responsibility Model
Intermediate📞 Phone Screen•2 min•Phone
KMS and Envelope Encryption Design
Advanced🔬 Technical Deep Dive•5 min•Technical
Cloud Service Models
Beginner📞 Phone Screen•2 min•Phone
SSL vs TLS
Beginner📞 Phone Screen•2 min•Phone
SSH Keys vs Password Authentication
Beginner📞 Phone Screen•1 min•Phone