Explain Secret Rotation Strategy.

A secret rotation strategy is the practice of regularly updating or replacing sensitive information like passwords, API keys, and encryption keys to reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

When to se

• Cloud applications with long-lived API keys
• Databases with shared credentials
• Systems handling financial or healthcare data
• Environments with compliance requirements (e.g., PCI, HIPAA)

Example

A backend service might rotate its database password every 30 days so even if it’s leaked, the old one quickly becomes useless.

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Why Is It Important

Rotation minimizes the attack window for stolen secrets, enforces compliance, and ensures better visibility into secret usage.

Interview Tips

When asked, highlight security benefits, mention automation tools (like AWS Secrets Manager), and share a simple example. Emphasize both pros and trade-offs.

Trade-offs

• Increased security, compliance alignment
• Added complexity, risk of outages if automation fails

Pitfalls

• Rotating too infrequently (ineffective)
• Forgetting dependent services (causing downtime)
• Assuming rotation alone is enough without encryption or least-privilege access