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Hey there,

Let’s say, it’s late at night, and your phone is blowing up.

The issue is that a developer has accidentally pushed a production API key to a public GitHub repo, and automated bots have already attempted to use it. Incidents like this occur far more frequently than most teams are comfortable to admit.

This is exactly why secrets management should never be an afterthought.

In today's issue, we explore:

• Why the old .env file approach creates more problems than it solves

• The practical differences between AWS Secrets Manager and Parameter Store

• How to choose the right secrets management strategy for your setup

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In the past, teams managed secrets with plain text config.env files containing database passwords, API keys, and AWS credentials. Copying them to servers and setting permissions seemed enough, but it left room for human error.

The approach fails in several ways:

• Files can be committed to version control by accident

• There is no encryption at rest

• Secrets are never rotated automatically

• Environment variables become unmanageable as services increase

• Human error becomes the biggest attack vector

Modern cloud secrets management solves this by enforcing encryption at rest and in transit, and by integrating directly with your CI or CD pipeline.

In AWS, secrets management is not only about hiding credentials. It is about delivering controlled access to the right services and the right people with minimal risk.

AWS provides two primary services for secrets and configuration. Understanding when to use each one helps prevent misconfigurations and unnecessary costs.

Secrets Manager

Secrets Manager is a fully managed vault with encryption, rotation, and service integration. It is ideal for credentials that need lifecycle automation.

A typical example is an e-commerce platform with multiple microservices. Secrets Manager can rotate database passwords every 30 days without any downtime. During rotation, AWS generates a new credential, updates the database, validates the connection, and exposes the new secret to your applications.

AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store

Parameter Store is a flexible store for both configuration and secrets. It supports SecureString for encrypted parameters and integrates well with Lambda, EC2, ECS, and CI pipelines.

Engineers often use it to maintain separate parameters for production, staging, and development, such as:

• /myapp/prod/payment-gateway-url

• /myapp/staging/payment-gateway-url

• /myapp/prod/redis-host

Parameter Store is cost-efficient and works well for smaller teams or early-stage systems, while Secrets Manager is better for automated rotation, auditing, and multi-account access as systems scale.

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S3 can store encrypted configuration files, but it is rarely the best place for individual credentials. A single misconfigured bucket can expose secrets to the public internet, so using S3 safely requires strict controls like:

• Server-side encryption with KMS

• Bucket policies that block unencrypted uploads

• Private bucket settings with limited IAM access

• Audit logging through CloudTrail

So, which method works best for you and your team?

Secrets Manager and Parameter Store provide safer defaults, built-in access controls, and integrations that S3 alone can’t match. Smaller teams often find Parameter Store sufficient, while Secrets Manager scales with growing systems.

This issue is just a tip of the iceberg. For a comprehensive walkthrough, including code samples, IAM policies, and setup steps, read the full implementation guide here.

And it’s a wrap!

See you Friday for the week’s news, upcoming events, and opportunities.

If you found this helpful, share this link with a colleague or fellow DevOps engineer.

Divine Odazie
Founder of EverythingDevOps