We all want a very secure and private vault where we can store all our secret passwords and confidential data. And whilst there are plenty of paid apps and services that promise to store all our passwords and data in one place and with utmost security, we still can not help but doubt their credibility. But what if we told you that Google is offering a secret vault that would help you store all your important passwords and data in the cloud. Would you still complain?
Google's Secret Manager
The internet giant has announced a new tool for its cloud-based Google Cloud storage service called Secret Manager. And as the name would suggest, the Secret Manager tool is designed to help users securely store their API keys, passwords, certificates, and other sensitive information.
The new cloud-based tool provides Google Cloud users with a single go-to option to manage their data as well as a centralised source of truth, something that even the best enterprise organisations often lack.
In a blog post shared by Google, developer advocate Seth Cargo and product manager Matt Driscoll pointed out the various kinds of problems this new tool will help solve.
The blog post reads: "Many applications require credentials to connect to a database, API keys to invoke a service, or certificates for authentication. Managing and securing access to these secrets is often complicated by secret sprawl, poor visibility, or lack of integrations."
Google Berglas
Meanwhile, Google already offers an open-source command-line tool for managing secrets called Google Berglas. With the launch of the new cloud-based Secret Manager, Google would allow both the tools to work together in order to help users move their secrets from the open-source tool onto Secret Manager. Users will also be able to use Berglas to create and access secrets from the cloud-based Secret Manager as well.
It is a known fact that cloud-based storage is always considered more secure than other forms of storage. So for this reason alone, a lot of users may want to consider moving their secrets from Berglas to Secret Manager.
Google Key Management System
Google also has a key management system called KMS, which offers users a fully managed system to handle their keys. However, like Google Notes, it does not actually store secrets, rather it encrypts the secrets you store elsewhere, while Secret Manager provides a way to store these secrets and also manage them in Google Cloud.
The latest Google Cloud tool also includes the necessary tools that are needed for managing secret versions and audit logging, so that's another plus. You'd be happy to know that the secrets stored in Secret Manager are also project-based global resources and that's something that makes it more secure and sets it apart from other competitor tools that manage secrets on a regional basis.
Those who are interested in using Secret Manager, can start using the new tool in beta, and let Google take care of all your secrets.
