Kubernetes environments face major risks from poor secrets management, as compromised credentials drive costly breaches. Native Kubernetes secrets lack encryption, rotation, and governance, leading to sprawl and exposure. CyberArk’s whitepaper introduces a Secrets Management Maturity Model with four levels: Ad hoc, Centralized, Managed, and Ephemeral. Progression moves from uncontrolled manual handling to automated rotation, dynamic secrets, and secretless access with workload identities. Advanced practices like just-in-time secrets, secretless brokers, and SPIFFE workload identity minimize reliance on long-lived credentials. This model helps organizations assess maturity, reduce blast radius, improve compliance, and strengthen Kubernetes security.

Join for free to read