Azure Key Vault

Azure Key Vault

Azure Key Vault is a cloud service for securely storing and accessing secrets. A secret is anything you want to tightly control access to, such as API keys, passwords, certificates, or cryptographic keys. It helps organizations enhance data security by centralizing secret management, controlling access, and ensuring secure usage of sensitive information.

Core Capabilities

• Secure Storage: Secrets are stored in hardware security modules (HSMs).
• Secrets Management: Store and manage sensitive data like connection strings, API keys, and credentials.
• Key Management: Create and control encryption keys used to encrypt data.
• Certificate Management: Provision, manage, and deploy TLS/SSL certificates automatically.
• Access Control: Integrated with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to ensure only authorized applications and users can access data.
• Scalability: Automatically scales with application needs.
• Centralized Management: Manage secrets across multiple apps from one place.
• Auditing: Integrated with Azure Monitor and logging tools.
• Logging and Monitoring: Integrates with Azure Monitor and Azure Security Center to track usage and detect threats.

Why Use Azure Key Vault?

• Centralized storage for application secrets.
• Improved security by eliminating the need to store secrets in code or configuration files.
• Compliance with industry standards and regulations.
• Easy integration with Azure services, DevOps pipelines, and applications.

Example: Storing and Retrieving a Secret in C#

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Security.KeyVault.Secrets;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Replace with your Key Vault URL
        string keyVaultUrl = "https://<YourKeyVaultName>.vault.azure.net/";

        var client = new SecretClient(new Uri(keyVaultUrl), new DefaultAzureCredential());

        // Set a secret
        client.SetSecret("MySecretKey", "SuperSecretValue123");

        // Retrieve the secret
        KeyVaultSecret secret = client.GetSecret("MySecretKey");
        Console.WriteLine($"Secret Value: {secret.Value}");
    }
}
    

How This Works

• Authentication: The app authenticates to Key Vault using Azure AD and a managed identity or service principal.
• Set Secret: Stores "MySecretKey" with the value "SuperSecretValue123".
• Get Secret: Retrieves the value securely when needed by the application.

Typical Use Cases

• Securely storing API keys, database connection strings, or credentials.
• Managing SSL certificates for web apps
• Managing encryption keys for sensitive data.
• Automating certificate renewal and deployment for web applications.
• Integrating with CI/CD pipelines for secret management in DevOps.

Steps to Use Azure Key Vault

1. Create a Key Vault in Azure Portal.
2. Add secrets, keys, or certificates.
3. Assign access permissions using RBAC or access policies.
4. Access secrets from your app using SDK or REST API.

Pro Tip: Use managed identities to access Key Vault without storing credentials in your code.