Integration of External secret operator with IBM Secret Manager

 

Background

This document provides an overview of integrating IBM Cloud Secret Manager with the External Secret Operator. It outlines the benefits of using these tools together, the setup process, and how to manage secrets effectively in a Kubernetes environment. By leveraging IBM Cloud Secret Manager alongside the External Secret Operator, users can enhance their security posture while simplifying secret management in cloud-native applications.

Introduction

IBM Cloud Secret Manager is a secure service for managing sensitive information such as API keys, passwords, and certificates. The External Secret Operator is a Kubernetes operator that allows you to use external secret management systems to populate Kubernetes secrets. By combining these two powerful tools, organizations can streamline their secret management processes while ensuring that sensitive data is securely stored and accessed.

Benefits of Using IBM Cloud Secret Manager with External Secret Operator

1. Enhanced Security: Secrets are stored securely in IBM Cloud Secret Manager, reducing the risk of exposure.

2. Centralized Management: Manage all secrets from a single location, simplifying operations and compliance.

3. Dynamic Secrets: Automatically update Kubernetes secrets when the IBM Cloud Secret Manager changes occur.

4. Kubernetes Native: Seamlessly integrates with Kubernetes, allowing developers to work within familiar environments.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the setup, ensure you have the following:

• An IBM Cloud account with access to IBM Cloud Secret Manager.

• A Kubernetes cluster where you can deploy the External Secret Operator.

• kubectl command-line tool installed and configured to interact with your Kubernetes cluster.

Source: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/secrets-manager?topic=secrets-manager-tutorial-kubernetes-secrets

Login to IBM Cloud Console:

Search for Secret manager

Provision Secret manager

Type of Secret stored in Secret Manager

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Install the External Secret Operator

To install the External Secret Operator, you can use Helm. First, add the Helm repository:

helm repo add external-secrets https://charts.external-secrets.io
helm install external-secrets external-secrets/external-secrets \
    -n external-secrets \
    --create-namespace \
    --set installCRDs=true

Step 2: Configure IBM Cloud Secret Manager

Create a Secret: Log in to your IBM Cloud account and navigate to the Secret Manager service. Create a new secret and note its name and ID.

IAM API Key: Create an IAM API key with permissions to access the Secret Manager.

Step 3: Create a Kubernetes Secret for the IAM API Key

Store the IAM API key in a Kubernetes secret:

kubectl create secret generic ibm-cloud-secret-manager 

--from-literal=api-key='<YOUR_IAM_API_KEY>'

Step 4: Define an External Secret

Create a YAML file for the External Secret that references the IBM Cloud Secret Manager. Here’s an example:

apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
kind: ExternalSecret
metadata:
  name: my-secret
spec:
  backendType: ibmcloud
  data:
    - key: <YOUR_SECRET_NAME>
      name: <K8S_SECRET_KEY_NAME>
  refreshInterval: 1h
  serviceAccount: <YOUR_SERVICE_ACCOUNT>

Replace <YOUR_SECRET_NAME> and <K8S_SECRET_KEY_NAME> with your actual secret name and desired Kubernetes secret key name.

Step 5: Apply the External Secret

Deploy the External Secret to your Kubernetes cluster:

kubectl apply -f external-secret.yaml

Managing Secrets

Once the External Secret is set up, the External Secret Operator will automatically sync the secrets from IBM Cloud Secret Manager to your Kubernetes cluster. You can manage your secrets directly from the IBM Cloud console, and any updates will be reflected in your Kubernetes environment based on the defined refresh interval.

Conclusion

Integrating IBM Cloud Secret Manager with the External Secret Operator provides a robust solution for managing secrets in Kubernetes. This setup not only enhances security but also simplifies the management of sensitive data across cloud-native applications. By following the outlined steps, organizations can ensure that their secrets are securely stored and efficiently accessed, paving the way for more secure application development and deployment.

IBM Cloud Secret Manager: Centralized Secret Management

 IBM Cloud Secret Manager provides a strong solution for handling sensitive data on which applications depend. This document outlines the features and advantages of utilizing IBM Cloud Secret Manager, highlighting its importance in improving security and easing secret management for both developers and organizations.

Overview of IBM Cloud Secret Manager

IBM Cloud Secret Manager is designed to provide a centralized location for storing and managing secrets such as API keys, passwords, and certificates. By utilizing this service, organizations can ensure that sensitive information is securely stored and easily accessible to applications that require it.

Secret Stores and Types:

IBM Cloud Secrets Manager acts as a central repository for various types of secrets. It utilizes a cloud-based, encrypted database as its primary secret store. The service supports different secret types, including:

• Arbitrary Secrets: These are generic key-value pairs, suitable for storing API keys, application configurations, and other custom secrets.

• Service Credential: Specifically designed for database credentials, service accounts, and other authentication-related secrets.

• Certificate Secrets: Enables secure storage and management of SSL/TLS certificates, crucial for securing communication.

• Private Key Secrets: Stores private keys securely, often required for asymmetric encryption and digital signatures.

• IAM Credentials Secrets: stores IBM Cloud IAM credentials.

• user Credential : Store custom username and password created to login application or service.

The underlying storage is encrypted at rest and in transit using industry-standard encryption algorithms, ensuring data confidentiality.

Secret Lifecycle Management:

IBM Cloud Secrets Manager provides robust lifecycle management capabilities, essential for maintaining security and compliance:

• Secret Creation: Users can create secrets through the UI, CLI, or API, specifying the secret type and value.

• Secret Rotation: Regularly rotating secrets is critical for mitigating the impact of compromised credentials. Secrets Manager allows automated or manual rotation, enabling periodic updates.

• Secret Versioning: Each secret update creates a new version, providing an audit trail and enabling rollback to previous versions if needed.

• Secret Deletion: Secrets can be deleted when no longer required. Soft delete and hard delete options can be configured.

• Access Control: IAM integration enables fine-grained access control, restricting access to secrets based on user roles and permissions.

Key Features

1. Centralized Management: All secrets are stored in one place, making it easier to manage and audit access to sensitive information.

2. Access Control: Fine-grained access control policies allow organizations to define who can access specific secrets, ensuring that only authorized applications and users can retrieve sensitive data.

3. Versioning: Secret Manager supports the versioning of secrets, enabling organizations to maintain multiple versions of a secret and roll back to previous versions if necessary.

4. Audit Logging: Comprehensive logging capabilities provide visibility into who accessed which secrets and when, helping organizations maintain compliance and security.

5. Integration with IBM Cloud Services: Seamlessly integrates with other IBM Cloud services, allowing developers to easily incorporate secret management into their applications.

6. Encryption at Rest and in Transit: Ensures data confidentiality through robust encryption mechanisms.

7. Secret Groups: Organizes secrets into logical groups for easier management.

8. Regional Availability: Secret manager is available in multiple IBM cloud regions.

Benefits of Using IBM Cloud Secret Manager

• Enhanced Security: By centralizing secret management, organizations can reduce the risk of exposing sensitive information through hardcoded secrets in application code.

• Simplified Development: Developers can focus on building applications without worrying about how to securely manage secrets, as the Secret Manager handles this aspect.

• Scalability: As organizations grow, the need for managing secrets increases. IBM Cloud Secret Manager is designed to scale with the organization, accommodating an expanding number of secrets and users.

• Compliance: With built-in auditing and access control features, organizations can more easily meet regulatory requirements related to data protection and privacy.

IBM Cloud Secret Manager integration with External secret operator to fetch secret created or update and get available in Kuberentes Secret.

Pros and Cons 

Pros:

• Enhanced security through centralized management and encryption.

• Simplified secret lifecycle management with rotation and versioning.

• Seamless integration with IBM Cloud ecosystem.

• Improved compliance with audit logging and access control.

• Terraform support for Infrastructure as code.

Cons:

• Vendor lock-in to the IBM Cloud platform.

• Potential cost implications based on usage and storage.

• Learning curve for users unfamiliar with IBM Cloud IAM.

Comparison with AWS, Azure, and Google Secret Managers

When to Choose Secrets Manager:

Choose IBM Cloud Secrets Manager when:

• You are primarily using IBM Cloud services.

• You require centralized secret management and robust security features.

• You need seamless integration with IBM Cloud IAM and other services.

• You want to manage your infrastructure as code using terraform.

Real-Time Use Cases:

• Microservices Security: Securely store and manage API keys and database credentials for microservices deployed on IBM Kubernetes Service.

• CI/CD Pipeline Security: Protect sensitive credentials used in CI/CD pipelines, such as deployment keys and API tokens.

• Database Credential Management: Centrally manage database credentials for IBM Cloud Databases and other database instances.

• Application Configuration: Store and manage application configuration parameters, such as API endpoints and environment variables.

• Certificate Management: Securely store and manage SSL/TLS certificates for web applications and APIs deployed on IBM Cloud.

Terraform Code to Provision IBM Cloud Secrets Manager:

Terraform code

resource "ibm_secrets_manager_instance" "secrets_manager" {
  name           = "my-secrets-manager"
  resource_group = "your-resource-group-id"
  region         = "us-south" # Replace with your region
  service_plan   = "standard"
}

resource "ibm_secrets_manager_secret" "api_key" {
  instance_id = ibm_secrets_manager_instance.secrets_manager.id
  name        = "my-api-key"
  secret_type = "arbitrary"
  payload     = jsonencode({
    "api_key" : "your-secret-api-key"
  })
}

Best Practices for organizing the secret and assign access:
Principle of Least Privilege: Grant only the necessary permissions to access secrets.
Secure Access: Ensure secure network access to Secrets Manager.
Monitor Audit Logs: Regularly review audit logs for suspicious activity.
Use Secret Groups: Organize secrets into logical groups for easier management.
Encrypt Secrets at Rest and in Transit: Utilize the built-in encryption features.
Don't Hardcode Secrets: Avoid hardcoding secrets in application code or configuration files.
Use Terraform: Manage Secrets manager as infrastructure as code.
Secure Service IDs: When applications use service IDs to access secrets, manage the service ID permissions and rotation carefully.
Best practices for rotating and expiry of secrets
Regular Secret Rotation: Implement automated or manual secret rotation policies.Determine a frequency of rotation for your secrets.
Use Secret Versioning: Leverage versioning for audit trails and rollback capabilities.
Test out rotation workflows for each type of secret that you manage in Secrets Manager.
Set up alerts for your instance by enabling event notifications. To connect your instance to the Event Notifications service, go to the Secrets Manager UI > Settings > Event Notifications.
Create topics and subscriptions in Event Notifications so that alerts can be forwarded and delivered to your selected destinations, for example Slack or email.

Best Practices for using secret manager:
IBM Cloud® Secrets Manager is a regional service. Provision Secrets Manager instances per region to spread your workloads and limit the blast radius in case of a regional outage.
Secrets Manager is a single-tenant service. CPU and memory limits are applied per Secrets Manager instance. 
Limits the API request rates recommended to keep below 20 req/s. 
Additionally, limit the number of unique clients that make requests to a single Secrets Manager instance.
Use Secrets Manager as a cold storage. Apply caching and throttling to regulate the rate of requests to a Secrets Manager instance.
In case requests fail with timeouts or 429 or 503 HTTP status codes, apply exponential backoff retries within the described rate limits.

Conclusion

IBM Cloud Secret Manager provides a comprehensive solution for managing secrets securely and efficiently. By centralizing secret management, organizations can enhance their security posture, simplify development processes, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards. Adopting IBM Cloud Secret Manager is a strategic move for any organization looking to protect sensitive information used by their applications.