Vol. 3 No. 2 (2023): Journal of AI-Assisted Scientific Discovery
Articles

Microservices Security Secret Rotation and Management Framework for Applications within Cloud Environments: A Pragmatic Approach

Amarjeet Singh
School of Computer Science, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India
Alok Aggarwal
School of Computer Science, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, India
Cover

Published 10-11-2023

Keywords

  • Microservice,
  • Cloud Migration,
  • Containerization Distributed Systems,
  • Microservice Security

How to Cite

[1]
A. Singh and A. Aggarwal, “Microservices Security Secret Rotation and Management Framework for Applications within Cloud Environments: A Pragmatic Approach”, Journal of AI-Assisted Scientific Discovery, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 1–16, Nov. 2023, Accessed: Nov. 25, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://scienceacadpress.com/index.php/jaasd/article/view/15

Abstract

In recent years, the adoption of microservices architecture has revolutionized software development, enabling organizations to build scalable, resilient, and agile applications. However, with the proliferation of microservices within cloud environments, ensuring robust security practices becomes paramount. One critical aspect of microservices security is the effective rotation and management of secrets, such as passwords, API keys, and cryptographic keys. This research paper proposes a pragmatic approach to address the challenges associated with secret rotation and management in microservices-based applications deployed in cloud environments.The framework outlined in this paper integrates best practices from both microservices architecture and cloud security, providing organizations with a comprehensive solution to safeguard their applications against potential security threats. By extending the abstract, the paper delves deeper into the complexities of microservices security and offers more detailed insights into the proposed framework's design, implementation, and evaluation.

This research begins by providing an overview of microservices architecture, highlighting its principles, benefits, and security considerations. It then explores the landscape of cloud environments and associated security risks, emphasizing the importance of implementing robust security measures in cloud-based microservices deployments. Next, the paper discusses the challenges of secret rotation and management in microservices environments, emphasizing the critical role of effective management practices in maintaining data integrity and confidentiality. It evaluates existing approaches and solutions, identifying their limitations and the need for a more comprehensive framework tailored to microservices and cloud environments.

The proposed framework is presented as a pragmatic approach to addressing these challenges. It outlines the design principles, key components, and workflow processes essential for implementing an effective secret rotation and management strategy. Additionally, the paper provides implementation guidelines, including tool selection criteria, automation strategies, and role-based access control mechanisms. A detailed case study illustrates the application of the framework in a real-world scenario, showcasing its effectiveness in enhancing security posture and mitigating potential risks. The paper concludes with a discussion on lessons learned, future enhancements, and the broader implications for the industry.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Hou Q., Ma Y., Chen J., and Xu Y., “An Empirical Study on Inter-Commit Times in SVN,” Int. Conf. on Software Eng. and Knowledge Eng.,” pp. 132–137, 2014.
  2. O. Arafat, and D. Riehle, “The Commit Size Distribution of Open Source Software,” Proc. the 42nd Hawaii Int’l Conf. Syst. Sci. (HICSS’09), USA, pp. 1-8, 2009.
  3. C. Kolassa, D. Riehle, and M. Salim, “A Model of the Commit Size Distribution of Open Source,” Proc. the 39th Int’l Conf. Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Comput. Sci. (SOFSEM’13), Czech Republic, pp. 52–66, 2013.
  4. L. Hattori and M. Lanza, “On the nature of commits,” Proc. the 4th Int’l ERCIM Wksp. Softw. Evol. and Evolvability (EVOL’08), Italy, pp. 63–71, 2008.
  5. P. Hofmann, and D. Riehle, “Estimating Commit Sizes Efficiently,” Proc. the 5th IFIP WG 2.13 Int’l Conf. Open Source Systems (OSS’09), Sweden, pp. 105–115, 2009.
  6. Kolassa C., Riehle, D., and Salim M., “A Model of the Commit Size Distribution of Open Source,” Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Computer Science (SOFSEM’13), Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, p. 5266, Jan. 26-31, 2013.
  7. Arafat O., and Riehle D., “The Commit Size Distribution of Open Source Software,” Proceedings of the 42nd Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS’09),” IEEE Computer Society Press, New York, NY, pp. 1-8, Jan. 5-8, 2009.
  8. R. Purushothaman, and D.E. Perry, “Toward Understanding the Rhetoric of Small Source Code Changes,” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 511–526, 2005.
  9. A. Singh, V. Singh, A. Aggarwal and S. Aggarwal, "Improving Business deliveries using Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery using Jenkins and an Advanced Version control system for Microservices-based system," 2022 5th International Conference on Multimedia, Signal Processing and Communication Technologies (IMPACT), Aligarh, India, 2022, pp. 1-4, doi: 10.1109/IMPACT55510.2022.10029149.
  10. A. Alali, H. Kagdi, and J. Maletic, “What’s a Typical Commit? A Characterization of Open Source Software Repositories,” Proc. the 16th IEEE Int’l Conf. Program Comprehension (ICPC’08), Netherlands, pp. 182-191, 2008.
  11. A. Hindle, D. Germán, and R. Holt, “What do large commits tell us?: a taxonomical study of large commits,” Proc. the 5th Int’l Working Conf. Mining Softw. Repos. (MSR’08), Germany, pp. 99-108, 2008.
  12. V. Singh, M. Alshehri, A. Aggarwal, O. Alfarraj, P. Sharma et al., "A holistic, proactive and novel approach for pre, during and post migration validation from subversion to git," Computers, Materials & Continua, vol. 66, no.3, pp. 2359–2371, 2021.
  13. Vinay Singh, Alok Aggarwal, Narendra Kumar, A. K. Saini, “A Novel Approach for Pre-Validation, Auto Resiliency & Alert Notification for SVN To Git Migration Using Iot Devices,” PalArch’s Journal of Arch. of Egypt/Egyptology, vol. 17 no. 9, pp. 7131 – 7145, 2020.
  14. Vinay Singh, Alok Aggarwal, Adarsh Kumar, and Shailendra Sanwal, “The Transition from Centralized (Subversion) VCS to Decentralized (Git) VCS: A Holistic Approach,” Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, ISSN: 0974-1704, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 7-15, 2019.
  15. Ma Y., Wu Y., and Xu Y., “Dynamics of Open-Source Software Developer’s Commit Behavior: An Empirical Investigation of Subversion,” Proceedings of the 29th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC’14), pp. 1171-1173, doi: 10.1145/2554850.2555079, 2014.
  16. M. Luczak-R¨osch, G. Coskun, A. Paschke, M. Rothe, and R. Tolksdorf, “Svont-version control of owl ontologies on the concept level.” GI Jahrestagung (2), vol. 176, pp. 79–84, 2010.
  17. E. Jim´enez-Ruiz, B. C. Grau, I. Horrocks, and R. B. Llavori, “Contentcvs: A cvs-based collaborative ontology engineering tool.” in SWAT4LS. Citeseer, 2009.
  18. Rao, Deepak, and Sourabh Sharma. "Secure and Ethical Innovations: Patenting Ai Models for Precision Medicine, Personalized Treatment, and Drug Discovery in Healthcare." International Journal of Business Management and Visuals, ISSN: 3006-2705 6.2 (2023): 1-8.
  19. I. Zaikin and A. Tuzovsky, “Owl2vcs: Tools for distributed ontology development.” in OWLED. Citeseer, 2013.