Zero Trust Data
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Purpose
Section titled “Purpose”Zero Trust Data focuses on protecting sensitive information by default, regardless of where workloads run or how traffic is routed.
Control objectives
Section titled “Control objectives”- Data-centric protection: Security controls follow data classification, not infrastructure boundaries.
- Encryption by default: Data at rest and in transit is encrypted with managed and governed key life cycles.
- Least-privilege data access: Access is scoped to role, purpose, and operational context.
- Verifiable handling: Access, key usage, and policy changes are observable and auditable.
Design recommendations
Section titled “Design recommendations”- Classify and tier data: Define protection levels for business, personal, and regulated data classes.
- Centralize key governance: Use managed key services and documented key ownership responsibilities.
- Separate secret and key duties: Distinguish secret life cycle handling from key life cycle governance.
- Minimize broad data grants: Prefer short-lived, explicit access over persistent wide permissions.
Implementation checkpoints
Section titled “Implementation checkpoints”- Data protection baseline: Mandatory encryption and key rotation policies per data class.
- Secrets operating model: Standardized secret creation, rotation, revocation, and emergency access process.
- Access traceability: Audit paths for data access and cryptographic key operations.
- Retention and deletion rules: Enforced life cycle policies aligned with legal and contractual obligations.
STACKIT references
Section titled “STACKIT references”- KMS: Documentation
- Secrets Manager: Documentation
Use the Secrets Manager capabilities below to implement the secrets operating model. Define owners, access reviews, rotation, and emergency revocation separately; service features alone do not establish those governance controls.
From the STACKIT docsFeatures, use cases and service plans › Features
- Storage of secrets in accordance with security requirements (e.g. separation of source code and secrets)
- The customer can order a Secrets Manager quickly and easily via the self-service user interface in the STACKIT Portal
- Secrets can be managed via a user-friendly configuration interface and API
- Traceability of changes through versioning of individual secrets
- Preconfigured auto-update functions keep components up to date
- High availability ensures the secure operation of the Secrets Manager
- Temporary authentication lockouts protect
userpassand AppRole logins against repeated failed attempts
What is this?
This section is copied from the STACKIT docs automatically, several times a day. It cannot be changed here. Changes belong in the STACKIT docs.
Anti-patterns to avoid
Section titled “Anti-patterns to avoid”- Encryption without governance: Keys exist, but ownership and life cycle are undefined.
- Secrets in code and pipelines: Sensitive values are handled outside managed secret controls.
- One-size-fits-all retention: Data classes with different obligations share the same life cycle rules.