{
  "id": 12869074,
  "title": "Secrets Sprawl and Rotation: A Practical Vault Management Playbook",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/secrets-sprawl-and-rotation-a-practical-vault-management-playbook",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-08T12:39:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "DevOps.com",
    "slug": "devops-com",
    "url": "https://devops.com/secrets-sprawl-and-rotation-a-practical-vault-management-playbook/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In 2025, security firm GitGuardian recorded 28.65 million new hardcoded secrets exposed in public GitHub commits, marking a 34% increase from the previous year and the highest single-year jump in five years. This surge in \"secrets sprawl\" outpaces the 98% growth in GitHub's developer base during the same period, indicating that the problem is becoming increasingly urgent. AI-assisted development is a significant contributor to this trend, with AI-generated code often leaking secrets without the usual developer caution. The financial impact of these breaches is also rising, with IBM reporting an average cost of $4.99 million for a data breach in 2026, up 12% from the previous year. Leaked credentials provide attackers with a slow-burning vulnerability, and a single hardcoded credential can remain active for months, contributing to the growing problem.",
  "summary": "In 2025 alone, security firm GitGuardian detected 28.65 million new hardcoded secrets exposed in public GitHub commits — a 34% increase year over year and the largest single-year jump the company has recorded in five years of publishing its annual State of Secrets Sprawl report. Since 2021, that number has grown 152%, far outpacing the […]",
  "key_points": [
    "28.65 million hardcoded secrets exposed in public GitHub commits in 2025",
    "34% increase from previous year, highest single-year jump in five years",
    "AI-assisted development significantly contributes to secrets sprawl"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}