What is the recommended approach to ensure sensitive information is secured in a cloud application?

Storing encryption keys in Cloud Key Management Service (KMS) and rotating them frequently is a recommended approach to secure sensitive information in a cloud application because it centralizes the management of keys while maintaining strict access controls. KMS provides a robust, scalable option for managing cryptographic keys and offers built-in key rotation capabilities that help reduce the risk of key compromise, thus enhancing your overall security posture. Regularly rotating encryption keys is also a good practice as it limits the duration for which any single key is valid, further reducing potential exposure in the event of an incident.

Using KMS ensures that keys are not hard-coded into your application code or stored in insecure environments, both of which could lead to accidental exposure. Additionally, KMS provides features such as auditing and logging, which allow organizations to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements. This method represents a best practice for managing sensitive data safely in the cloud environment.

The other options, while they have their uses, do not address the fundamental need for secure and manageable encryption key storage. For instance, injecting secrets at the time of instance creation might expose them at that moment. Integrating with a Single Sign-On system improves user authentication but does not directly manage sensitive data. Utilizing a continuous build pipeline for version management