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Key Management Service (KMS)

A managed service that makes it easy to create and control the cryptographic keys used to encrypt your data.

AbbreviationKMS
Categorysecurity

Overview

KMS is a critical component of data protection in the cloud. It provides a centralized way to manage the lifecycle of encryption keys, including generation, rotation, storage, and access control.

Key Features

  • Centralized Control: Managing all keys from a single interface.
  • Access Control: Using IAM policies to define who can use specific keys.
  • Automatic Rotation: Regularly updating keys to minimize the impact of a potential compromise.
  • Audit Logging: Tracking every time a key is used or modified (e.g., via CloudTrail).
  • Integration: Seamlessly works with other cloud services (e.g., S3, RDS, EBS) to provide transparent encryption.

Importance

KMS ensures that even if data is stolen, it remains unreadable without the properly managed and protected encryption keys.