Using AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store: Best Parameter for Storing Encrypted License Keys
Question
The Development team wants to store license keys for legacy software in an encrypted format.
Sysops Team is planning to use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store for this purpose.
Junior Sysops engineer is looking for your suggestion to use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store. Which parameter is best suited to be used for this requirement?
Answers
Explanations
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D.Correct Answer: C.
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store provides support for three types of parameters,
String: Stores data in plain text format.
StringList: Used for data in comma-separated values.
SecureString: For storing data in an encrypted format.
Option A is incorrect as the String parameter saves values in plain text & not in an encrypted format.
Option B is incorrect as the StringList parameter is used to store comma-separated values.
Option D is incorrect as the SecureMetric parameter is an invalid parameter to store values.
For more information on AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store, refer to the following URL,
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/systems-manager-parameter-store.htmlFor storing license keys for legacy software in an encrypted format, the best option is to use the SecureString parameter type in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store.
The SecureString parameter type encrypts the value of the parameter using the AWS Key Management Service (KMS), providing an additional layer of security for sensitive data. When a SecureString parameter is retrieved, the value is decrypted using the KMS key specified during the creation of the parameter.
On the other hand, String parameters and StringList parameters are not encrypted by default. String parameters store a single string value, while StringList parameters store multiple string values in a list format. However, both of these parameter types are not suitable for storing sensitive data like license keys as they are not encrypted.
SecureMetric parameters, on the other hand, are used to store metric data and are not suitable for storing sensitive data like license keys.
Therefore, the best option for storing license keys for legacy software in an encrypted format is to use SecureString parameter type in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store.
