What Is Credential Management? Best Practices and Examples

Strong credentials safeguard your digital resources, but common mistakes like weak passwords, credential reuse, and exposed secrets give attackers an easy path to unauthorized access.

Effective credential management protects sensitive information by securely storing and controlling access. A comprehensive management system secures employee logins and privileged accounts and prevents costly data breaches before they occur.

This guide covers the fundamentals of credential management best practices, challenges, and real-world examples of effectively securing credentials. 

What Is Credential Management?

Credential management secures and controls access to digital credentials like passwords, API keys, and cryptographic certificates. Without an effective credential system, companies risk unauthorized access, which can lead to credential theft and cyberattacks.

A credential management system also secures secrets throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC), preventing sensitive data exposure in repositories, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud environments. For example, it avoids hardcoding API keys and database passwords into application code. Other credential management best practices include centralizing storage and scanning secrets to detect and remediate exposed credentials before they can be exploited. 

Why Is Credential Management Important?

Stolen credentials are one of the easiest ways for hackers to access systems. This often happens when passwords are weak, reused across multiple accounts, or accidentally exposed, like in code repositories. Consequences range from monetary losses to penalties for regulatory non-compliance.

Implementing a robust web credential strategy, including robust password policies and multi-factor authentication (MFA), protects sensitive data and minimizes the risk of unauthorized access. For example, requiring MFA makes it much harder for hackers to gain access even if they have stolen a password.

4 Challenges of Credential Management

Even with strong security policies, managing credentials comes with challenges. Gaps in access controls, poor password practices, and human error allow attackers to exploit stolen or exposed credentials. 

While secrets management best practices help reduce risks, you may still face these common issues:

1. Credential sharing: Employees sometimes share login credentials for convenience. This makes tracking activity difficult and increases the risk of unauthorized access.
2. Inactive accounts: Former employees, contractors, or service accounts often leave behind unused credentials. If not deactivated, these “zombie” accounts become easy entry points for hackers.
3. Poor password hygiene: Weak or improperly stored passwords remain a significant cause of breaches. Using default passwords, failing to rotate credentials, or storing them insecurely increases the risk of compromise.
4. Excessive privileges: Granting employees or applications more access than necessary increases the impact of a credential breach. A compromised account can move laterally and escalate attacks without enforcing the principle of least privilege.

7 Best Practices for Credential Management

Implementing strong credential management practices prevents breaches and ensures secure access to vital systems. Here are key strategies to follow:

1. Refrain From Sharing Passwords

Sharing credentials increases the risk of unauthorized access and makes it harder to track activity. Users should have unique credentials, and shared logins should be replaced with role-based access controls (RBAC).

2. Apply the Zero-Trust Principle

The zero trust model assumes that no user or system is inherently trustworthy. Organizations should enforce continuous authentication, least privilege, and request verification before granting access.

3. Avoid the Reuse of Passwords

Reusing passwords across multiple accounts increases the risk of credential stuffing attacks. Enforcing unique, complex passwords and using a password manager helps mitigate this risk for individuals. Enterprises should implement a comprehensive credential manager system to centralize and secure access to various resources.

4. Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication

MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring multiple verification methods, like a password and a one-time code. This significantly reduces the risk of attackers using stolen credentials. 

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is one of the most widely used MFA methods, requiring users to verify their identity through two separate authentication steps. Many MFA solutions also incorporate tokens, like hardware security keys or app-generated passcodes, to further strengthen authentication and prevent credential-based attacks.

5. Secure Credentials in CI/CD Pipelines

Exposed secrets in code repositories constitute a significant attack vector. Following best practices for securing secrets in CI/CD environments—including credential scanning, access controls, and encryption—helps prevent leaks.

6. Regularly Audit and Rotate Credentials

Monitor, log, and rotate credentials periodically to reduce the risk of compromise. Automating credential rotation ensures that stale or exposed details don’t remain active.

7. Monitor and Detect Credential Misuse

Continuously monitor for unusual login behavior, unauthorized access attempts, and exposed credentials. Proactive secrets scanning also detects and remediates risks before they escalate.

Credential Management Examples

You will likely use various credential management methods to strengthen security and prevent unauthorized access. Here are some of the most effective approaches:

Multi-Factor Authentication 

MFA strengthens security by requiring multiple forms of verification before granting access. This method ensures that attackers can’t easily use credentials without an additional authentication factor.

Stringent Password Policies

A strong password policy specifies requirements like length, complexity, and time limitations. By mandating unique, randomly generated passwords and discouraging the use of personal or repeated credentials, you can reduce the risk of password-related attacks.

Careful Account Provisioning

Managing user access means giving out credentials appropriately and updating (or revoking) them when needed. This prevents former employees, contractors, or non-human identities like outdated service accounts from retaining unnecessary access to critical systems. Identity management tools streamline this process by automating user provisioning and de-provisioning.

Just-in-Time Access

Just-in-time (JIT) access limits the exposure of credentials by granting access only when needed and revoking it afterward. This minimizes the risk of compromised long-standing privileged accounts being used for unauthorized activity. 

Enhance Credential Management With Legit Security

Weak or exposed credentials can provide attackers with direct access to source code, build systems, and cloud environments, increasing the risk of supply chain compromises. 

Legit Security can identify where your organization has permissions issues, spotting potential escalations before they have the chance to grow. Plus, Legit Security’s secrets scanner gives you the visibility, prevention, and remediation capabilities you need to secure sensitive information across the entire development lifecycle. 

With Legit, teams can detect exposed credentials early, remediate risks before they escalate, and maintain a secure development lifecycle without disrupting productivity. Whether you’re protecting passwords or sensitive data, Legit safeguards them from start to finish.

Ready to take credential management to the next level? Request a demo.