AI frenzy feeds credential chaos, secrets spread through code, tools, and infrastructure

GitGuardian's "State of Secrets Sprawl" report documents a substantial and growing exposure of hardcoded credentials — citing 28.65 million new secrets in public GitHub commits in 2025 — and shows that leaked credentials now span public and internal repositories, collaboration tools (Slack, Jira, Confluence), self-hosted infrastructure (GitLab, Docker registries), and AI development workflows. The report warns that many exposed secrets remain valid for years, remediation is slow due to dependencies and prioritization gaps, and the proliferation of AI services and automation is increasing the volume and distribution of secrets, amplifying operational risk.