API Keys: 4 Ways to Mitigate the Risks

This report outlines the threat posed by exposed API keys: attackers discover keys via public repositories and web apps, use them to enumerate and access cloud resources, escalate privileges, establish persistence (including creating accounts/keys and opening SSH access), and exfiltrate data. It includes sector-level impact observations, recommends mitigations such as avoiding hard-coded keys, rotating keys, and monitoring API activity, and describes ReliaQuest GreyMatter capabilities to detect and alert on such exposures.