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Azure Key Vault VS Amazon Key Management Service

Compare Azure Key Vault VS Amazon Key Management Service and see what are their differences

Azure Key Vault logo Azure Key Vault

Safeguard cryptographic keys and other secrets used by cloud apps and services with Microsoft Azure Key Vault. Try it now.

Amazon Key Management Service logo Amazon Key Management Service

Sysadmin
  • Azure Key Vault Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-11
  • Amazon Key Management Service Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-15

Azure Key Vault features and specs

  • Centralized Management
    Azure Key Vault provides a unified location to manage keys, secrets, and certificates, reducing administrative complexity and improving security.
  • Scalability
    The service scales automatically to handle increased demand, making it suitable for both small applications and large enterprise solutions.
  • High Availability
    Azure Key Vault ensures high availability with automatic replication and geo-redundant storage options.
  • Enhanced Security
    Keys are protected by Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and access policies can be set to enforce strict controls on who can access the data.
  • Compliance
    Azure Key Vault helps organizations meet various compliance standards (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR) by securely managing and auditing access to keys and secrets.
  • Integration
    Seamlessly integrates with other Azure services, such as Azure Active Directory, Azure Storage, and Azure App Service, to provide end-to-end security solutions.
  • Auditing and Logging
    Offers built-in monitoring and logging features to track access and usage of keys, aiding in accountability and compliance efforts.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Key Vault

  • Cost
    The service can become expensive depending on the volume of keys, secrets, or certificates being managed and the number of operations performed.
  • Complexity
    Integrating Azure Key Vault with existing systems and setting up the appropriate access policies can be complex and time-consuming.
  • Latency
    There might be a small latency introduced when accessing secrets or keys stored in the Key Vault, which could impact performance for some time-sensitive applications.
  • Learning Curve
    Administrators and developers may require training to fully understand and effectively use Azure Key Vault, especially if they are new to Azure services.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Relying on Azure Key Vault ties your key management strategy closely to Microsoft's ecosystem, which could be a concern if you plan to switch cloud providers in the future.
  • Regional Availability
    While Azure Key Vault is available in many regions, it might not be available in all geographic areas, which could limit its use for globally distributed applications.

Amazon Key Management Service features and specs

  • Scalability
    Amazon KMS is designed to automatically scale with your needs, accommodating a large number of keys and encryption operations without requiring manual intervention.
  • Integration
    KMS seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, making it easier to incorporate encryption into your existing AWS infrastructure and workflows.
  • Security and Compliance
    Amazon KMS offers high levels of security, including key rotation and access controls, and helps in meeting various compliance requirements such as PCI-DSS and HIPAA.
  • Centralized Key Management
    Provides a central place to manage encryption keys, enabling simplified oversight and control over data encryption across multiple services.
  • Cost-Effective
    Offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, allowing you to manage costs effectively by only paying for what you use.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon Key Management Service

  • Complexity in Setup
    Setting up and managing KMS may require a steep learning curve, especially for those unfamiliar with AWS services or encryption practices.
  • AWS-Dependent
    Tightly integrated with the AWS ecosystem, limiting its usefulness to environments that are fully AWS-centric and less beneficial if multi-cloud strategies are in place.
  • Latency
    Operations using KMS could introduce additional latency in applications, as each encryption, decryption, or key management operation may involve network calls.
  • Cost Over Time
    Costs can accumulate over time, especially for large-scale deployments or high-frequency encryption operations, sometimes making the service expensive compared to other solutions.
  • Limited Customizability
    While KMS offers robust features, it may lack the degree of customizability offered by on-premises or alternative key management solutions tailored to specific use cases.

Azure Key Vault videos

Azure Key Vault Tutorial | Secure secrets, keys and certificates easily

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Azure Key Vault Basics : How to keep ‘secrets’ secret
  • Tutorial - How to securely store and load secrets using Azure Key Vault in .NET Core (using a certificate)

Amazon Key Management Service videos

No Amazon Key Management Service videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Azure Key Vault and Amazon Key Management Service)
Security & Privacy
66 66%
34% 34
Network & Admin
0 0%
100% 100
Cloud Storage
100 100%
0% 0
Password Management
55 55%
45% 45

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon Key Management Service should be more popular than Azure Key Vault. It has been mentiond 43 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Azure Key Vault mentions (19)

  • Building A URL Shortener With Neon and Azure Serverless Functions
    Next, we create the connection to our database. Replace [YOUR_POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING] with the string you copied from the Neon dashboard. For security reasons, you would likely want to use a service like Azure Key Vault to manage your keys in a production environment, but for now, just placing them in the script will do. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Secrets Management in Kubernetes: Best Practices for Security
    Integration with External Systems Kubernetes External Secrets can integrate with tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, and Google Cloud Secret Manager. For instance, to use HashiCorp Vault:. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Serverless Security Best Practices
    Utilize specialized tools like AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault,  or Azure Key Vault for secrets management in your serverless environments. These tools keep sensitive data out of function code and configurations and bring advanced features to the table:. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Kubernetes Secret Management
    Azure Key Vault is a cloud-based service provided by Microsoft Azure that enables secure storage and management of secrets. It integrates well with Kubernetes, allowing organizations to centralize and control access to secrets within their Azure infrastructure. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • HashiCorp Vault Alternatives
    No Azure Key Vault[0]? Oh #1 is your product? #3 and #4 mention your product being better? It's your company? Shm [0]: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/key-vault/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
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Amazon Key Management Service mentions (43)

  • AWS KMS Deep Dive - The Mystery Of Envelope Encryption
    AWS Key Management Service (KMS) allows you to create/manage encryption keys that are used to encrypt/decrypt and sign/verify data. AWS internally uses KMS across many services for encryption, so even if you’re not familiar with it, there’s a high chance you’ve already used it while working with other services (like while creating an S3 bucket!). - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Show Dev: Introducing Protect.js
    Key Management Services (KMS) like AWS KMS or Azure KeyVault mitigate these problems with a technique called envelope encryption. Instead of storing an encryption key in an application environment variable, a root_key is stored within the cloud provider's infrastructure inside a device called a Hardware Security Module (HSM). - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Continuous Delivery applied to Authorization with IAM Identity Center and AWS IAM Access Analyzer – Part 2
    AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS): lets you create, manage, and control cryptographic keys across your applications and more than 100 AWS services. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Amazon EventBridge Pipes now supports customer managed KMS keys
    📌 Explore more about CMKs: https://aws.amazon.com/kms/. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • End-to-End AWS KMS Encryption and Decryption Tutorial
    Data security is increasingly important, and encryption is one of the most effective ways to defend against unauthorized access. Keyper streamlines AWS IAM role and KMS key management by automating the role and key creation and key rotation, simplifying permission management, and providing a clear, developer-friendly interface. Keyper reduces the complexity of securing sensitive data, enabling engineers to focus... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Azure Key Vault and Amazon Key Management Service, you can also consider the following products

AWS CloudHSM - Data Security

nCipher nShield General Purpose HSM - nCipher nShield General Purpose HSM is a security solution that provides modules in order to achieve cryptographic algorithms like managing encryption and signing keys, as well as executing sensitive functions within the organization.

Egnyte - Enterprise File Sharing

OpenSSH - OpenSSH is a free version of the SSH connectivity tools that technical users rely on.

Thales SafeNet Luna HSM - Thales SafeNet Luna HSM is an open-source HSM that protects encryption keys used by applications in on-premises, virtual, and cloud environments.

GnuPG - GnuPG is a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880 (also known as PGP).