API Key and Secret (2024)

FAQs

Should API keys be kept secret? ›

Understanding the Risks With API Keys

Keep this key confidential, as it can be misused if shared or stolen. Unauthorized Data Access and System Manipulation: Exposed API keys can lead to serious security risks, such as unauthorized access to sensitive data, system functionalities, and proprietary business information.

API keys include a key ID that identifies the client responsible for the API service request. This key ID is not a secret, and must be included in each request. API keys can also include a confidential secret key used for authentication, which should only be known to the client and to the API service.

API keys can be difficult to manage, and they don't provide granular authorization control. If an API key is compromised, it can give an attacker access to all of the data that the API exposes.

On the API keys tab of your account, you have the option to revoke an API key, and generate a new one.

If your code is accessible, so are your API keys, making them vulnerable to misuse by malicious actors. Storing API keys in your application's source tree: Another hazardous approach is to store your API keys within your application's source files.

Hiding the API access key stands out as the most important way to secure API access. Some of the reasons why developers store API access keys are as follows: Security: Hiding your API access key ensures security during API access.

Though API keys are not the only (or even the best) API security measure, they're still helpful for API vendors and necessary for authenticating API integrations.

Your API key should only ever be communicated between your server and OpenAI's server. If you ever send it to a client it will, with near-certainty become compromised.

Every OpenAI account has a security API Key that can be used to integrate third party tools, access OpenAI API's like their client API libraries for ChatGPT for chatbot conversations, DALL-E, OpenAI's AI art generator, which creates images based on detailed text descriptions from a person, and Whisper, a speech- ...

Alternative authentication methods like OAuth, JWT, and HMAC-based API keys can offer increased security. The choice of method depends on the type of API and the required security level.

How often should API keys be changed? ›

It is recommended to rotate API keys every 90 days. Because of these potential risks, Google recommends using the standard authentication flow instead of API Keys. However, there are limited cases where API keys are more appropriate.

By default, the API key lifetime is set to 0, which means that the keys will never expire. To ensure that your keys are frequently rotated and each key is unique when regenerated, you must specify a validity period that ranges between 1—525600 minutes.

You use API key to state who you are, this is what you are sending in plain text. The SECRET key you do not send to anyone. You simply use it for encryption. Then you send the encrypted message.

An API works by requesting information from a server and then receiving a response after that. The communication channel that APIs use to send a request and specify where a given resource resides is what is known as an endpoint.

API keys identify an application's traffic for the API producer, in case the application developer needs to work with the API producer to debug an issue or show their application's usage. You want to control the number of calls made to your API. You want to identify usage patterns in your API's traffic.

Do not store API keys in files inside your application's source tree: If you store API keys in files, keep the files outside your application's source tree to help ensure your keys do not end up in your source code control system.

Your API key should only ever be communicated between your server and OpenAI's server. If you ever send it to a client it will, with near-certainty become compromised.

Encrypted storage: If you need to store the API keys in a database or other storage system, you should encrypt them. This way, even if someone gains access to the storage system, they won't be able to use the keys without the encryption key.

Public API keys These are most often used for read-only access to public data. These may be embedded in client-side applications. Secret API keys These are used for access to sensitive data (and may include write access). As the name implies, these are secret and shouldn't be shared publicly.