The other half of 'encrypt everything': TLS protects data moving between systems, encryption at rest protects it sitting still — a stolen laptop, a leaked S3 bucket, a backup drive in a taxi. Modern databases and cloud storage offer it nearly free; the real question is rarely whether but who holds the keys.
Key management is where the security actually lives: keys in a managed vault (KMS), rotated, access-logged. An encrypted database whose key sits in the same repository's config file is a locked safe with the combination taped to it.
Related terms
TLS
Transport Layer Security — the encryption layer behind HTTPS that keeps traffic private and proves the site you reached is the site you meant.
Secrets management
Keeping API keys, passwords and certificates out of code and chat — in a vault, rotated, access-logged — so one screenshot is not a breach.
GDPR
The EU's data-protection regulation — consent before collection, rights to access and deletion, breach notification in 72 hours, fines up to 4% of turnover.
The bench this belongs to
CybersecurityPurple Team: the same person writes the exploit and closes the hole. Most agencies only harden, which means hardening against a threat nobody tested.
