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Security Fundamentals & Crypto · Intermediate

Key Rotation

Replacing cryptographic keys with new ones on a schedule or after suspected compromise.

Definition

Rotation limits the amount of data protected by a single key and the impact of key exposure. Cloud KMS services can rotate keys automatically while retaining older versions to decrypt existing data. Certificates and API secrets also require regular rotation.

Example

Enabling automatic rotation on a customer-managed AWS KMS key creates new key material every year by default.

Exam tip

Rotation does not re-encrypt old data unless you explicitly do so; old key versions stay available for decryption.

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