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April ‘25 enterprise roundup

Published via [GitHub Executive Insights](https://github.com/solutions/executive-insights "Executive insights, curated just for you")

Secrets—such as API keys, passwords, tokens, encryption keys, and other credentials—are essential for modern software development. Developers frequently interact with credentials throughout the software development process—they securely connect your applications with critical infrastructure, databases, cloud services, and third-party APIs. However, __keeping secrets safe can be challenging__.  Without strict controls and automated safeguards, these credentials can inadvertently end up in repositories, logs, or other unsecured locations, increasing the risk of exposure.

In 2024 alone, we detected more than [39 million leaked secrets](https://github.blog/news-insights/octoverse/octoverse-2024/) on GitHub. According to the [IBM Cost of Data Breach Report (2024)](https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach), breaches involving compromised credentials cost organizations an average of $4.88 million per incident—a 10% increase from the previous year. 

> The impact of leaked secrets is growing, and as pressure to rapidly deliver software intensifies, organizations must adopt proactive security without burdening developers.

This article will help you understand how secret leaks occur, their financial and operational impact, and how to assess your organization’s unique risk profile. For current GitHub customers, we’ll also highlight the new secret risk assessment tool, which provides real-time insights into potential vulnerabilities within your codebase—helping teams take proactive security measures.

---

__Are you a current GitHub customer? Have an organization admin [run a secret risk assessment](https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/securing-your-organization/understanding-your-organizations-exposure-to-leaked-secrets/viewing-the-secret-risk-assessment-report-for-your-organization?utm_source=EIhub&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=GHAS-unbundle) to see your organization's secret leak footprint.__

---
## How do secrets get leaked?
Secret leaks commonly occur when credentials are inadvertently committed to repositories, mistakenly stored in logs, or exposed through misconfigured cloud environments. Attackers typically discover these secrets by scanning public repositories, exploiting misconfigurations, or through phishing and social engineering to infiltrate networks.

Once attackers gain access to these leaked credentials, they can move undetected through your systems, escalating privileges, accessing sensitive information, or even deploying ransomware. For instance, the [2022 LastPass breach](https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/lastpass-cyberattack-timeline/643958/) began with attackers gaining access to a single compromised credential, ultimately leading to extensive data exposure and [untold financial losses](https://cointelegraph.com/news/lastpass-threat-actor-steals-over-5-million-from-40-victims). 

<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9">
<iframe title="Introduction to secret leaks with GitHub" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vMhDkt5JNN0?si=r5Z2oimunGMGbcyk" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

## The hidden costs of data exposure
The true cost of data exposure extends far beyond immediate financial losses. As if a $4.88 million price tag per incident weren’t damaging enough, organizations also face consequences that go beyond financial impact. When sensitive information such as proprietary data, financial records, or customer details is compromised, the resulting damage can severely erode customer and partner trust. According to the [Ponemon Sullivan Privacy Report](https://ponemonsullivanreport.com/2017/11/how-data-breaches-affect-reputation-and-share-value/), “65% of data breach victims lost trust in an organization as a result of a breach.”

Data breaches don’t just harm external reputation and finances—they disrupt internal operations as well. Organizations must redirect significant resources toward remediation and investigations, consuming valuable time and derailing progress on key business goals. Ultimately, the intangible costs—loss of trust, disrupted productivity, and strained relationships—can have an even greater and longer-lasting impact than the immediate financial losses.
## How to analyze your organization’s risk of secret leaks
Understanding and quantifying your organization's exposure to secret leaks is essential for strengthening your security posture and preventing breaches before they occur.

__Factors that increase risk:__
- __Complexity of credential usage__: Organizations using a wide variety of credentials across numerous repositories, cloud integrations, and third-party services inherently have more secrets to manage, increasing the likelihood of accidental exposure.
- __Developer access and credential use__: Companies with numerous developers requiring regular access to sensitive credentials face greater exposure risk, particularly when secret rotation processes—periodically updating or replacing credentials to limit their lifetime and reduce exposure risk—are manual or inconsistent.
- __Deployment frequency and speed__: Organizations rapidly shipping new code are at heightened risk, as fast-paced development cycles increase the chance of secrets being inadvertently included or exposed.
- __Manual versus automated processes__: Companies relying heavily on manual checks are more vulnerable compared to those employing integrated, automated security measures.
- __Open source and public repositories__: Contributing to public repositories or sharing code between private and public environments increases the chance of inadvertently exposing secrets. Automated scanning tools regularly monitor public repositories, making exposed credentials quickly discoverable and potentially exploitable.

__Quantifying your organizations risk__
- __Inventory audits__: Continuously identify and catalog secrets used across your codebase, infrastructure, and workflows.
- __Incident history analysis__: Examine past incidents to spot patterns and common weaknesses.
- __Benchmarking against industry standards__: Compare your secret management practices against established security standards such as the [OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS)](https://github.com/OWASP/ASVS), NIST guidelines, and GitHub's documentation on [keeping your credentials secure](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/authentication/keeping-your-api-credentials-secure?apiVersion=2022-11-28). Gaps in compliance with these guidelines may indicate areas of heightened risk.
- __Security training completion__: Regularly audit developer participation and completion rates for security training and education programs. Organizations with inconsistent or incomplete training practices are more susceptible to secret leaks.

By implementing these strategies, you can improve your understanding of your organization's secret exposure. Identifying and quantifying your risk level is a critical step toward strengthening your security posture and ensuring alignment with your development processes.

---

__Current GitHub customers: Quickly assess your secret exposure__

GitHub’s secret risk assessment provides immediate, aggregated insights into your organization's exposure to leaked credentials. It helps you identify occurrences of publicly exposed secrets, evaluate internal exposure, and pinpoint the most common credential types at risk. Admins can run this assessment directly from their organization’s ‘Security’ tab, enabling rapid action to protect your organization from breaches.

[Share this link](https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/securing-your-organization/understanding-your-organizations-exposure-to-leaked-secrets/viewing-the-secret-risk-assessment-report-for-your-organization?utm_source=EIhub&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=GHAS-unbundle) with an org admin to __run a secret risk assessment now.__

---

Throughout this article, we've examined the growing risks associated with secret leaks, including how quickly leaked credentials can escalate into costly breaches and the significant, long-term impacts on customer trust and operational productivity.

If you want to go beyond understanding your organization’s exposure and learn more about proactive security measures, check out our in-depth eBook, [Secret Scanning: A Key to Your Cybersecurity Strategy, where you'll discover](https://github.com/resources/whitepapers/secret-scanning-a-key-to-your-cybersecurity-strategy?utm_source=EIhub&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=GHAS-unbundle):

- Comprehensive secrets management approaches.
- Key principles to enhance your organization's security posture.
- Practical guidance on implementing or improving your secrets management processes.

Additionally, check out [GitHub Secret Protection](https://github.com/security/advanced-security/secret-protection?utm_source=EIhub&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=GHAS-unbundle) to learn how you can prevent secrets from being leaked across your enterprise and have your developers ship secure code, by default.

Want to learn more about the strategic role of AI and other innovations at GitHub? Explore [Executive Insights](https://github.com/solutions/executive-insights) for more thought leadership on the future of technology and business.

39 million secrets leaked last year. Are yours safe? Here’s what you should know.

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Understanding your organization's exposure to secret leaks

Published via [GitHub Executive Insights](https://github.com/solutions/executive-insights "Executive insights, curated just for you")

In this episode of [GitHub for Leaders](https://gh.io/GitHubForLeaders), host Anjuan Simmons sits down with cybersecurity researcher Daniel Cuthbert to discuss the evolving challenges of enterprise security facing leaders right now – and why credential leaks remain one of the most costly, yet preventable, threats.

<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9">
<iframe title="GitHub for Leaders: How CXOs limit risk without losing speed" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vsdOAyWddk4?si=vgp1d8pXPo_Bb7yu" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

The conversation kicks off with a startling stat: nearly one-third of security breaches originate from weak or compromised credentials. Daniel emphasizes why security doesn’t have to be a one-size-fits-all solution but explains how modular, developer-integrated solutions can minimize risk without slowing innovation.

---
__Understanding your organization's exposure to secret leaks__: Credential leaks are expensive, damaging, and on the rise. This article helps you gauge your organization’s specific risk—and how to reduce exposure before it turns into impact. [Learn more >](https://resources.github.com/enterprise/understanding-secret-leak-exposure/) 

---

The conversation also explores how security tooling must evolve to fit seamlessly into developers’ workflows—from real-time feedback in IDEs to GitHub's code scanning capabilities. Daniel highlights the importance of contextual feedback and how tools like Copilot Autofix and CodeQL empower developers to remediate vulnerabilities quickly—without needing to be security experts.

Anjuan and Daniel also examine how leaders can scale security practices without compromising creativity,, as well as build guardrails into the development process that help shift the team from a reactive to a proactive security posture.

As the episode wraps, Anjuan and Daniel talk about the business case for [GitHub Secret Protection](https://github.com/security/advanced-security/secret-protection?utm_source=EIhub&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=GHAS-unbundle), the risks of delayed security practices, and how GitHub’s recently unbundled Advanced Security products—including standalone [Secret Protection](https://github.com/security/advanced-security/secret-protection?utm_source=EIhub&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=GHAS-unbundle) and [Code Security](https://github.com/security/advanced-security/code-security?utm_campaign=GHAS-unbundle&utm_medium=Article&utm_source=EIhub)—are giving enterprises more flexibility to manage the unique risks they face.

👉 Whether you’re building secure-by-default workflows or trying to get buy-in on shifting security left, this episode offers clarity, practical advice, and inspiration for forward-thinking tech leaders.

---

Want to learn more about the strategic role of security and other innovations at GitHub? Explore [Executive Insights](https://github.com/solutions/executive-insights) for more thought leadership on the future of technology and business.


Insights from the senior leaders changing the way software is developed

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The future of software development is evolving fast—are you ready to stay ahead? Join us for an exclusive look at GitHub’s latest innovations and a sneak peek at what’s coming next. From AI-powered code reviews and enhanced IDE support to advanced security features and new collaboration tools, this session is designed to help your team build, ship, and scale faster than ever.

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- Insights from product leaders on how AI and automation are shaping the future of software development.
- Best practices to boost security, collaboration, and developer productivity.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and see how GitHub can help your organization drive efficiency, security, and innovation.


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- Insights from product leaders on how AI and automation are shaping the future of software development.
- Best practices to boost security, collaboration, and developer productivity.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and see how GitHub can help your organization drive efficiency, security, and innovation.


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