Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) Practice Test

In Kubernetes, managing sensitive information such as passwords, tokens, and ssh keys is crucial for securing applications. Kubernetes provides a dedicated resource called Secrets, specifically designed to handle sensitive data. When using Secrets, the data can be stored in a way that is more secure than using ConfigMaps or environment variables, as Secrets are base64 encoded and stored in the etcd database with additional security measures.

Using Kubernetes Secrets offers several benefits, including access control through Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), integration with Pods for easy use in applications, and the ability to inject Secrets into Pods as environment variables or mounted volumes without exposing sensitive information in the application's codebase.

While environment variables can be used to pass sensitive data into Pods, managing sensitive information through environment variables isn't as secure as using Kubernetes Secrets since environment variables can be more easily accessible to processes running in the same context. ConfigMaps are intended for non-sensitive configuration data, and using annotations is not a standard practice for securely storing sensitive information in Kubernetes.

Therefore, leveraging Kubernetes Secrets for sensitive information management is the best practice in a Kubernetes environment.