This repository uses Gitleaks to automatically scan for potential secrets and sensitive information. The scanning is integrated into our CI/CD pipeline and runs on every commit, pull request, and daily via scheduled scans.

Our enhanced Gitleaks configuration detects:

• 🔴 Critical: API keys, database credentials, authentication tokens
• 🟠 High: Private keys, passwords in code, JWT tokens
• 🟡 Medium: Webhook URLs, email credentials, high-entropy strings

1. Never commit real credentials - Use environment variables or secure secret management
2. Use placeholder values for examples:

   # ❌ Don't do this
   API_KEY = "sk-1234567890abcdef"
   
   # ✅ Do this instead
   API_KEY = os.getenv("API_KEY")
   # or
   API_KEY = "your-api-key-here"  # placeholder

Create a .env file (not tracked by git) for local development:

# .env (not committed)
ALPHA_VANTAGE_API_KEY=your_real_key_here
YAHOO_FINANCE_API_KEY=your_real_key_here
DATABASE_URL=your_database_url_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-real-key-here

Use configuration files with placeholders:

# config.py
import os
from pathlib import Path

# Load from environment or use defaults
config = {
    "api_key": os.getenv("API_KEY", "your-api-key-here"),
    "database_url": os.getenv("DATABASE_URL", "your-database-url-here"),
    "openai_key": os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY", "your-openai-key-here")
}

# Validate required keys
required_keys = ["api_key", "database_url"]
for key in required_keys:
    if config[key] == f"your-{key.replace('_', '-')}-here":
        raise ValueError(f"Please set {key} in environment variables")

Install Gitleaks:

# macOS
brew install gitleaks

# Ubuntu/Debian
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gitleaks/gitleaks/master/install.sh | sh

# Run scan
gitleaks detect --source . --config .gitleaks.toml --verbose

If Gitleaks flags legitimate code as a secret:

1. Add to allowlist in .gitleaks.toml
2. Use more specific exclusions
3. Refactor code to avoid triggering rules
4. Add entropy thresholds for better accuracy

If you accidentally commit a secret:

1. Immediately revoke/rotate the secret
2. Remove from git history:

   git filter-branch --force --index-filter \
     'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch path/to/file' \
     --prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all

3. Force push to update remote
4. Notify team about the incident
5. Document the incident for future reference

1. Use secret management services (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault, etc.)
2. Implement least privilege access
3. Regular credential rotation
4. Monitor access logs
5. Use temporary credentials when possible

This setup helps with:

• SOC 2 compliance
• GDPR requirements
• Financial regulations (SOX, PCI-DSS)
• Industry standards (ISO 27001)

For security issues, please contact the repository maintainers or create a security advisory.

• Gitleaks Documentation
• GitHub Security Best Practices
• OWASP Top 10