Azure Key Vault

What Azure Key Vault is

Azure Key Vault is a cloud service for managing keys, secrets, and certificates through the web. Its Standard plan uses software-protected keys, while Premium uses HSM-protected keys; both list secrets operations and certificate operations. The service supports key audit logs and audit logs, helping record activity around managed credentials. Secret rotation is listed for maintaining changing credentials. Azure Key Vault can inject secrets into CI/CD workflows and integrates with Kubernetes, connecting stored values with deployment processes and container environments. It is sold on a paid basis and has no free plan. The deployment model is cloud, so the listed access model is a hosted service rather than a desktop or mobile application. The main stated plan distinction is the protection method for keys: software protection in Standard or HSM protection in Premium. Both plans retain the same listed operations for secrets and certificates.