Secret
In Computer Science, especially in cybersecurity, cryptography, and software development, a secret refers to any piece of sensitive information that must be kept confidential and protected from unauthorized access.
These may be: passwords, API keys, Personal tokens, private keys, and not the public key, certificates, etc.
Private data are not considered a secret, even if they should be kept secret. They are data used between two parties, while a secret usually is reserved for only one party, even when hosted on another party’s infrastructure.
See Also
- Secrets Management - OWASP Cheat Sheet Series
- What is Secrets Management? Best Practices & Tools | Wiz