Cyber Security Threat Summary:
GitHub recently updated its secret scanning feature to extend validity checks to popular services including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google, and Slack. The feature was introduced earlier this year to help alert users whether exposed tokens found by the secret scanning are active. While the feature was first enabled for GitHub tokens, the cloud-based code hosting and version control service is now including support for more tokens.

To activate validity checks for non-GitHub tokens, administrators can go to Settings → Code Security and analysis → Secret scanning → check the box for “Automatically verify if a secret is valid by sending it to the relevant partner.” Doing so will provide alerts regarding whether a token is active or not.

Security Officer Comments:
Incorporating validity checks for additional services like AWS and Microsoft helps ensure that tokens are not leaked or tampered with. Cybercriminals are known for using such tokens to gain access to sensitive resources and services. By enabling the latest feature, organizations can ensure the authenticity of their users and services, and revoke tokens in a timely manner in the event that users have been compromised.

Link(s):
https://thehackernews.com/2023/10/githubs-secret-scanning-feature-now.html
https://github.blog/2023-10-04-introducing-secret-scanning-validity-checks-for-major-cloud-services/