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DigitalOcean encryption, keys & secrets security checks

Encryption at rest and in transit, key rotation, and the API keys, tokens and credentials that outlive the people who created them.

On DigitalOcean, Black Cat runs 4 checks in this area on every scan. Each one below lists its severity, how to fix it, and the compliance controls it satisfies where a control applies. See what access the DigitalOcean connector needs.

Checks (4)

severity: high SSL Not Enforced fix difficulty: medium #

Enforce SSL/TLS connections to the managed database cluster

  1. Log in to the DigitalOcean Cloud Control Panel
  2. Navigate to Manage > Databases and click the affected database cluster name
  3. Select the "Settings" tab and locate the "Connection" or "SSL" section
  4. Enable the "Require SSL" option and save
  5. Update all application connection strings to use SSL mode (e.g. `sslmode=require` for PostgreSQL)
  6. Verify connections succeed and that plain-text connections are refused

Vendor docs ↗

Satisfies: ISO 27001:2022 A.8.24 SOC 2 Type II CC6.1 CIS Controls v8 CIS-03.10 NIST CSF 2.0 PR.DS-02 GDPR (SaaS Security) GDPR-5.1f.i HIPAA (SaaS Security) HIPAA-312.e NIS2 Directive NIS2-21.h DORA (SaaS Security) DORA-9.7

severity: high No SSL Termination fix difficulty: medium #

Add an HTTPS forwarding rule with a TLS certificate to the load balancer

  1. Log in to the DigitalOcean Cloud Control Panel
  2. Navigate to Networking > Load Balancers and click the affected load balancer name
  3. Select the "Settings" tab and locate "Forwarding Rules"
  4. Click "Edit" and add a rule: Entry Protocol HTTPS (port 443), Target Protocol HTTP or HTTPS
  5. Upload or select a TLS certificate (you can use a Let's Encrypt certificate via the panel)
  6. Save the rule and verify HTTPS traffic is correctly forwarded to backend Droplets

Vendor docs ↗

Satisfies: ISO 27001:2022 A.8.24 SOC 2 Type II CC6.1 CIS Controls v8 CIS-03.10 NIST CSF 2.0 PR.DS-02 GDPR (SaaS Security) GDPR-5.1f.i GDPR (SaaS Security) GDPR-44.2 HIPAA (SaaS Security) HIPAA-312.e NIS2 Directive NIS2-21.h DORA (SaaS Security) DORA-9.7

severity: medium Insecure Backend fix difficulty: medium #

Update load balancer forwarding rules to use HTTPS as the backend target protocol

  1. Log in to the DigitalOcean Cloud Control Panel
  2. Navigate to Networking > Load Balancers and click the affected load balancer name
  3. Select the "Settings" tab and locate "Forwarding Rules"
  4. Click "Edit" and change the Target Protocol for existing rules from HTTP to HTTPS
  5. Ensure backend Droplets are configured to serve TLS on the target port
  6. Save the changes and verify end-to-end encrypted traffic is working correctly

Vendor docs ↗

Satisfies: ISO 27001:2022 A.8.24 SOC 2 Type II CC6.1 CIS Controls v8 CIS-03.10 NIST CSF 2.0 PR.DS-02 GDPR (SaaS Security) GDPR-5.1f.i HIPAA (SaaS Security) HIPAA-312.e NIS2 Directive NIS2-21.h DORA (SaaS Security) DORA-9.7

severity: medium HTTP Allowed fix difficulty: easy #

Enforce HTTPS-only access for the App Platform application

  1. Log in to the DigitalOcean Cloud Control Panel
  2. Navigate to Manage > Apps and click the affected application name
  3. Select the "Settings" tab and go to the "Domains" section
  4. Enable the "Redirect HTTP to HTTPS" or "Force HTTPS" option for each domain
  5. Save the settings and test that HTTP requests are redirected to HTTPS

Vendor docs ↗

Satisfies: ISO 27001:2022 A.8.24 SOC 2 Type II CC6.1 CIS Controls v8 CIS-03.10 NIST CSF 2.0 PR.DS-02 GDPR (SaaS Security) GDPR-5.1f.i GDPR (SaaS Security) GDPR-44.2 HIPAA (SaaS Security) HIPAA-312.e NIS2 Directive NIS2-21.h DORA (SaaS Security) DORA-9.7

More DigitalOcean checks

The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes and is believed to be accurate as of its most recent update. Product names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only; their use does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by those owners. Descriptions of third-party applications and of compliance frameworks are based on publicly available documentation and may change over time.

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