Immediately revoke or rotate the secret (e.g., from AWS, GitHub, Stripe?

Short answer: dashboard). → This prevents misuse. Remove the secret from code: git rm --cached path/to/file git commit -m "Remove sensitive file"

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest’s team uses GitHub PRs with reviews and CI checks so broken builds never reach production unnoticed.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.