Deepgram Security Basics

Overview

Implement security best practices for Deepgram API integration including key management, data protection, and access control.

Prerequisites

• Deepgram Console access
• Understanding of environment variables
• Knowledge of secret management

Security Checklist

• API keys stored in environment variables or secret manager
• Different keys for development/staging/production
• Key rotation schedule established
• Audit logging enabled
• Network access restricted
• Data handling compliant with regulations

Instructions

Step 1: Secure API Key Storage

Never hardcode API keys in source code.

Step 2: Implement Key Rotation

Create a process for regular key rotation.

Step 3: Set Up Access Control

Configure project-level permissions.

Step 4: Enable Audit Logging

Track API usage and access patterns.

Examples

Environment Variable Configuration

# .env.example (commit this)
DEEPGRAM_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

# .env (NEVER commit this)
DEEPGRAM_API_KEY=actual-secret-key

# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

Secret Manager Integration (AWS)

// lib/secrets.ts
import { SecretsManager } from '@aws-sdk/client-secrets-manager';

const client = new SecretsManager({ region: 'us-east-1' });

let cachedKey: string | null = null;
let cacheExpiry = 0;

export async function getDeepgramKey(): Promise<string> {
  // Use cached key if not expired
  if (cachedKey && Date.now() < cacheExpiry) {
    return cachedKey;
  }

  const response = await client.getSecretValue({
    SecretId: 'deepgram/api-key',
  });

  if (!response.SecretString) {
    throw new Error('Deepgram API key not found in Secrets Manager');
  }

  const secret = JSON.parse(response.SecretString);
  cachedKey = secret.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY;
  cacheExpiry = Date.now() + 300000; // 5 minute cache

  return cachedKey!;
}

Secret Manager Integration (GCP)

// lib/secrets-gcp.ts
import { SecretManagerServiceClient } from '@google-cloud/secret-manager';

const client = new SecretManagerServiceClient();

export async function getDeepgramKey(): Promise<string> {
  const projectId = process.env.GCP_PROJECT_ID;
  const secretName = `projects/${projectId}/secrets/deepgram-api-key/versions/latest`;

  const [version] = await client.accessSecretVersion({ name: secretName });
  const payload = version.payload?.data?.toString();

  if (!payload) {
    throw new Error('Deepgram API key not found');
  }

  return payload;
}

Key Rotation Script

// scripts/rotate-key.ts
import { createClient } from '@deepgram/sdk';

interface KeyRotationResult {
  oldKeyId: string;
  newKeyId: string;
  rotatedAt: Date;
}

export async function rotateDeepgramKey(
  adminKey: string,
  projectId: string
): Promise<KeyRotationResult> {
  const client = createClient(adminKey);

  // 1. Create new key
  const { result: newKey, error: createError } = await client.manage.createProjectKey(
    projectId,
    {
      comment: `Rotated key - ${new Date().toISOString()}`,
      scopes: ['usage:write', 'listen:*'],
      expiration_date: new Date(Date.now() + 90 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000), // 90 days
    }
  );

  if (createError) throw new Error(`Failed to create key: ${createError.message}`);

  // 2. Test new key
  const testClient = createClient(newKey.key);
  const { error: testError } = await testClient.manage.getProjects();

  if (testError) {
    // Rollback: delete new key
    await client.manage.deleteProjectKey(projectId, newKey.key_id);
    throw new Error('New key validation failed');
  }

  // 3. Get old key ID (from current key metadata)
  const { result: keys } = await client.manage.getProjectKeys(projectId);
  const oldKey = keys?.api_keys.find(k =>
    k.comment?.includes('Current production key')
  );

  // 4. Update secret manager with new key
  // (Implementation depends on your secret manager)

  // 5. Delete old key after grace period
  if (oldKey) {
    console.log(`Old key ${oldKey.key_id} scheduled for deletion`);
    // Schedule deletion for later to allow propagation
  }

  return {
    oldKeyId: oldKey?.key_id || 'unknown',
    newKeyId: newKey.key_id,
    rotatedAt: new Date(),
  };
}

Scoped API Keys

// Create keys with minimal required permissions
const scopedKeys = {
  // Transcription-only key
  transcription: {
    scopes: ['listen:*'],
    comment: 'Read-only transcription key',
  },

  // Admin key (for key management only)
  admin: {
    scopes: ['manage:*'],
    comment: 'Administrative access only',
  },

  // Usage tracking key
  usage: {
    scopes: ['usage:read'],
    comment: 'Usage monitoring only',
  },
};

async function createScopedKey(
  adminKey: string,
  projectId: string,
  keyType: keyof typeof scopedKeys
) {
  const client = createClient(adminKey);
  const config = scopedKeys[keyType];

  const { result, error } = await client.manage.createProjectKey(
    projectId,
    config
  );

  if (error) throw error;
  return result;
}

Request Sanitization

// lib/sanitize.ts
export function sanitizeAudioUrl(url: string): string {
  const parsed = new URL(url);

  // Only allow HTTPS
  if (parsed.protocol !== 'https:') {
    throw new Error('Only HTTPS URLs are allowed');
  }

  // Block internal/local URLs
  const blockedHosts = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '0.0.0.0', '::1'];
  if (blockedHosts.includes(parsed.hostname)) {
    throw new Error('Local URLs are not allowed');
  }

  // Block private IP ranges
  const privateRanges = [
    /^10\./,
    /^172\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])\./,
    /^192\.168\./,
  ];

  if (privateRanges.some(range => range.test(parsed.hostname))) {
    throw new Error('Private IP addresses are not allowed');
  }

  return url;
}

export function sanitizeTranscriptResponse(response: unknown): unknown {
  // Remove any unexpected fields that might contain sensitive data
  if (typeof response !== 'object' || response === null) {
    return response;
  }

  const allowedFields = [
    'results',
    'metadata',
    'channels',
    'alternatives',
    'transcript',
    'confidence',
    'words',
    'start',
    'end',
  ];

  const sanitized: Record<string, unknown> = {};

  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(response)) {
    if (allowedFields.includes(key)) {
      sanitized[key] = value;
    }
  }

  return sanitized;
}

Audit Logging

// lib/audit.ts
interface AuditEvent {
  timestamp: Date;
  action: string;
  projectId?: string;
  requestId?: string;
  userId?: string;
  ipAddress?: string;
  success: boolean;
  metadata?: Record<string, unknown>;
}

export class AuditLogger {
  private events: AuditEvent[] = [];

  log(event: Omit<AuditEvent, 'timestamp'>) {
    const fullEvent: AuditEvent = {
      ...event,
      timestamp: new Date(),
    };

    this.events.push(fullEvent);

    // In production, send to your logging service
    console.log(JSON.stringify({
      ...fullEvent,
      timestamp: fullEvent.timestamp.toISOString(),
    }));
  }

  async transcribe(
    transcribeFn: () => Promise<unknown>,
    context: { userId?: string; ipAddress?: string }
  ) {
    const startTime = Date.now();

    try {
      const result = await transcribeFn();

      this.log({
        action: 'TRANSCRIBE',
        success: true,
        userId: context.userId,
        ipAddress: context.ipAddress,
        metadata: {
          durationMs: Date.now() - startTime,
        },
      });

      return result;
    } catch (error) {
      this.log({
        action: 'TRANSCRIBE',
        success: false,
        userId: context.userId,
        ipAddress: context.ipAddress,
        metadata: {
          error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error',
          durationMs: Date.now() - startTime,
        },
      });

      throw error;
    }
  }
}

Data Protection

// lib/data-protection.ts
import crypto from 'crypto';

// Encrypt transcripts at rest
export function encryptTranscript(transcript: string, key: Buffer): string {
  const iv = crypto.randomBytes(16);
  const cipher = crypto.createCipheriv('aes-256-gcm', key, iv);

  let encrypted = cipher.update(transcript, 'utf8', 'hex');
  encrypted += cipher.final('hex');

  const authTag = cipher.getAuthTag();

  return JSON.stringify({
    iv: iv.toString('hex'),
    data: encrypted,
    tag: authTag.toString('hex'),
  });
}

export function decryptTranscript(encrypted: string, key: Buffer): string {
  const { iv, data, tag } = JSON.parse(encrypted);

  const decipher = crypto.createDecipheriv(
    'aes-256-gcm',
    key,
    Buffer.from(iv, 'hex')
  );

  decipher.setAuthTag(Buffer.from(tag, 'hex'));

  let decrypted = decipher.update(data, 'hex', 'utf8');
  decrypted += decipher.final('utf8');

  return decrypted;
}

// Redact sensitive information from transcripts
export function redactSensitiveData(transcript: string): string {
  const patterns = [
    // Credit card numbers
    { pattern: /\b\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}\b/g, replacement: '[REDACTED-CC]' },
    // SSN
    { pattern: /\b\d{3}[\s-]?\d{2}[\s-]?\d{4}\b/g, replacement: '[REDACTED-SSN]' },
    // Phone numbers
    { pattern: /\b\d{3}[\s-]?\d{3}[\s-]?\d{4}\b/g, replacement: '[REDACTED-PHONE]' },
    // Email addresses
    { pattern: /\b[\w.-]+@[\w.-]+\.\w+\b/g, replacement: '[REDACTED-EMAIL]' },
  ];

  let redacted = transcript;
  for (const { pattern, replacement } of patterns) {
    redacted = redacted.replace(pattern, replacement);
  }

  return redacted;
}

Resources

• Deepgram Security Overview
• API Key Management
• HIPAA Compliance
• SOC 2 Compliance

Next Steps

Proceed to

deepgram-prod-checklist

for production deployment checklist.