Which method should the cloud consumer use to secure the management plane of the cloud service provider?

Securing the management plane of a cloud service provider is crucial for protecting sensitive operations and data. The best approach from the provided options is credential management. This method is essential for several reasons.

Credential management involves the centralized and effective management of digital authentication credentials, such as usernames and passwords, API keys, and tokens. In the context of the management plane, which controls access to the cloud environment, ensuring that only authorized users have access is imperative. Strong credential management practices include implementing multi-factor authentication, regularly rotating credentials, and enforcing complex password policies, which can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

By focusing on credential management, the cloud consumer is able to enforce strict access controls over the management plane, ensuring that only legitimate users can execute critical administrative functions. This mitigates the likelihood of security breaches that could result from credential theft or misuse, making it a key strategy in cloud security.

Other methods, while potentially useful in certain contexts, do not provide the same breadth of security necessary for the management plane. For example, network access control lists primarily focus on point-to-point traffic filtering, which does not inherently protect against unauthorized control over management functions. Disabling the management plane is impractical as it would remove necessary access for legitimate administrative tasks. Lastly,