In Docker Swarm mode, why are secrets encrypted?

In Docker Swarm mode, secrets are encrypted to prevent unauthorized access. This feature is crucial for maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive information, such as passwords, API keys, and certificates, which are often used by applications running in containers. By encrypting these secrets, Docker ensures that they are not exposed to anyone who might have access to the host machines or the underlying storage.

When secrets are distributed to the nodes in a Swarm cluster, they are sent over a secure channel and stored in an encrypted form, ensuring that even if a node is compromised, the sensitive data remains protected. This focus on security helps maintain trust within the containerized environment and the overall integrity of deployed applications.

The other options do not reflect the primary function of secrets management in Docker Swarm. While considerations like storage size, application performance, and access speed are valuable in many contexts, they do not address the core objective of safeguarding sensitive information from potential threats.