GitHub Advanced Security's secret scanning feature is designed to minimize alert fatigue by consolidating findings. When the same secret value is detected in multiple locations within a single repository, GitHub generates only one alert. This single alert will then track all instances of that unique secret across all branches and files in the repository, providing a centralized view for remediation. This ensures that developers address the compromised secret itself, rather than chasing down duplicate notifications for the same underlying issue.

B. 2: This is incorrect because GitHub consolidates alerts for the same unique secret within a repository, rather than creating a new alert for each instance.

C. 3: This is an arbitrary number and does not align with the documented behavior of secret scanning, which groups alerts by unique secret.

D. 4: This is also an arbitrary number and is inconsistent with the one-alert-per-unique-secret model used by GitHub.

1. GitHub Docs, "Managing alerts from secret scanning." Under the section "About secret scanning alerts," the documentation states: "GitHub generates one alert per unique secret, per repository. If a secret is present in multiple branches in a repository, this will not generate any new alerts. Each alert lists all of the branches that contain the secret." This directly confirms that multiple instances of the same secret result in a single alert.

Source: https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/secret-scanning/managing-alerts-from-secret-scanning#about-secret-scanning-alerts

2. GitHub Docs, "About secret scanning." This document provides a foundational overview, explaining that when a secret is detected, "GitHub generates an alert." The logic for how these alerts are grouped (one per unique secret) is detailed in the "Managing alerts" documentation, reinforcing the principle of consolidation.

Source: https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/secret-scanning/about-secret-scanning