diff --git a/ghost/security/index.js b/ghost/security/index.js
index f28289d4a3..b4ef42a7f3 100644
--- a/ghost/security/index.js
+++ b/ghost/security/index.js
@@ -17,5 +17,9 @@ module.exports = {
 
     get password() {
         return require('./lib/password');
+    },
+
+    get secret() {
+        return require('./lib/secret');
     }
 };
diff --git a/ghost/security/lib/identifier.js b/ghost/security/lib/identifier.js
index 31f0c7a558..f8dcc9f004 100644
--- a/ghost/security/lib/identifier.js
+++ b/ghost/security/lib/identifier.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 let _private = {};
 
-// @TODO: replace with crypto.randomBytes
 _private.getRandomInt = function (min, max) {
     return Math.floor(Math.random() * (max - min + 1)) + min;
 };
@@ -8,9 +7,9 @@ _private.getRandomInt = function (min, max) {
 /**
  * Return a unique identifier with the given `len`.
  *
+ * @deprecated use secret.create() instead
  * @param {Number} maxLength
  * @return {String}
- * @api private
  */
 module.exports.uid = function uid(maxLength) {
     const buf = [];
diff --git a/ghost/security/lib/secret.js b/ghost/security/lib/secret.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..205e03b93c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ghost/security/lib/secret.js
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+const crypto = require('crypto');
+
+/*
+ * Uses birthday problem estimation to calculate chance of collision
+ * d = 16^26        // 26 char hex string
+ * n = 10,000,000   // 10 million
+ *
+ *       (-n x (n-1)) / 2d
+ * 1 - e^
+ *
+ *
+ *           17
+ * ~= 4 x 10^
+ *
+ * ref: https://medium.freecodecamp.org/how-long-should-i-make-my-api-key-833ebf2dc26f
+ * ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem#Approximations
+ *
+ * 26 char hex string = 13 bytes (content api)
+ * 64 char hex string JWT secret = 32 bytes (admin api / default)
+ *
+ * @param {String|Number} [typeOrLength=64]
+ * @returns
+ */
+module.exports.create = (typeOrLength) => {
+    let bytes;
+    let length;
+
+    if (Number.isInteger(typeOrLength)) {
+        bytes = Math.ceil(typeOrLength / 2);
+        length = typeOrLength;
+    } else if (typeOrLength === 'content') {
+        bytes = 13;
+        length = 26;
+    } else {
+        bytes = 32;
+        length = 64;
+    }
+
+    return crypto.randomBytes(bytes).toString('hex').slice(0, length);
+};
diff --git a/ghost/security/test/secret.test.js b/ghost/security/test/secret.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a7aa588e85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ghost/security/test/secret.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+require('./utils');
+const security = require('../');
+
+describe('Lib: Security - Secret', function () {
+    it('generates a 13 byte secret if asked for a content secret', function () {
+        let secret = security.secret.create('content');
+        secret.should.be.a.String().with.lengthOf(13 * 2);
+        secret.should.match(/[0-9][a-z]+/);
+    });
+
+    it('generates a specific length secret if given a length', function () {
+        let secret = security.secret.create(10);
+        secret.should.be.a.String().with.lengthOf(10);
+        secret.should.match(/[0-9][a-z]+/);
+    });
+
+    it('generates a specific length secret if given a length even when odd', function () {
+        let secret = security.secret.create(15);
+        secret.should.be.a.String().with.lengthOf(15);
+        secret.should.match(/[0-9][a-z]+/);
+    });
+
+    it('generates a 32 byte secret if asked for an admin secret', function () {
+        let secret = security.secret.create('admin');
+        secret.should.be.a.String().with.lengthOf(32 * 2);
+        secret.should.match(/[0-9][a-z]+/);
+    });
+
+    it('generates a 32 byte secret by default', function () {
+        let secret = security.secret.create();
+        secret.should.be.a.String().with.lengthOf(32 * 2);
+        secret.should.match(/[0-9][a-z]+/);
+    });
+});