diff --git a/terraform/.gitignore b/terraform/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62c0137
--- /dev/null
+++ b/terraform/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# state files contain sensitive data and should not be committed
+terraform.tfstate
+terraform.tfstate.backup
+
+# local working directory
+.terraform/
+