As organizations continue adopting cloud solutions, security remains a top concern. The flexibility and scalability of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduce unique security challenges. Fortunately, with the right strategy and tools, companies can effectively secure AWS environments. This article explores best practices and techniques for locking down AWS infrastructure, data, and applications.
Securing AWS Accounts
The first line of defense is safeguarding AWS root accounts and settings. Consider the following recommendations:
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users, especially root
- Create individual IAM users with least privilege permissions
- Use IAM groups and roles to manage permissions at scale
- Install AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) Access Analyzer to audit configs
- Turn on AWS Config to monitor resource changes
- Activate AWS Security Hub for unified compliance visibility
Additionally, restrict which devices and connections can access accounts by configuring security groups wisely.
Locking Down Cloud Data
Various AWS services house sensitive company information requiring ironclad security:
S3 Buckets – Audit permissions and enable bucket policies, versioning, encryption, and MFA delete functions.
RDS Databases – Encrypt stored data, monitor SQL activity, authorize internal traffic only via security groups.
Lambda Functions – Control access with function policies and VPC config. Never store secrets in code.
CloudFront CDN – Enforce HTTPS and leverage webhook filtering for origin access management.
Overall, classify data sensitivity levels and enable logging/monitoring to detect anomalous access attempts.
Hardening Compute Infrastructure
Instances, containers, functions, and compute offerings like Lambda and Fargate anchor cloud workloads. Harden these resources in AWS:
- Use private subnets and route tables for backend services
- Assign security groups and NACLs to limit traffic
- Enable EC2 instance root volume encryption
- Patch operating systems and apps frequently
- Containerize microservices and leverage AWS security groups, roles, and secrets management
- Rotate credentials often for applications and services
By restricting access and keeping consistent controls, compute infrastructure remains resilient against attacks.
Automating Security Best Practices
Manual security management does not scale for complex, growing AWS environments. Automate tasks as much as possible:
- Script infrastructure-as-code templates with CloudFormation
- Scan config states with AWS Trusted Advisor
- Perform EBS snapshots and instance patching with Systems Manager
- Build continuous integration/delivery pipelines with CodePipeline
- Configure CloudWatch alarms to detect anomalies
Save time while improving consistency and accuracy by codifying procedures with Infrastructure-as-Code solutions.
Verifying Compliance Controls
Operating in the public cloud introduces new compliance and audit demands enterprises must address:
- Verify frameworks like SOC, PCI DSS, HITRUST are covered
- Conduct frequent audits of AWS security group, IAM, VPC, logging configs
- Fix policy violations immediately
- Supply reports to oversight teams and external auditors
Finally, certain regulated sectors require advanced measures like cyber insurance, regulatory submissions, and independent certifications catered to their industry.
The Bottom Line
AWS empowers incredible innovation, but the shared responsibility model leaves customers responsible for securing workloads. Fortunately, with identity and access controls, data protections, hardened infrastructure, automation, and compliance verification, companies can build an impenetrable cloud fortress on AWS.
Monitor accounts vigilantly, encrypt sensitive data, harden configs proactively, automate defensively, and verify against standards to achieve a robust AWS security posture.
