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AWS Security: Best Practices to Reduce Risks

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Dipti Arora

14th August 2020

How secure is my data on AWS?” Does this question bother you? It bothers many other people too. Well, AWS is a popular choice of leading DevOps solutions providers in India as well as abroad, and uncompromising security is one of the reasons. Cloud is going to be the future of businesses. And AWS being a dominant cloud services provider is a topmost choice of enterprises. While adopting AWS cloud solutions for your business, you might be skeptical regarding the security of data. It’s obvious! But what if we say, we can wipe off all your ambiguities regarding AWS security. Initially, the data on AWS is rendered safe using TLS encryption. But fortunately, you can level up the security standards with a few simple tactics that are effective. Here are some of the best security practices you can implement to reduce risks.

Shared Responsibility Model: AWS’ Approach to Security

AWS ensures the solid security of its platform and the moment any fraud is detected, users are notified instantly. Users own the responsibility for the applications they host and the configurations they make on AWS. 360-degree protection of customers' data is the priority.

Enable CloudTrail

To maintain AWS security at its best, you must alter your CloudTrail settings. CloudTrail is a component of AWS that allows users continuous tracking of all their activities happening on the AWS account. It will generate log files of all the API calls you created in AWS. These APIs include a management console, command-line tools, SDKs, and more. For security assurance, keep CloudTrail enabled in all the regions and turn on multi-factor authentication for deleting S3 buckets in Cloudtrail. Also, don’t forget to turn on validation. By doing so, you will be notified of any changes taking place in log files of S3buckets. Finally, make sure you have encrypted all Cloudtrail log files in flight as well as the rest.

Keep Calm and Count On IAM

In AWS, authentication and authorization are under strict control. It is done using IAM – Identity Access Management. Your access to AWS is safe due to IAM that controls who can authenticate and use the resources. Keep the following points in mind to put a stringent safety check on your AWS resources:

  1. Always prefer creating individual IAM users
  2. Never use access keys for root users
  3. Govern your access privileges well through S3 buckets
  4. Never share access keys with anyone
  5. Regular configuration of password policies
  6. Use of customer-managed key and AWS managed key
  7. Create roles for EC2 applications
  8. Update credentials at regular intervals
  9. Be watchful of all your activities occurring on AWS

How to Deal with Storage and Database?

There are numerous storage solutions facilitated by AWS - be it object storing using S3, data warehousing via Redshift, or database management with Redshift, you have ample options to optimize AWS security. Some of the things you must be primely doing is ensuring that your buckets don’t have public accessibility. Then check whether you have an encrypted bucket and RDS. Proceeding further, limit access to RDS. This hinders the risk of attacks.

Optimize Security with AWS inspector

AWS inspector is another robust security tool that helps to identify flaws in the security arrangement and fix them. It automatically tells how susceptible is your data to attacks and where you are lacking in terms of security. This is indeed a very beneficial feature!

Final Thoughts

All the tactics and steps mentioned above, when unified together, forms AWS security best practices. Further, approach a promising Managed IT Services Company, that creates and deploys customized AWS security solutions that are best suited for your company. Now, leave all your security concerns behind and work more productively in a security-enriched AWS atmosphere.