Securing your cloud environment with AWS
As the cloud computing landscape evolves, security remains a top priority, and concern, for many organisations. For 86% of organisations in 2022, cloud security was cited as their number one challenge.*
In this blog, our AWS Ambassador and AWS Technical Practice Lead, Jason Oliver, explores some of the key features and best practices AWS provides to ensure the security of your cloud environment.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
IAM is a critical component of AWS security, allowing you to securely manage access to AWS services and resources. With IAM, you can create and manage AWS users and groups, assign permissions and policies, and enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for enhanced security.
You can also use IAM to set up role-based access control (RBAC) to restrict resource access based on job responsibilities.
Read how we helped implement AWS IAM for the Rail Delivery Group.
Encryption
Encryption is essential for protecting data at rest and in transit. AWS offers several encryption options, including server-side encryption (SSE) for data at rest and secure socket layer (SSL)/transport layer security (TLS) encryption for data in transit.
You can also use AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to create and manage encryption keys and AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) to provision and manage SSL/TLS certificates.
Network Security
AWS offers several network security features to ensure the secure transfer of data between resources. Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) enables you to create a private network within the AWS cloud. At the same time, AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection between your on-premises infrastructure and the AWS cloud.
You can use AWS Firewall Manager and AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall) to protect your resources from common threats such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, SQL injections, and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. AWS also uses Secure Access Server Edge (SASE) to unify enterprise network and security controls.
Compliance
AWS provides a range of compliance certifications and attestations, including HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, and ISO 27001. AWS also offers compliance reports and access to audit reports and controls to help you meet regulatory requirements.
Monitoring and Logging
AWS CloudTrail and AWS CloudWatch are essential tools for monitoring and logging your AWS resources. While public cloud environments don't always offer maximum visibility, these tools provide powerful cloud monitoring capabilities so you can find and fix problems before they impact end-user experiences.
CloudTrail records all API calls made to your account, while CloudWatch provides real-time monitoring of resource utilisation and performance. You can also use AWS Config to track resource configurations and changes over time.
Disaster Recovery
There are plenty of disaster recovery solutions to choose from including AWS Backup, AWS Storage Gateway, and AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery. These services enable you to replicate data across regions and availability zones to ensure business continuity during a disaster.
Realising the power of the cloud, securely
AWS provides a robust set of security features and best practices to ensure the security of your cloud environment. By implementing these security measures, you can protect your data, prevent unauthorised access, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
It's important to note that security is a shared responsibility between AWS and its customers. Hence, following best practices and using the available tools to secure your AWS environment is essential.
A trusted AWS Premier Consulting Partner, such as Nasstar, can assist you in establishing and maintaining your AWS security posture.
About Jason
Jason Oliver is an accomplished AWS ambassador, technical practice lead, principal cloud architect and builder with over 25 years of transformational IT experience working with organisations of all sizes and complexity.
Jason is an SME in AWS, Azure, and security with strong domain knowledge in central government. He has extensive knowledge of the cloud, the Internet and security technologies in addition to heterogeneous systems spanning Windows, Unix, virtualisation, application and systems management, networking, and automation.
Jason is also an author, digital music producer, and a black belt and instructor in Karate.
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