Essential Guide

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Editor's note

Organizations should be mindful of security when their data is in AWS' cloud -- just as they would be with on-premises data. And as more teams move production workloads out of their own data centers, AWS cloud security takes on greater importance.

AWS' shared-responsibility model outlines where and when security falls upon the user. AWS is responsible for the security of the cloud, but AWS customers are responsible for the security of everything they run in the cloud -- data, applications, network traffic, etc. Follow this essential guide to learn about cloud vulnerabilities and how to lock down your AWS environment.

1Common AWS security challenges

When you tackle AWS cloud security, it's important to know what you're up against and what you're responsible for. A range of issues can expose critical data, from technical systems failures to misconfigurations and operational errors. Be aware of the frequent missteps and vulnerabilities users encounter on AWS, and learn how to prevent them from corrupting your cloud environment.

2Strategies to establish user access control

Access control should play a crucial part in AWS cloud security. Carefully plan and consistently adjust to ensure your organization only grants necessary credentials. To organize access control, regularly rotate keys and remove AWS security credentials as part of personnel changes. Automate identity and access management (IAM) roles, and practice other verification strategies, such as the zero-trust model, to keep hackers and breaches at bay.

3How to add AWS cloud security tools to your workflow

While AWS users are responsible for their own environments, AWS offers an extensive list of security tools, each built for a specific area of protection. For example, Amazon GuardDuty is used for threat detection, while AWS Multi-Factor Authentication provides tighter identification requirements. Take a closer look at some of the top tools for AWS cloud security.