Introduction
Today’s technology is making use of cloud storage to assist firms in transitioning into cloud-based operational standards.
At an enterprise level, cloud computing enhances flexibility and cost-efficiency.
Cloud computing encounters several issues related to security due to the rapid growth in technology.
The default configurations and intrinsic availability of AWS expose it to attackers.
To ensure the security of AWS, several companies perform remote penetration tests that show whether a system is vulnerable to external attacks.
Components review
Amazon Web Services consist of various networks, containers, and endpoints, among other components.
Each of the modules is distinctly at risk of attack due to reasons like default configurations.
These different modules are resources based in the cloud. They function in coordination so as to achieve the set roles of Amazon cloud services. The components could be in hybrid or cloud environments, and this enhances their availability.
Security concerns
AWS is rapidly adopted by many firms, and this has introduced old and new cyber risks to every cloud setup.
Every computer-generated threat poses a great security concern to the company at hand.
AWS services pose great security concerns due to their defaults in configuration and inherent availability.
AWS is based on the cloud meaning that any unauthorized access to an account of that kind results in great impact as vital information could be accessed by an attacker (Cook, 2018).
A lot of AWS data is available to the public, and this brings a great security focus to Amazon’s services.
Open-source intelligence proves that there are many leaked credentials from AWS.
Results of the Review
AWS clients are responsible for designing best practices when using cloud services.
Major security topics like protecting the assets on AWS and managing access to accounts are at the forefront for cloud safety.
An amazon administration portal is open to the public, thus exposing essential information to persons who should not have it.
The s3 buckets that are associated with the AWS accounts can be viewed publicly by persons who log into AWS accounts (Cook, 2018).
There exist a secure shell administration platform that the public has access to, and this can be a primary issue of concern.
Notably, several ports related to Amazon Web Services are open to the public, and this exposes essential data.
Many firms that use AWS services are not assured of the optimal security of the cloud infrastructure.
AWS Network Factors
Many network components of the AWS are publicly open, and this exposes the data they hold to severe threats.
The interconnection factors directly affect the end-user because exposure is on accounts and other related customer data.
No matter the cloud service provider that a company uses, a bigger concern should be on the end user’s experience.
AWS uses firewalls that are directly open to the world but are connected to various trusted identification addresses.
AWS uses relational databases that are open to global access tokens. The tokens are not rotated for security purposes, and they exist as they were formed. Configuration changes and separate logging actions are needed for accessing the amazon web services network. AWS network does not use transit gateways in administration, which poses a great security threat to the accounts.
Access and identity management
Identity and access management helps to introduce controls that specify operations for various users.
Management of identities introduces better scopes in AWS-related platforms. The development and test accounts are linked to the production accounts. Various access policies for AWS accounts are not conditional. AWS focuses on various super-users when it comes to identity and access management. Amazon S2 does not use the cloud HSM, and this limits users of the S2 from accessing various AWS services (Cook, 2018). Users need optimum instructions and guidance on the use of Amazon web services accounts.
Amazon S3 bucket review
An s3 bucket can be accessed using the virtual private cloud. Study shows that not every s3 bucket is encrypted, and this poses a great threat to AWS accounts. A Cloud Trail is made functional without prompt notification alerts of a publicly available s3 bucket. According to research, there is no resource tagging for Amazon s3 buckets (Cook, 2018). An Amazon s3 bucket focuses on primary data availability and durability to enhance efficiency. AWS users are free to manage their buckets in the manner they like, so the security depends on the individual. The idea of sharing access to an s3 bucket could impose security threats to AWS storage.
AWS Databases
AWS gives clients the option of using other kinds of databases, including Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.
Amazon RDS ensures great performance and scalability, free from bottlenecks, and this is an added advantage for AWS users. Various AWS databases are directly open to the public internet. This is a major threat to the data stores as anyone can gain access and exploit vital account information. An AWS database is based on a Redis cache. The cache stores vital information insecurely, thus exposing the AWS account associated with it. AWS data stores act as a service because of their manner of usage. The relational databases use the notion of databases as a service. The mode of accessing the databases introduces optimum scalability to AWS databases.
Logging events
The log events from the cloud trail are accessed in the Amazon cloud watch. If a configuration s made for trailing data events of an s3 bucket, the logged information will be for the specific data events for the s3 objects. AWS performs regular data loggings. However, there exists a major disadvantage where Cloud Trail is not for every event. Cloud watching is the AWS monitoring service that focuses on both applications and resources. This means that optimal monitoring is not a priority, thus threatening AWS account data. The configuration changes are not monitored, and this is a major issue in effective system records of events. The AWS configuration is not considered in logging, and this could pose a major security risk to AWS accounts.
Conclusion
AWS makes use of an efficient, reliable, and secure structure that enhances a cost-effective cloud system. AWS helps promote efficient and stable systems that enhance functional business needs. Moving applications to the cloud means a new normal way of business operations. AWS has helped to scale businesses where infrastructure ownership is transformed to Amazon. Clients’ responsibilities are to have a deeper understanding of the application and track major changes. There is a need to determine new baselines to realize required deviations. Proper awareness of the functionality of AWS helps to promote digital user experiences.
Reference
Cook, B. (2018). Formal reasoning about the security of amazon web services. In International Conference on Computer Aided Verification (pp. 38-47). Springer, Cham.