The AWS Security Model: Sovereignty vs. Convenience
Amazon Web Services (AWS) powers a significant portion of the internet. For an individual or a small business, a compromise of an AWS account can lead to catastrophic financial loss (via cryptojacking) and the total exposure of sensitive data. AWS security is built on the "Shared Responsibility Model": Amazon secures the infrastructure, but you are responsible for the security of your configuration and identity.
1. Hardening Your Account
The Sanctity of the Root Account
The AWS "Root Account" is the ultimate authority. It has unrestricted access to all resources and billing information. The Rule: Never use the root account for daily tasks. After your initial setup, you should create IAM (Identity and Access Management) users with limited permissions for your daily work.
Action: Enable Hardware MFA on your root account immediately. Once enabled, log out and put the hardware key in a physical safe. Use it only when absolutely necessary (e.g., to change billing or delete the account).
IAM Users & The Principle of Least Privilege
Instead of sharing one set of credentials, create unique IAM users for every person or service that needs access. Apply the Principle of Least Privilege: give users only the exact permissions they need and nothing more.
- Use Groups to manage permissions consistently.
- Use IAM Roles for software and services instead of long-lived access keys.
MFA Everywhere
MFA should be mandatory for every IAM user with console access. AWS supports virtual MFA (apps) and hardware keys. For any user with administrative permissions, a hardware key is strongly recommended.
2. Recovery Preparation
Root Account Recovery
AWS root account recovery is a manual, human-verified process that can be slow. It relies on the email address and phone number associated with the account. Action: Ensure your root account email is a highly secure, hardened account. Verify that the phone number on file is accurate and accessible.
Access Key Rotation
If you use AWS Access Keys for CLI or SDK access, they represent a significant risk. Unlike a password, they don't expire. The Strategy: Rotate your access keys every 90 days. Better yet, move to IAM Roles Anywhere or temporary credentials via AWS IAM Identity Center to eliminate long-lived keys entirely.
3. Threat Detection & Monitoring
You cannot secure what you cannot see.
- CloudTrail: This is a service that records every action taken in your AWS account. Enable it in all regions and ensure the logs are stored in a secure, encrypted S3 bucket.
- GuardDuty: Enable AWS's intelligent threat detection service to monitor for malicious activity, such as unauthorized port scanning or suspicious API calls.
- Budget Alerts: Set up billing alerts. If an attacker gains access and starts spinning up expensive GPU instances for crypto mining, a budget alert is your first line of financial defense.
For more information on the underlying principles, see our articles on MFA Fundamentals and Password Security.
Why This Matters
The Importance of MFA
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is your strongest defense against account takeover. Even if a physical or digital attacker obtains your password, MFA provides a critical second layer of defense that is much harder to bypass. Learn more about MFA best practices.
Unique, Strong Passwords
Never reuse passwords across different services. If one service is breached, every other account using that same password becomes vulnerable to "credential stuffing" attacks. Every online service should have its own unique, long, and complex password managed by a reputable password manager. Learn why unique passwords are critical.