Preface

Welcome to Mastering AWS Security, Second Edition, your comprehensive guide to securing assets in the ever-evolving realm of Amazon Web Services (AWS). This new edition dives deeper than ever before into the strategies, tools, and best practices essential for safeguarding your AWS cloud environment against modern cyber threats such as Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS), data exfiltration, and privilege escalation attacks.

With an emphasis on the strategic use of AWS native services, we will embark on a journey that begins with the bedrock of AWS security principles and the shared responsibility model. From there, we will delve into secure architecture design, and advanced protection techniques such as data encryption and identity management, and embrace a DevSecOps mindset for seamlessly integrating security into your workflows. We will discuss cutting-edge security tools and how a commitment to continuous improvement keeps your cloud environment secure in a constantly evolving threat landscape.

Reflecting on my own journey as a security veteran from cloud skepticism to AWS security advocacy, this book encapsulates the insights and strategies honed over years of hands-on experience. Each chapter builds upon the last, ensuring a solid foundation in AWS security mechanisms, best practices, and innovative approaches for securing digital assets. It’s not just a book; it’s a journey alongside a seasoned practitioner, aimed at demystifying AWS cloud security and arming you with the tools needed for resilience in the face of cyber threats.

With Mastering AWS Security, Second Edition as your guide, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to design, implement, and maintain secure, resilient, and compliant AWS environments, along with the adaptability needed to face evolving security challenges and ongoing advancements in AWS.

Who this book is for

This book is written for anyone responsible for the security of AWS environments, such as:

• Cloud Architects and Engineers: Design and deploy cloud solutions with security woven into their core, not just bolted on after the fact
• DevOps Professionals: Learn to integrate security throughout the development and deployment lifecycles for a proactive, preventative approach
• Cybersecurity Professionals: Gain a robust understanding of AWS security mechanisms and best practices
• AWS Enthusiasts: Enhance your skills and become an advocate for security within your projects and organizations

Whether you are embarking on your AWS security journey or looking to deepen your existing expertise, it provides a comprehensive and practical guide to enhancing your security skills. It is about understanding the why behind security measures, enabling informed decisions that align with best practices and organizational objectives.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to AWS Security Concepts and the Shared Responsibility Model, establishes the groundwork for securing AWS environments, emphasizing the collaborative model of security responsibilities.

Chapter 2, Infrastructure Security – Keeping Your VPC Secure, offers insights into safeguarding your AWS infrastructure, focusing on VPC configurations, security groups, network access controls, and advanced security measures such as AWS Network Firewall, AWS WAF, and AWS Shield.

Chapter 3, Identity and Access Management – Securing Users, Roles, and Policies, provides a thorough examination of IAM core concepts, detailing best practices for governing identities and managing access to AWS resources securely.

Chapter 4, Data Protection - Encryption, Key Management, and Data Storage Best Practices, explores encryption methods, key management strategies, and best practices for securing data across various AWS storage services.

Chapter 5, Introduction to AWS Security Services, introduces key AWS security services, including Amazon GuardDuty, Amazon Inspector, and AWS Security Hub, and how they can be integrated into a comprehensive security strategy.

Chapter 6, Designing Secure Microservices Architectures in AWS, delves into architectural considerations and security best practices for building microservices using AWS services.

Chapter 7, Implementing Security for Serverless Deployments, addresses the unique security challenges of serverless computing, offering strategies for securing serverless applications in AWS.

Chapter 8, Secure Design Patterns for Multi-Tenancy in Shared Environments, explores multi-tenancy in AWS, discussing design patterns for securely isolating customer data and workloads.

Chapter 9, Automate Everything to Build Immutable and Ephemeral Resources, emphasizes the role of automation in enhancing security by leveraging programmatic management and Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Chapter 10, Advanced Logging, Auditing, and Monitoring in AWS, covers the tools and techniques for effective logging, auditing, and monitoring of AWS environments.

Chapter 11, Security Compliance with AWS Config, AWS Security Hub, and Automated Remediation, explores achieving and maintaining security compliance through continuous monitoring and automated remediation strategies.

Chapter 12, DevSecOps - Integrating Security into CI/CD Pipelines, introduces the principles of DevSecOps, integrating security practices within development and deployment workflows.

Chapter 13, Keeping Up with Evolving AWS Security Best Practices and the Threat Landscape, discusses strategies to remain well-versed in AWS security evolutions, stay ahead of security trends, adjust to new threats, and apply AWS’s newest security capabilities.

Closing Note

To get the most out of this book

This book assumes a good understanding of essential AWS services (such as Amazon S3, AWS Lambda, Amazon EC2, and AWS IAM) and a desire to take your cloud security knowledge to the next level.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “Apply these universally across AWS services, such as using aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent to verify MFA status for resource access.”

A block of code is set as follows:

from aws_encryption_sdk import KMSMasterKeyProvider, encrypt
key_provider = KMSMasterKeyProvider(key_ids=[
  'arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:012345678912:key/abcd1234-a123-456a-a12b-a123b4cd56ef'
])
plaintext = 'This is a plaintext message.'
ciphertext, encryptor_header = encrypt(
    source=plaintext,
    key_provider=key_provider
)
print(f'Ciphertext: {ciphertext}')

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, email us at [e-mail] and mention the book title in the subject of your message.

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and fill in the form.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [e-mail] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

Share Your Thoughts

Once you’ve read Mastering AWS Security, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Please click here to go straight to the Amazon review page for this book and share your feedback.

Your review is important to us and the tech community and will help us make sure we’re delivering excellent quality content.

Download a free PDF copy of this book

Thanks for purchasing this book!

Do you like to read on the go but are unable to carry your print books everywhere?

Is your eBook purchase not compatible with the device of your choice?

Don’t worry, now with every Packt book you get a DRM-free PDF version of that book at no cost.

Read anywhere, any place, on any device. Search, copy, and paste code from your favorite technical books directly into your application.

The perks don’t stop there, you can get exclusive access to discounts, newsletters, and great free content in your inbox daily

Follow these simple steps to get the benefits:

1. Scan the QR code or visit the link below

https://packt.link/free-ebook/978-1-80512-544-0

2. Submit your proof of purchase
3. That’s it! We’ll send your free PDF and other benefits to your email directly