Securing data in AWS involves a multi-layered strategy across three key dimensions:
🔒 1. Data at Rest
🔐 2. Data in Transit
🕵️♂️ 3. Data in Use & Access Control
Below is a concise, practical checklist with tools, actions, and best practices for securing data in AWS.
✅ 1. Data at Rest (stored data)
🔹 a. Encrypt Everything
Service | How to Secure | Tool |
S3 | Enable server-side encryption (SSE) | SSE-S3, SSE-KMS, or SSE-C |
RDS | Enable encryption at creation | Use KMS key |
EBS | Encrypt EBS volumes | Enable during volume creation |
DynamoDB | Enable encryption by default | AWS managed or KMS key |
Redshift, EFS, FSx | Support built-in encryption | Use KMS |
Glue, Athena | Encrypt output in S3 | KMS key |
Backups (e.g., AWS Backup) | Use encrypted vaults | KMS-integrated |
Best Practice: Use customer-managed KMS keys for control and audit.
✅ 2. Data in Transit (moving data)
🔹 a. Use TLS Everywhere
Channel | How to Secure |
API Gateway, Load Balancer | Use HTTPS with ACM certs |
S3 Upload/Download | Use HTTPS endpoints |
RDS/Aurora | Use SSL connections from apps |
Lambda to DB/API | Use VPC + TLS connection string |
VPC Peering/VPN/Direct Connect | Use IPSec VPN, TLS, or Transit Gateway with encryption |
IoT/MQTT | Use TLS on MQTT endpoint |
Best Practice: Enforce minimum TLS 1.2 via policies and configurations.
✅ 3. Data in Use & Access Control
🔹 a. Least Privilege IAM Access
Control | Best Practice |
IAM Roles | Use fine-grained, role-based access |
S3 Policies | Restrict access by IP, user, time, or condition |
Bucket Ownership | Enable bucket ownership enforcement |
Data Tags | Use resource-based tags to enforce access via tag policies |
Temporary Access | Use STS and IAM roles for short-lived credentials |
🔹 b. Audit Everything
Enable AWS CloudTrail to log data access (e.g., GetObject, PutItem).
Use S3 server access logs or CloudWatch logs.
Enable KMS key usage logging.
Turn on GuardDuty and Macie for threat detection and PII classification.
✅ 4. Additional Data Protection Strategies
🔹 a. Data Masking & Tokenization
Use Glue, Macie, or custom Lambda to mask PII before storage.
Use Format-Preserving Encryption (FPE) or tokenization for sensitive fields.
🔹 b. Object Lock & Immutability
Use Case | AWS Feature |
Protect from deletion (e.g. logs, compliance) | Enable S3 Object Lock (WORM) |
Long-term audit data | Store in AWS Backup Vault with lock enabled |
🔹 c. Cross-region Backup & DR
Enable cross-region replication for S3, RDS snapshots, etc.
Store backups in separate AWS accounts using AWS Backup + KMS.
✅ 5. Security Monitoring
Tool | What it Does |
Macie | Detects sensitive data (e.g., PII, secrets) in S3 |
GuardDuty | Monitors for unusual activity |
Security Hub | Aggregates findings from Macie, GuardDuty, Inspector |
CloudTrail + CloudWatch | Logs access to all data resources |
🎯 TL;DR: AWS Data Security Best Practices
Area | Action |
At Rest | Use KMS encryption for S3, RDS, EBS, etc. |
In Transit | Use HTTPS/TLS for all communications |
IAM | Apply least privilege with roles and conditions |
Audit | Enable CloudTrail, CloudWatch, and key logging |
Detection | Use GuardDuty + Macie for security anomalies |
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