AWS Shared Responsibility Model for Security in the Cloud
Security and cloud compliance for data in the cloud is always a shared responsibility between the customer and the service provider- here, it is Amazon Web Services (AWS). Additional burdens like operational controls, hosting different OS components and AWS management control get reduced when it is a shared platform. In order to achieve higher work efficiency, enterprises shift their data and data processing to the cloud. When migrating to the cloud, they always look for efficient cloud service providers like Amazon web services. Transferring the data and its processing to the cloud eliminates the burden of IT infrastructure and computing requirements. There are indeed a host of cloud benefits. But, enterprises cannot feign ignorance about cloud computing protection. It is beyond doubt that the Amazon cloud team invests a lot in the security of data over the cloud. They even convince the IT leaders that the public cloud is more secure and reliable than the on-premise environment. The software and infrastructure specialists including a dedicated team take full security care of their services in Amazon. These cloud service providers hire IT, cloud experts, to deal with cloud security and a sizable budget is also set aside as financial resources. For example, Microsoft spends $1 billion per year on cybersecurity. Even at Amazon, there are its own disposals for enhancing AWS security. The AWS shared responsibility model for security deals with the role of both the Amazon security team as well as the customer in securing the enterprise data on the cloud.
More Details about AWS Shared Responsibility Model for Security
In the AWS shared responsibility model for security, Amazon protects the underlying AWS security architecture from intrusions, abuse, vulnerabilities, and fraud. The essential security controls are provided to the customers, which helps them to configure as per requirements. Amazon provides advanced IAM service that offers granular control over user permissions and provisions. Amazon encourages the use of AWS IAM security best practices and helps the customers to configure the account privileges. CloudCodes conducted a survey and as per the research, the majority of the enterprises fail in handling the responsibilities of cloud security.
Shared Roles of Customer and Amazon team in AWS Shared Responsibility Model for Security
Amazon offers many features in its AWS services. It is up to the customer to take full advantage of the security provided by the Amazon team as well as performs its duty of securing its data.
- Role of the Customer: The custom programs deployed in AWS and the customer information saved on AWS is to be protected by the customer. AWS IAM helps the customer in implementing correct policies of access control. The customer should also configure AWS security groups to prevent wrong access to ports and activate AWS CloudTrail. It is better if the customers opt for appropriate DLP policies so that internal, as well as external compliance, is achieved. DLP solution helps in the detection and remediation of threats that may arise from malicious misuse of AWS account or from the lost credentials.
- Role of Amazon: The software and hardware security as well as the facilities where the Amazon services are placed are all managed by the team of Amazon. Its responsibilities are networking, computing, database services security, and storage. The security configuration of AWS managed services like RDS, Redshift, Amazon DynamoDB, and Workspaces are also dealt with by Amazon.
Final Summation
In today’s internet generation, the protection provided by the Amazon team alone will not suffice. The onus also lies on the customers and even they are responsible for the data security on the cloud. The cloud service providers, no doubt, do their best to safeguard the information on the cloud storage. But customers need to understand that any irresponsible behavior on their part will lead to serious problems like hacking and cybercrime. The financial losses that they have to endure due to this are long-lasting and they lose the trust of their customers easily. The shared responsibility can be best described in this proverb-“It takes two to tango”. Indeed, it is the duty of the cloud service provider as well as the customer to secure the data on the cloud so that any misuse or malicious attack is prevented. Enterprises can also adopt the sincere use of brilliant CASB solutions to mitigate any security lapses in the system and bring their organizational data within the radar of utmost security.