10 Steps to Secure your AWS Infrastructure 🔒☁️

AWS gives us world class building blocks for security and infrastructure - but the main part is aws won't secure the infrastructure for you unless it is a serverless service.

When we talk about securing AWS service even a simple misconfiguration can cause security breaches.

Let me give you a 10-step checklist to secure your AWS environment.

1. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all users

Password alone is not enough to protect you AWS environment.
✅How to implement:

• Basic thing all know is to enable MFA first for the root account.
• Use Virtual MFA apps like Google Authenticator or Authy, if your are good with physical MFA which is hassle then go with it.
• Use IAM policies to enforce MFA.

💡 Pro Tip: Keep root account access locked away — use IAM users for daily work.

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2. Use IAM Roles, Not Access Keys

Use IAM roles for AWS services because Long-lived access keys = long-lived risk.
✅How to implement:

• Use "IAM roles" for EC2, Lambda, ECS, etc.
• If access keys are required, rotate them frequently.

💡 Pro Tip: Run aws iam list-access-keys regularly to find and remove unused keys.

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3. Apply Least Privilege Access

Give your users what they actually need.
✅How to implement:

• Use IAM policies tailored to each role.
• Avoid AdministratorAccess unless absolutely necessary.

💡 Pro Tip: Use IAM Access Analyzer to review unused permissions.

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4. Secure the Root Account

Root has full access to everything — if it’s compromised, it’s game over for your AWS Environment.

✅ How:

• Enable MFA Step 1.
• Remove any access keys.
• Store credentials securely (preferably offline).

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5. Restrict Network Access

Publicly exposed resources are at risk to hacker attacks.

✅ How to implement:

• Use Security Groups to allow only necessary ports.
• Use Network ACLs for extra filtering.
• Keep databases in private subnets.

💡 Pro Tip: Use VPC endpoints to have a private access to AWS services.

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6. Turn On Logging and Monitoring

Logging makes you to see what is actually happening behind the screens like API calls and more.

✅ How to implement:

• Enable AWS CloudTrail in all regions.
• Use CloudWatch Logs for system/application monitoring.
• Enable S3 Access Logs for buckets.

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7. Encrypt Data at Rest and in Transit

Compliance and privacy at least use some AWS default example SSE-S3 encryption and some SSL certificates for Transit encryption.

✅ How to implement:

• Enable S3 default encryption.
• Use KMS for managing encryption keys.
• Use HTTPS everywhere (ACM for free TLS certs).

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8. Enable GuardDuty, Inspector, and Security Hub

Automated threat detection saves time and a key player for your secure AWS environment.

✅ How to implement:

• GuardDuty: Detect suspicious activity.
• Inspector: Scan EC2 and containers for vulnerabilities.
• Security Hub: Get a centralized security score.

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9. Keep Software and Services Updated

Outdated systems are a security hole.

✅ How to implement:

• Apply OS patches regularly.
• Update Lambda runtimes.
• Rotate RDS SSL/TLS certificates.

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10. Use Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations

SCP can prevent dangerous actions at the organization level.

✅ Examples for SCP

• Block creation of public S3 buckets.
• Prevent disabling CloudTrail.
• Restrict certain regions if not in use.

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Final Thoughts

AWS isn’t all about “set it and forget it” task — it’s a continuous process were we need to monitor it.

The key point is to make security a built in part of your cloud infrastructure.

🔒 For fresh, do steps 1–4 Steps immediately, then schedule regular reviews for the rest of it.