Securing Greenfield Deployment in AWS: Best Practices and Tools

Introduction:

Securing a greenfield deployment in AWS is critical to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with industry regulations. This second installment of our five-part series will discuss best practices and tools for securing a greenfield deployment in AWS. We will explore the different AWS services and tools that can be used to enforce HIPAA compliance, including AWS WAF, ALB, private instances, private databases, security groups, IAM, SSM, AWS Security Hub, Config with HIPAA Compliance Pack, and GuardDuty. By using these tools and following best practices, developers can ensure that their greenfield deployment is secure and compliant with industry regulations.

This is the 2nd in a five-part series where we are covering:

1. Greenfield Deployment in AWS: Design and Architecture

2. Securing Greenfield Deployment in AWS: Best Practices and Tools

3. CI/CD for Greenfield Deployment in AWS: CodeCommit, CodePipeline, and CodeBuild

4. Monitoring and Scaling Greenfield Deployment in AWS: Best Practices and Tools

5. Optimizing Cost and Performance for Greenfield Deployment in AWS

When designing a greenfield deployment in AWS, it is essential to consider security from the beginning. AWS provides many tools and services to help developers enforce security and compliance in their deployments. Here are some best practices and tools that were used to secure this deployment in AWS:

AWS WAF: AWS WAF is a web application firewall that helps protect web applications from common web exploits that could affect application availability, compromise security, or consume excessive resources. WAF can block common attack patterns like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and others. It is deployed before the ALB to protect our application from web-based attacks.

Here we can see bots being blocked from reaching our infrastructure.

ALB: The Application Load Balancer distributes incoming traffic to the EC2 instances running the Python application. Using ALB, we protect the medical company’s applications against DDoS attacks and enforce SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit. This is done with a simple rewrite on the HTTP listener.

Private instances and databases: By deploying private instances and databases, we ensure our data is not directly accessible from the public internet. Private instances and databases can be accessed only through a VPN or AWS SSM.

Security groups: Security groups are used to control inbound and outbound traffic for EC2 instances and other resources. Our security groups only allow exactly what needs to access these resources on the exact ports required.

IAM best practices: IAM (Identity and Access Management) manages user access to AWS resources. Best practices are enforced, including multi-factor authentication, least privilege access, and regular review of access policies.

SSM for compliance: AWS Systems Manager (SSM) ensures compliance with industry regulations by automating patch management, configuration management, and OS access.

AWS Security Hub: AWS Security Hub provides a comprehensive view of security alerts and compliance status across AWS accounts. Developers can use Security Hub to monitor their deployment for security risks and compliance violations.

The only failed “High risk” rule is that 443 is open to 0.0.0.0/0. This is acceptable to the customer so that the application can be available online.

Config with HIPAA Compliance Pack: AWS Config with HIPAA Compliance Pack monitors compliance with HIPAA regulations. Config continuously monitors the configuration of AWS resources and alerts developers when deviations are from the desired configuration. This is helpful for break/fix and security issues.

There are thousands of resources checked and recorded, and if desired, auto-remediated inside of AWS Config.

GuardDuty: AWS GuardDuty can detect and respond to security threats in real time. GuardDuty analyzes logs and network traffic to identify unauthorized access, malicious activities, and other security risks. This is also one of the most cost-effective services in the security bundle at AWS.

Enforcing HIPAA Compliance:

Using the above tools and best practices, businesses can enforce HIPAA compliance in their deployment in AWS. HIPAA compliance requires various security measures, including access controls, data encryption, audit trails, and incident response. Developers must review the HIPAA Security Rules carefully and implement appropriate security measures to ensure compliance. In my experience, businesses can pass HIPAA compliance audits in under four weeks using the abovementioned best practices.

Conclusion:

Securing a deployment in AWS is critical to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with industry regulations. By using AWS services and tools such as AWS WAF, ALB, private instances, private databases, security groups, IAM, SSM, AWS Security Hub, Config with HIPAA Compliance Pack, and GuardDuty, developers can enforce HIPAA compliance and ensure the security of their deployment. By following best practices and implementing appropriate security measures, we have reduced the risk of security breaches and data loss and ensured their deployment complies with industry regulations.

In conclusion, securing a deployment in AWS requires a comprehensive approach that includes both tools and best practices. Developers should carefully evaluate their security needs and select the appropriate tools and services to ensure the security and compliance of their deployment. By following the best practices outlined in this article and using the recommended tools and services, developers can create a secure and compliant deployment in AWS.