Most AWS security incidents trace back to misconfigurations—overly permissive IAM policies, public S3 buckets, unencrypted data, missing logging. The shared responsibility model means AWS secures the infrastructure, but you're accountable for everything you build on top of it.
Key Security Areas
Identity & Access
Least-privilege IAM policies, MFA enforcement, Service Control Policies for multi-account governance, and IAM Access Analyzer to catch external access risks.
Data Protection
Encryption at rest and in transit, KMS key management, Secrets Manager for credentials, and S3 bucket policies that prevent accidental exposure.
Detection & Monitoring
CloudTrail for API logging, GuardDuty for threat detection, Security Hub for centralized findings, and CloudWatch alarms for suspicious patterns.
Compliance-Ready Architecture
Design systems with SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS requirements in mind from the start—proper logging, encryption, access controls, and audit trails built into the architecture.
Common Security Gaps I Find
After reviewing dozens of AWS environments, these issues appear consistently:
- IAM policies with Resource: "*" — The fastest way to get something working, but it creates unnecessary blast radius. Every policy should scope to specific resources.
- Root account without MFA — Still surprisingly common. Root should have hardware MFA and be used only for account-level operations.
- CloudTrail logging to a single account — If an attacker compromises that account, they can delete the evidence. Logs should go to a separate, locked-down account.
- Security groups with 0.0.0.0/0 on SSH/RDP — Use Systems Manager Session Manager instead, or at minimum restrict to known IP ranges.
- Secrets in environment variables — Lambda environment variables are visible in the console. Use Secrets Manager or Parameter Store with encryption.
My Approach
Security isn't about implementing every possible control—it's about understanding your risk profile and prioritizing protections that matter for your specific environment. I start with visibility: what's running, who has access, and what's being logged.
From there, I focus on the fundamentals that prevent most breaches: tight IAM policies, encryption everywhere, and comprehensive logging. These aren't glamorous, but they're what actually stops attackers.
For teams pursuing compliance certifications, I help bridge the gap between AWS technical controls and auditor expectations—mapping your infrastructure to control frameworks and automating evidence collection so audits don't derail your roadmap.
Multi-Tenant SaaS Security
Multi-tenant applications require defense in depth. A single authorization bug shouldn't expose one customer's data to another. I design systems with multiple isolation layers: tenant context in every API request, row-level security at the database, IAM policies scoped to tenant resources, and audit logging that tracks cross-tenant access attempts.
For enterprise customers with strict isolation requirements, I've implemented cellular architectures using AWS Organizations—separate accounts per customer with centralized management and consistent security baselines.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the AWS shared responsibility model?
AWS secures the underlying infrastructure (physical data centers, hypervisors, managed service internals), while you're responsible for everything you build on top: IAM policies, network configurations, data encryption, application security, and operating system patches. Most security incidents trace back to customer-side misconfigurations, not AWS infrastructure failures.
How do I prepare for SOC 2 compliance on AWS?
Start by leveraging AWS's own SOC 2 certification—many infrastructure controls are already covered because AWS maintains them. Focus your effort on: IAM policies and access reviews, encryption at rest and in transit, CloudTrail logging and retention, incident response procedures, and change management documentation. AWS Artifact provides AWS's compliance reports, and AWS Config can automate evidence collection for many controls.
What's the most common AWS security mistake?
Overly permissive IAM policies. Teams often use broad policies like AdministratorAccess or create custom policies with Resource: "*" because it's faster than figuring out the minimum required permissions. This violates least-privilege and creates unnecessary blast radius. IAM Access Analyzer can help identify policies that grant external access.
Do I need a WAF for my API Gateway?
It depends on your threat model. AWS WAF adds cost and complexity but provides protection against common web exploits, rate limiting, and geographic restrictions. For internal APIs or low-traffic applications, API Gateway's built-in throttling may be sufficient. For public-facing APIs handling sensitive data or high traffic, WAF is usually worth the investment.
How do I secure a multi-tenant SaaS application on AWS?
Multi-tenant security requires defense in depth: tenant isolation at the data layer (row-level security or separate tables/databases), IAM policies scoped to tenant context, API authorization that validates tenant access on every request, and logging that includes tenant identifiers for audit trails. For high-security requirements, consider account-per-tenant isolation using AWS Organizations.