Scenario based practices for securing an AWS S3 bucket.
Tags: beginners, aws, learning, security
Published: 2024-07-07 10:57:48

**Scenario:**

You have an AWS S3 bucket named **my-example-bucket** where you store sensitive documents. You want to ensure the bucket is secure according to AWS S3 best practices.

**Solution Steps:**

**1. Enable Versioning:**
Versioning helps protect against accidental deletion or modification of objects.

**Action:** Enable versioning on the **my-example-bucket**.
**How:** Using AWS Management Console:
Navigate to the S3 console.
Select **my-example-bucket**.
Click on the **Properties** tab.
Under **Advanced settings**, select **Versioning**.
Click **Enable versioning**.

**2. Configure Bucket Policies:**

Implement a bucket policy to restrict access based on the principle of least privilege.

**Action:** Create a bucket policy that allows only specific IAM users or roles to access the bucket.
**Example Policy** (replace **my-example-bucket** and **arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/authorized-user** with your actual bucket name and IAM user ARN):

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5fi6357o7llbhyk0titf.png)

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Principal": {
                "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/authorized-user"
            },
            "Action": [
                "s3:GetObject",
                "s3:PutObject",
                "s3:DeleteObject"
            ],
            "Resource": [
                "arn:aws:s3:::my-example-bucket/*"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

**How:** Using AWS Management Console:
Navigate to the S3 console.
Select **my-example-bucket**.
Click on the **Permissions** tab.
Click **Bucket Policy**.
Paste the JSON policy above, modifying it with your specific IAM user ARN and bucket name.

**3. Enable Server-Side Encryption (SSE):**

Encrypt data at rest to protect sensitive information stored in the bucket.

**Action:** Enable SSE for objects uploaded to **my-example-bucket**.
**How:** Using AWS Management Console:
Navigate to the S3 console.
Select **my-example-bucket**.
Click on the **Properties** tab.
Under **Default encryption**, click **Edit**.
Select **AES-256** (SSE-S3) or **AWS-KMS** (SSE-KMS).
Click **Save**.

**4. Enable Logging and Monitoring:**
Enable access logging to track requests made to **my-example-bucket**.

**Action:** Enable logging to record access requests for audit and compliance purposes.
**How:** Using AWS Management Console:
Navigate to the S3 console.
Select **my-example-bucket**.
Click on the **Properties** tab.
Under **Server access logging**, click **Edit**.
Select **Enable logging**.
Specify a target bucket and prefix for storing log files.
Click **Save**.

**5. Regular Audits and Reviews:**
Regularly review access permissions, policies, and configurations for **my-example-bucket** to ensure security best practices are maintained.

**Action:** Schedule periodic audits to review bucket policies, IAM roles, and access logs.
**How:** Manually or using AWS Config and AWS CloudTrail for automated monitoring and auditing.

**Summary:**
By following these steps, you've implemented several AWS S3 security best practices for **my-example-bucket**:

- Ensured data protection with versioning and encryption.

- Controlled access with a bucket policy based on least privilege.

- Enhanced visibility and accountability with access logging.

These practices help secure your sensitive documents stored in AWS S3 and mitigate risks associated with unauthorized access or accidental data loss.