1.3.2. Shared Responsibility: Customer's Role (Security in the Cloud)
First Principle: The customer is responsible for "security in the cloud," securing their data, applications, and configurations within AWS services, including IAM permissions, network controls, and encryption strategies.
In the AWS Shared Responsibility Model, the customer's responsibility is for "security in the cloud." This means customers (including Cloud Security Specialists) are responsible for securing everything they put into and configure within the AWS Cloud, specifically concerning their workloads and data.
Key Customer Responsibilities ("Security in the Cloud") for Security:
- Data Security: Encrypting application data, sensitive data classification, and ensuring data integrity (at rest and in transit). This involves selecting and configuring encryption options (e.g., S3 encryption, EBS encryption with AWS KMS).
- IAM Permissions: Configuring IAM roles, users, and policies to apply the Principle of Least Privilege. This includes access control for S3 buckets, DynamoDB tables, etc.
- Network Configuration: Designing and configuring VPCs, subnets, route tables, Security Groups, and Network ACLs for specific traffic flow and isolation.
- Operating System (if using EC2): Guest OS patches, security updates, firewall configurations, and anti-malware.
- Application Security: Writing secure application code, managing dependencies, and configuring application-level security features (AWS WAF rules).
- Logging and Monitoring: Configuring AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch, and VPC Flow Logs to monitor and audit security events.
Scenario: When deploying a web application on EC2 instances behind an ALB, you, as a Cloud Security Specialist, are responsible for patching the guest operating system, configuring Security Groups for traffic control, and encrypting data in S3.
Reflection Question: How does failing to properly configure IAM permissions or neglecting data encryption in S3 directly demonstrate a failure in your responsibility for "security in the cloud" within the Shared Responsibility Model for AWS workloads?