Organizations rely on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to securely build, deploy, and scale their applications. As companies grow, managing permissions efficiently becomes crucial to ensure a least-privilege access model for identities and resources. At AWS, two key personas work toward this goal: security teams and developers.
Security teams focus on centrally inspecting permissions to identify and address access risks such as excessive permissions, anomalous access, or identity compliance issues. Developers, on the other hand, seek policy verification tools to help them establish and maintain effective permissions as they build applications.
Many customers are turning to CIEM solutions to enhance their permissions management strategies. These solutions help manage risks associated with access privileges in cloud environments. While the specific features of CIEM may vary, there are four core capabilities: rightsizing permissions, detecting anomalies, visualization, and compliance reporting. AWS offers these capabilities through services like AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) Access Analyzer, Amazon GuardDuty, Amazon Detective, AWS Audit Manager, and AWS Security Hub, which are explored in this post.
Rightsizing Permissions
One of the main reasons organizations adopt CIEM solutions is to address the issue of excessive permissions, which can pose significant security risks. In AWS, IAM Access Analyzer helps customers rightsize their permissions by identifying identities with excessive access and enabling proactive refinement.
IAM Access Analyzer continuously monitors AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) users and roles, providing visibility into overly permissive identities. This allows security teams to review and address unused or risky permissions, thus reducing potential security threats.
In addition to benefiting security teams, IAM Access Analyzer offers developers policy validation tools to ensure security best practices are followed before deployment. It provides policy recommendations, allowing developers to refine unused access and ensure that identities only have the permissions required for their specific roles.
Anomaly Detection
Detecting anomalies in identity behavior is critical for identifying potential security threats. In AWS, Amazon GuardDuty facilitates anomaly detection by monitoring unusual usage patterns, such as suspicious sign-in attempts or unauthorized API calls.
GuardDuty uses machine learning and threat intelligence to establish baselines for normal identity behavior, flagging deviations that may indicate threats or compromised accounts. By integrating GuardDuty into a CIEM strategy, security teams can identify and respond to anomalies linked to identity usage.
Visualization
Effective CIEM requires both a central view of identity security posture and a detailed understanding of how identities are connected to AWS resources. IAM Access Analyzer provides a centralized dashboard for reviewing identity permissions across the organization, helping security teams focus on accounts that need attention due to unused roles or excessive access.
For a more detailed look at individual identities, Amazon Detective generates visual representations of identity access patterns and their relationships with resources like Amazon EC2, S3, and AWS Lambda. Detective helps security teams quickly spot unusual activities such as unauthorized access attempts or suspicious resource interactions.
Compliance Reporting
Security teams must collaborate with auditors to ensure that identities, resources, and permissions meet organizational compliance standards. AWS Audit Manager automates the collection of evidence needed for compliance reporting, including identity access reviews.
Audit Manager allows teams to assess IAM policies, identify misconfigurations or excessive permissions, and ensure compliance with best practices. It also provides detailed compliance reports and suggests remediation actions to address non-compliant identities or access controls, reducing the burden on security teams.
Single Pane of Glass
While AWS offers a range of tools for managing identity access and security, customers often seek a unified view of their security posture. AWS Security Hub provides this by aggregating findings from multiple AWS services into a single dashboard. Security Hub delivers a comprehensive view of how identities are managed and used, giving organizations a holistic understanding of their security landscape.
Conclusion
CIEM solutions are designed to identify, manage, and mitigate risks related to access privileges in cloud environments. The AWS services highlighted in this post provide the tools to help organizations implement CIEM strategies. To explore these capabilities further, use the services mentioned or check out AWS resources for more information.
