Evaluate and implement new security services and features regularly

Regularly evaluating and implementing security services and features from AWS and AWS Partners is crucial for evolving the security posture of your workload. This proactive approach ensures that you are leveraging the latest security innovations and maintaining alignment with best practices in a constantly changing threat landscape.

Best Practices

Regular Assessment of Security Services

• Establish a routine schedule to review AWS security services and features, ensuring that your workload is utilizing the latest offerings. This process is crucial for maintaining an up-to-date defense posture against evolving threats.
• Incorporate AWS Security Blog and What’s New with AWS? into your team’s weekly or monthly review cycle to systematically gather information on new services and features relevant to your security architecture.
• Set up alerts for new service releases related to security, allowing your team to immediately consider the integration of these tools into your workloads.
• Engage with AWS security webinars and training sessions to get insights directly from AWS experts about best practices and implementation guidance for new services.

Questions to ask your team

• How frequently do you review and assess new AWS security services and features?
• Do you have a process in place for incorporating updates from the AWS Security Blog into your security practices?
• Have you designated team members responsible for staying informed about the latest AWS announcements and security best practices?
• What metrics do you use to measure the effectiveness of newly implemented security services?
• Can you provide examples of recent security services or features you have integrated into your workload?
• How do you ensure that your security posture evolves in response to emerging threats or vulnerabilities?
• Do you regularly conduct training sessions to familiarize your team with new AWS security services and their implementation?

Who should be doing this?

Security Architect

• Design and implement security architectures for workloads.
• Evaluate AWS security services and features for relevance to projects.
• Collaborate with development teams to integrate security features.
• Provide guidance on best practices in security implementations.

DevOps Engineer

• Automate deployment of security tools and features within the CI/CD pipeline.
• Regularly update security configurations based on new AWS features.
• Monitor system performance and ease of integration for new security services.
• Test security features before full implementation in production.

Security Analyst

• Monitor AWS Security Blog and AWS announcements for updates on new features and services.
• Conduct regular audits of workload security posture.
• Report on the status of compliance with organizational security policies.
• Maintain documentation of implemented security measures and changes.

Product Owner

• Prioritize the evaluation and implementation of new security features in the product backlog.
• Ensure alignment of security goals with business objectives.
• Facilitate communication between stakeholders regarding security needs and updates.
• Review and approve changes to security-related processes.

What evidence shows this is happening in your organization?

• Security Services Evaluation Checklist: A comprehensive checklist to evaluate AWS security services and features on a regular basis, ensuring that the organization adopts the best tools to enhance security.
• AWS Security Service Implementation Playbook: A step-by-step guide for implementing new AWS security services and features, including best practices and specific configurations tailored to the organization’s workload.
• Monthly Security Feature Update Report: A report generated monthly that summarizes the latest AWS security features, updates, and recommended enhancements, along with their potential impact on the organization’s security posture.
• Threat Intelligence Dashboard: An interactive dashboard that monitors and displays the latest threat intelligence related to AWS services, helping security teams stay informed and adjust their security strategies accordingly.
• Security Posture Evolution Strategy: A strategic document outlining how to continuously assess and enhance the security posture of workloads by integrating new AWS security services and features into the existing framework.

Cloud Services

AWS

• AWS Security Hub: Aggregates and prioritizes security alerts from AWS accounts, helping you evaluate security posture.
• AWS Config: Enables you to assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of your AWS resources.
• AWS CloudTrail: Tracks user activity and API usage across your AWS infrastructure, providing visibility into actions taken.
• Amazon Inspector: Automated security assessment service to help improve the security and compliance of applications deployed on AWS.
• AWS GuardDuty: Intelligent threat detection service that monitors for malicious or unauthorized behavior.

Azure

• Microsoft Defender for Cloud: Provides security management and threat protection for your Azure resources, helping to improve your security posture.
• Azure Security Center: Helps you assess your security posture and offers recommendations for enhancing security across your Azure resources.

Google Cloud Platform

• Google Cloud Security Command Center: Helps you prevent, detect, and respond to threats from a centralized dashboard across your Google Cloud resources.
• Google Cloud Armor: Protects your applications against DDoS attacks and other web exploits, allowing you to secure your services effectively.

Question: How do you securely operate your workload?
Pillar: Security (Code: SEC)