AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate: Remediation Actions for Public Access in Amazon S3 Buckets

Remediation Actions for Public Access in Amazon S3 Buckets

Question

An engineering firm uses many Amazon S3 buckets to save all project-related documents that should be accessible only by internal teams.

The Operations team uses AWS Config to scan all S3 buckets to check public access & mark them as non-compliant.

Security Lead is looking for remediation action for all non-compliant Amazon S3 buckets immediately with the most effective & cost-efficient way. Which actions can be taken to remediate public access?

Answers

Explanations

Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer

A. B. C. D.

Correct Answer: B.

Amazon System manager runbook can be used to take immediate actions for all non-compliant resources evaluated by AWS Config.

With the Amazon System manager runbook, there is an option to use pre-populated managed runbooks or create custom remediation actions.

Options A & C are incorrect as this will require additional admin work to block public access for all Amazon S3 buckets manually.

Option D is incorrect as using the Lambda function will incur additional costs.

For more information on using AWS Systems Manager with AWS Config, refer to the following URLs,

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/config/latest/developerguide/remediation.html https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/mt/using-aws-systems-manager-opscenter-and-aws-config-for-compliance-monitoring/

Sure, I'd be happy to provide a detailed explanation of the answer options and the best approach to remediate public access for non-compliant Amazon S3 buckets in this scenario.

Firstly, it's important to understand why public access to S3 buckets is a security concern. By default, S3 buckets are private and can only be accessed by authorized users. However, it's possible for users to accidentally or intentionally make their S3 buckets public, which could potentially expose sensitive data to unauthorized access.

In this scenario, the Operations team is using AWS Config to scan all S3 buckets and mark them as non-compliant if they have public access. The Security Lead is looking for the most effective and cost-efficient way to remediate this issue for all non-compliant S3 buckets immediately.

Now let's take a closer look at each of the answer options:

A. Use cron jobs to disable public read access from non-compliant Amazon S3 bucket.

Cron jobs are a scheduling tool in Unix-based systems that can automate certain tasks. In this case, the suggestion is to use cron jobs to disable public read access from non-compliant S3 buckets. While this approach is possible, it has some limitations. For example, it would require setting up and maintaining cron jobs for each non-compliant S3 bucket, which could be time-consuming and error-prone. Additionally, if a new non-compliant bucket is detected, it would need to be manually added to the cron job list. Therefore, this option is not the most effective or efficient approach.

B. Use Amazon System Manager Runbook to disable public read access from non-compliant Amazon S3 bucket.

Amazon System Manager (SSM) is a service that helps you manage instances and virtual machines on AWS. SSM provides a Runbook Automation feature that allows you to automate common maintenance and deployment tasks. In this case, the suggestion is to use SSM Runbook to disable public read access from non-compliant S3 buckets. While this approach is a step in the right direction, it may not be the most effective or efficient approach for this scenario. SSM Runbooks may take some time to execute, and you would need to create a separate Runbook for each non-compliant bucket. This approach could also lead to delays in remediating non-compliant buckets, and it may not be the most cost-efficient approach.

C. Manually block public access for non-compliant Amazon S3 bucket.

Manually blocking public access for non-compliant S3 buckets is an option, but it could be time-consuming and prone to errors. Additionally, it may not be the most efficient approach, especially if there are many non-compliant buckets to remediate.

D. Create a custom Lambda function to disable public read access from non-compliant Amazon S3 bucket.

Creating a custom Lambda function to disable public read access from non-compliant S3 buckets is likely the most effective and cost-efficient approach. AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service that allows you to run code without provisioning or managing servers. With Lambda, you can create a custom function that automatically disables public read access for any non-compliant S3 bucket detected by AWS Config. This approach is scalable, efficient, and automated, and it ensures that any new non-compliant buckets are automatically remediated without the need for manual intervention.

In summary, the best approach to remediate public access for non-compliant Amazon S3 buckets in this scenario is to create a custom Lambda function to disable public read access for any non-compliant S3 bucket detected by AWS Config.