October 25, 2023 at 08:04AM
Around 60% of corporate data is stored in the cloud, with Amazon S3 being a popular choice. However, S3 remains vulnerable to ransomware attacks as leaked access keys can be used to compromise sensitive data. To combat these threats, organizations need visibility into their S3 environment through CloudTrail and Server Access Logs. Understanding attack scenarios, implementing best practices such as IAM roles, least privilege, S3 Versioning, and encryption, will significantly reduce the risk of ransomware attacks on S3 buckets.
Based on the meeting notes, here are the key takeaways:
1. CloudTrail and Server Access Logs: It is important to ensure visibility into your S3 environment by leveraging CloudTrail and Server Access Logs. These logs provide valuable information for detecting suspicious activity and are essential for an effective detection strategy.
2. Attack Scenarios: There are three main attack scenarios observed in S3 ransomware attacks – object encryption, object deletion (delete operations), and object deletion (lifecycle policy). By understanding these scenarios and utilizing hunting queries shared by the expert threat hunting team from Hunters’ Team Axon, organizations can proactively mitigate risks.
3. Protection and Best Practices: To enhance the security of S3 buckets, it is recommended to follow best practices such as using IAM roles for short-term credentials, implementing the principle of least privilege, enabling S3 versioning and object lock, setting up AWS Backup/Bucket Replication, and implementing server-side encryption with AWS KMS keys.
4. Conclusion: Securing Amazon S3 is crucial for protecting organizations against ransomware attacks and evolving cyber threats. Prioritizing threats, ensuring visibility, and implementing proactive measures are essential for mitigating risk and maintaining the integrity and security of critical data.
For more detailed information on common attack scenarios and best practices, you can check out a video deep dive from Team Axon, the expert threat hunting arm of Hunters. You can also follow Team Axon on X for timely updates on emerging cyber threats and premier cyber content.