The situation
What needs investigation
AWS accounts often accumulate broad permissions, long-lived credentials, public exposure, and inconsistent logging as teams move quickly. The review identifies practical control gaps and defines changes that fit how engineers deploy and operate.
Signals we look for
Identity
- IAM roles and least privilege
- human access paths
- credential lifecycle
Network
- public entry points
- security groups and NACLs
- private service paths
Data & secrets
- KMS encryption
- secret storage
- backup access
Detection
- CloudTrail coverage
- GuardDuty findings
- Security Hub and patching
How we investigate
Each step is validated against the workload before the next change.
- 01
Map access
Identify users, roles, service identities, and privileged break-glass paths.
- 02
Review exposure
Trace public endpoints, security groups, routing, and private dependencies.
- 03
Protect secrets
Check how applications receive credentials and how rotation is handled.
- 04
Enable evidence
Review CloudTrail, configuration history, and security findings.
- 05
Prioritize controls
Sequence high-risk access and exposure fixes without blocking delivery.
- 06
Validate access
Test application and deployment permissions after policy changes.
Architecture / decision path
Example engineering decision
Illustrative access finding — not customer data
Deployment rolebroad account permissions
Application roleshared with another service
Audit trailincomplete region coverage
Engineering interpretation
Reducing permissions requires knowing which calls the workload and pipeline actually make. Removing access blindly can cause an outage; retaining broad access leaves an avoidable production risk.
Possible next investigation
- Collect role activity and deployment requirements.
- Split application and pipeline identities.
- Test scoped policies in a non-production environment.
- Verify audit logging across intended regions.
Trade-offs we consider
Least privilege
Narrow policies take investigation but reduce accidental access.
Delivery speed
Security checks must fit the release path rather than become bypassed.
Visibility
More logs help investigation but need retention and ownership.
Emergency access
Break-glass access needs auditing and a controlled use case.
What the engagement can produce
Typical outputs for this type of work
Scope depends on the environment and the problem being investigated.
- IAM and access review
- network exposure findings
- secrets and encryption recommendations
- logging and detection baseline
- prioritized hardening plan
- validation checklist