Credential management services

What AWS service would you use to centrally manage and securely store credentials and secrets used by your applications and services?

AWS Secrets Manager is the service designed to centrally manage and securely store credentials and secrets. It enables you to rotate, manage and retrieve database credentials, API keys, and other secrets throughout their lifecycle.

How would you automate the rotation of database credentials in AWS without causing an interruption to the service?

In AWS, you can use AWS Secrets Manager which supports automatic rotation of secrets, such as database credentials. You can configure Secrets Manager to automatically rotate the secret for a secured service on a specified schedule without interruption to the service by using a Lambda function to define the rotation logic.

Which AWS service can act as a centralized location to store and manage your EC2 Key Pairs?

AWS Key Management Service (KMS) does not directly manage EC2 Key Pairs; instead, EC2 Key Pairs are managed directly within the EC2 service. AWS KMS is used for creating and controlling encryption keys used to encrypt your data but is not designed for SSH keys management. IAM is used for managing access to AWS services, and it involves credentials like access keys, but not EC2 Key Pairs.

Can you describe the difference between AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) and AWS Secrets Manager and when you might use one over the other?

AWS IAM is used for controlling access to AWS services and resources, allowing you to create and manage AWS users and groups and use permissions to allow and deny their access to AWS resources. AWS Secrets Manager is specifically used for managing secrets required to access applications, services, and IT resources. IAM is primarily used for identity management, while Secrets Manager is used for storing and rotating credentials or secrets like database credentials or API keys securely.

How does AWS IAM help enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and why is it important?

AWS IAM supports Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), which requires users to present two or more separate forms of identification before granting access to AWS resources. This is achieved by enabling MFA on IAM users and enforcing MFA through IAM policies. MFA is important because it adds an additional layer of security above username and password, protecting against unauthorized access resulting from compromised credentials.

If an organization needed to provide access to AWS resources for users who already have an existing identity provider (e.g., corporate Active Directory), which AWS service could facilitate this?

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) with its feature called IAM Identity Federation can be used in this case. IAM Identity Federation allows organizations to grant external user identities permissions to AWS resources without having to create IAM users. This is possible by integrating with identity providers like Active Directory and using SAML 0 or OpenID Connect (OIDC).

What precautions can be taken to protect IAM access keys from being exposed?

Precautions include:
– Never embedding IAM access keys within unencrypted code or storing them in public repositories.
– Using IAM roles and temporary credentials like those provided by AWS Security Token Service (STS) where possible.
– Enabling MFA for IAM users.
– Regularly rotating IAM access keys and following the principle of least privilege when assigning permissions.
– Using tools like AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to manage encryption keys and AWS Secrets Manager to rotate and manage access keys safely.

How is AWS KMS different from AWS CloudHSM, and when would you use one over the other?

AWS KMS is a managed service that makes it easy for you to create and control encryption keys used to encrypt your data. KMS is integrated with other AWS services and provides a balance of security and manageability. AWS CloudHSM offers hardware security modules (HSMs) in the AWS Cloud, giving you control over key management and meeting compliance requirements that require the use of HSMs. CloudHSM is used when you need dedicated single-tenant access to an HSM to manage keys within FIPS 140-2 Level 3 security-compliant hardware.

In AWS, how can you enforce the use of strong, complex passwords for IAM users, and ensure they are rotated regularly?

This can be enforced using IAM password policies, where you can set minimum password length, require specific character types (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, non-alphanumeric characters), and enable password expiration to enforce regular rotation.

Within AWS, what is the benefit of assigning IAM roles to EC2 instances, and how does it enhance security?

Assigning an IAM role to an EC2 instance enables applications on the instance to use temporary credentials that AWS automatically rotates and manages to access AWS resources. This is more secure than assigning static IAM Access Keys to your instances because temporary credentials do not need to be embedded in code and are not at risk if an EC2 instance is compromised.

How can AWS Organizations help in managing multiple AWS accounts’ credentials more efficiently?

AWS Organizations helps streamline credential management across multiple AWS accounts by allowing you to centrally manage policies. You can apply Service Control Policies (SCPs) to enforce access policies across all accounts in the organization, enabling standardized access controls and making credentials management more efficient at scale.

Describe the process of granting cross-account access in AWS and the importance of proper credential management during this process.

To grant cross-account access, you create an IAM role in the account that owns the resources (resource account) with permissions that define what actions can be performed on the resources. Then, you grant the other account (trusted account) permission to assume the role. Credential management is critical in this process to ensure that only authorized entities from the trusted account can assume the role and access resources, avoiding unintended privilege escalation or data exposure.