AWS
Top 10 Actions to Prevent Cyber Defence Evasion on AWS Cloud

Cyber defence evasion refers to a set of tactics and techniques that attackers use to avoid detection and bypass security measures in order to maintain access to a target network or system. The goal of evasion is to prevent security tools such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), antivirus software, and security information and event management (SIEM) systems from identifying or stopping malicious activities.![]()
Here are ten actions to help prevent cyber defence evasion on AWS Cloud, based on general best practices and insights that could be found across security guidelines and discussions:
- Implement Strong Identity and Access Management (IAM) Policies:
- Use the principle of least privilege, ensuring users and services have only the permissions they need. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts, especially administrative ones.
- Utilize AWS CloudTrail and AWS Config:
- Enable CloudTrail for all regions to monitor, log, and retain account activity related to actions across your AWS infrastructure. AWS Config can be used to assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of AWS resources.
- Set Up Comprehensive Logging and Monitoring:
- Use services like Amazon GuardDuty for threat detection, Amazon CloudWatch for logging and monitoring resource usage, and AWS Security Hub for a centralized view of security alerts and compliance status.
- Regular Security Audits and Vulnerability Assessments:
- Employ tools like Amazon Inspector to automatically assess applications for vulnerabilities or deviations from best practices. Regularly scan your environment for vulnerabilities using trusted third-party tools as well.
- Encryption of Data in Transit and at Rest:
- Use AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to manage encryption keys. Ensure data is encrypted both when it’s stored (at rest) and when it’s moving between services (in transit).
- Implement Network Security Controls:
- Use Security Groups and Network ACLs to control inbound and outbound traffic. AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) can help protect against common web exploits.
- Automate Security Processes:
- Use automation for patch management, security updates, and responses to security events. AWS Systems Manager can help automate management tasks.
- Implement Defence in Depth:
- Layer your security components. For example, if an attacker bypasses one security measure, there should be others in place to catch or stop the intrusion.
- Regularly Update and Patch Systems:
- Keep all systems, applications, and AWS services updated with the latest security patches. Automate this where possible to prevent evasion through known vulnerabilities.
- Education and Training:
- Train your team on AWS security best practices. Awareness of phishing, social engineering, and other evasion techniques can prevent accidental security breaches.
Remember, while these actions are designed to bolster security, they must be part of a broader, ongoing security strategy that includes incident response plans, regular review of security policies, and staying updated with the latest security threats and AWS features. Also, always check for the latest AWS security recommendations as AWS services and security threats evolve.
What is the Difference Between AWS SDK and Boto3
The AWS SDK (Software Development Kit) and Boto3 are closely related but refer to slightly different concepts in the context of Amazon Web Services (AWS):
AWS SDK:
- Definition: The AWS SDK is a collection of libraries, tools, and documentation that developers can use to integrate AWS services into their applications. AWS provides SDKs for various programming languages.
- Purpose: It allows developers to write code that interacts with AWS services programmatically, enabling them to create, update, or delete resources, manage services, and perform other operations directly from their applications.
- Variability: There are different AWS SDKs for different programming languages like Java, .NET, JavaScript, PHP, and more. Each SDK is tailored to the conventions and libraries of that particular language.
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Top 10 Reasons Why AWS ECS is Better than Kubernetes
Both Kubernetes and ECS are now capable of handling complex containerized workloads, and there are times when you might consider comparing them based on specific use cases and organizational needs.Here are some reasons why one might prefer AWS ECS (Elastic Container Service) over Kubernetes:
- Integration with AWS Ecosystem: ECS is deeply integrated with other AWS services like AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), CloudWatch, and Elastic Load Balancing, making it simpler to use within the AWS environment.
- Simplicity and Ease of Use: ECS has a more straightforward setup and requires less configuration than Kubernetes, which can have a steep learning curve due to its complexity.
- Fully Managed: ECS provides a fully managed service, where AWS manages the control plane. This reduces the operational overhead as you don’t need to manage or update the cluster management software.
- Cost Management: With ECS, you only pay for the AWS resources you use (like EC2 instances or Fargate tasks). There’s no additional charge for the ECS service itself, whereas managing a Kubernetes cluster might incur costs for the management layer or require more expertise which could indirectly increase costs.
- Security: AWS handles the security of the underlying infrastructure for ECS. Also, policies and roles are easily integrated through AWS IAM, which might be more streamlined for users already invested in AWS security tools.
- Serverless Option with AWS Fargate: ECS supports Fargate, which allows you to run containers without managing servers or clusters, reducing the operational complexity even further compared to setting up Kubernetes for similar serverless functionality.
- Consistent Experience on AWS: For businesses already on AWS, using ECS means staying within a familiar environment, with consistent tooling, billing, and support.
- Scalability: While Kubernetes is highly scalable, ECS scales automatically with your AWS resources and integrates seamlessly with AWS’s autoscaling features, which can be less complex to manage.
- Networking: ECS with AWS VPC gives straightforward networking setup. While Kubernetes can handle networking, its configuration might be more complex, especially in multi-cloud or hybrid scenarios.
- Task Definitions: ECS uses straightforward JSON task definitions for application deployment, which can be simpler than Kubernetes’ YAML files, especially for those not needing the extensive customization Kubernetes offers.
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How to Upgrade AWS CDK to Minor version
AWS CDK uses sematic versioning system to manage the CDK package release. For example, if your existing CDK stack has a version x.y.z then y represents the minor version number, which you want to upgrade to the latest. To update a minor version, use the following procedures given below:
- Update the CDK CLI version Â
npm install -g aws-cdk@latest - Delete the package.lock.json file from the CDK stack.
- Update the cdk package version number in the devDependencies, dependencies.
- Run ” npm install”
- Run the “cdk deploy” command to deploy your stack with new version.
- Push to code to your Git Repository.
How to Enable Backend Access to AWS Fargate Container Using ECS EXEC
Unlike AWS ECS Â EC2 launch type, Fargate does not allow backend access. To enable backend access, you have to update your task definition and the task role. This post will help you enable docker container access of a fargate task. The only requirement before enabling ecs exec on fargate is that the platform version need to be 1.4. [Read more…] about How to Enable Backend Access to AWS Fargate Container Using ECS EXEC
How to Setup a Maintenace Page Message in AWS ALB
AWS application load balaner supports setting up a custom response for specific domain. If you need a easier method to serve a maintnace message from ALB you need to inject a new rule with fixed response. The fixed response can be a 5xx status code wtih custom html. To add a custom rule using AWS CLI, you need to have AWS CLI installed with the right permission and need to create a couple of JSON files such as one for creating a new listener ule and another one to delete the rule when you are done with the website maintenace. [Read more…] about How to Setup a Maintenace Page Message in AWS ALB
How to Install AWS CLI and Terraform in Jenkins Docker Container
To install a AWS CLI in a Jenkins running on a docker container, you can follow the below steps. But it would be better if you create a custom  Jenkins docker file with AWS CLI and then create a custom image to spin up the Jenkins container. But sometimes, you may need to install various packages.
Install AWS CLI in Jenkins Docker Container
- Take a note of the running Jenkins containers and then run to login as a root
     docker exec -u 0 -it 85f0af1f40e4 bash
- Next, update the packages list:
     apt-get update
- Download AWS CLI zip file from AWS.
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How to Resolve Route 53 Privated Hosted zone from a VPC in a different AWS account
When you have mulitiple AWS accounts and a specific privated DNS name that you want to resolve from a VPC in a different account you need to allow the hosted zone to be resolved from a differnet acccount. For example, you have a hosted zone in account A with several types of records and you want a DNS query for that zone get resovled from a specific VPC in account B. To allow the account B VPC resolve the hosted zone of account A, you need to do the following
3 Easy Steps to Create EKS(kubernetes) Cluster in AWS
One of the most easy to use tool for the beginners is that eskctl that help to quickly deploy Kubernetes cluster in AWS. We will share with you easy 3 steps creating a AWS managed EKS cluster with one EC2 worker node. To access the cluster we will install a dashboard using kube proxy that will allow you to access the dashboard from your local machine.
- install eskctl tool
- create the cluster
- setup the dashboard.
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