Data protection in key AWS services

In this section, we will delve into the various mechanisms and strategies for data protection across key AWS services, showing how encryption and key management are just pieces of a larger puzzle that also includes backups and access control.

S3 buckets

While S3’s ease of use and scalability make it popular, securing data stored in buckets is essential. Let’s dive into data protection features in S3, focusing on versioning, encryption, and access control.

Versioning and MFA Delete

Versioning is an often-underestimated feature that can serve as a first line of defense against both accidental deletions and malicious activities. When versioning is enabled on an S3 bucket, any overwrite or delete operation on an object doesn’t remove the previous versions. This allows for easy recovery and provides an additional layer of security.

For those who are already quite familiar with S3 versioning, you might be aware that once enabled, it cannot be disabled – only suspended. This is a crucial consideration for compliance and data retention policies. The cost implications are also non-trivial, as each version of an object is billed separately.

To manage costs and compliance, you can combine versioning with life cycle policies. For instance, you can configure a policy to transition previous versions to cheaper storage classes such as Glacier or even delete them after a certain period. This is particularly useful in regulated industries where data retention policies are stringent.

For added security, enabling MFA Delete on S3 buckets can provide an extra layer of protection against accidental or malicious deletions by requiring MFA credentials for any object deletion activity.