Copy of Application Configuration & Credential Security

📌 Introduction

🔹 Application Configuration & Credential Security ensures that sensitive application configurations, secrets, and credentials are securely managed and protected from unauthorized access. 🔹 SecureCart's Goal: Implement best practices to prevent credential leaks, unauthorized access, and misconfigurations in AWS workloads.

✅ Why is this important?

• Prevent exposure of credentials (database passwords, API keys).

• Ensure secrets are encrypted and accessed securely.

• Reduce attack surfaces by following least privilege principles.

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Key AWS Services for Secure Application Configuration & Credential Management

Service	Purpose	How SecureCart Uses It
AWS Secrets Manager	Securely store, manage, and rotate secrets like database passwords and API keys.	SecureCart stores RDS credentials, API keys, and encryption keys in Secrets Manager.
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store	Store and retrieve configuration data securely.	SecureCart uses Parameter Store for environment variables and app configs.
AWS IAM Roles & Policies	Control access to AWS resources with least privilege.	SecureCart enforces role-based access for services and applications.
AWS Lambda Environment Variables (Encrypted with KMS)	Store environment-specific configurations securely.	SecureCart encrypts Lambda function environment variables with KMS.

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📌 Section 2: Best Practices for Application Configuration Security

🔹 1. Use IAM Roles Instead of Hardcoding Credentials

❌ Bad Practice: Hardcoding AWS access keys in the application code. ✅ Best Practice: Use IAM Roles to grant applications the required permissions dynamically.

✅ Example: Assigning an IAM Role to an EC2 instance instead of using access keys:

shCopyEditaws ec2 associate-iam-instance-profile --instance-id i-xxxxxxxx --iam-instance-profile Name=SecureCartAppRole

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🔹 2. Securely Store Secrets Using AWS Secrets Manager

AWS Secrets Manager is the recommended way to store sensitive credentials like database passwords, API keys, and tokens.

✅ Example: Store a Secret in AWS Secrets Manager

shCopyEditaws secretsmanager create-secret --name SecureCartDBPassword \
    --secret-string "SuperSecureP@ssword123"

✅ Example: Retrieve the Secret Securely

pythonCopyEditimport boto3

client = boto3.client('secretsmanager')
response = client.get_secret_value(SecretId="SecureCartDBPassword")
print(response['SecretString'])

📌 Why SecureCart Uses AWS Secrets Manager? ✅ Automatic secret rotation. ✅ Encrypts stored secrets using AWS KMS. ✅ Access control via IAM policies.

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🔹 3. Use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store for Non-Sensitive Configurations

AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store is used to store non-sensitive application configurations securely.

✅ Example: Store an Application Configuration Parameter

shCopyEditaws ssm put-parameter --name "/securecart/config/db-host" --value "db.securecart.com" --type "String"

✅ Example: Retrieve the Parameter in an Application

pythonCopyEditimport boto3

ssm_client = boto3.client('ssm')
response = ssm_client.get_parameter(Name="/securecart/config/db-host")
print(response['Parameter']['Value'])

📌 When to Use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store?

• For storing application configurations (e.g., API endpoints, feature flags).

• For storing non-sensitive environment variables.

• For centralized configuration management.

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🔹 4. Encrypt Application Data Using AWS KMS

AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) is used to encrypt application secrets, logs, and sensitive data.

✅ Example: Encrypt Data Using AWS KMS

shCopyEditaws kms encrypt --key-id "alias/SecureCartKey" --plaintext "SensitiveData"

✅ Example: Decrypt Data in an Application

pythonCopyEditimport boto3

kms_client = boto3.client('kms')
ciphertext = b'EncryptedDataBlob'
response = kms_client.decrypt(CiphertextBlob=ciphertext)
print(response['Plaintext'])

📌 Why SecureCart Uses AWS KMS? ✅ Centralized encryption key management. ✅ IAM-based access control for encryption and decryption. ✅ Audit logging via AWS CloudTrail.

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🔹 5. Use Encrypted Environment Variables for AWS Lambda

Instead of storing secrets in plain text, encrypt Lambda function environment variables with AWS KMS.

✅ Example: Encrypt Environment Variables in AWS Lambda

shCopyEditaws lambda update-function-configuration --function-name SecureCartFunction \
    --environment "Variables={DB_PASSWORD=SuperSecureP@ssword123}" \
    --kms-key-arn arn:aws:kms:region:account-id:key/key-id

📌 Best Practices for Lambda Environment Variables ✅ Use AWS KMS to encrypt secrets. ✅ Do not hardcode database credentials in Lambda functions. ✅ Use IAM Roles instead of access keys for authentication.

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📌 Section 3: Common Threats & Mitigation Strategies

Threat	Mitigation Strategy
Hardcoded Credentials in Code	Use IAM Roles, Secrets Manager, and Parameter Store instead of embedding credentials.
Leaked API Keys in Public Repositories	Use AWS IAM Access Analyzer to detect and prevent secret leaks.
Unencrypted Sensitive Data	Encrypt data at rest and in transit using AWS KMS and TLS/SSL.
Overly Permissive IAM Policies	Follow least privilege principle when granting IAM permissions.

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📌 Section 4: SecureCart Implementation Strategy

🔹 How SecureCart Implements Application Configuration & Credential Security ✅ Secrets are stored securely in AWS Secrets Manager and rotated automatically. ✅ IAM Roles are used for authentication instead of hardcoded credentials. ✅ Application configurations are stored in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store. ✅ Data encryption is enforced with AWS KMS. ✅ Lambda function environment variables are encrypted using AWS KMS.

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📌 Hands-On Lab: Secure Application Secrets & Configurations

🎯 Goal: Implement a Secure Application Configuration Strategy

✅ Store an application secret in AWS Secrets Manager. ✅ Retrieve the secret in an EC2 instance securely. ✅ Use IAM Role instead of hardcoded credentials. ✅ Encrypt an application log file using AWS KMS.

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📌 Summary

Concept	AWS Service	Best Practice
Store Secrets	AWS Secrets Manager	Rotate secrets automatically, encrypt with AWS KMS.
Store Configurations	AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store	Store non-sensitive application settings securely.
Encrypt Sensitive Data	AWS KMS	Use IAM-controlled encryption keys for secure data handling.
Use IAM Roles	AWS IAM	Never hardcode access keys in the application code.
Protect Lambda Variables	AWS Lambda + KMS	Encrypt sensitive environment variables.

✅ Following these best practices ensures that SecureCart applications remain secure and compliant.

Scenario:

SecureCart’s developers need secure access to application credentials for databases and APIs without hardcoding secrets in code.

Key Learning Objectives:

✅ Store and manage secrets securely using AWS Secrets Manager & Parameter Store ✅ Use IAM permissions to restrict access to credentials ✅ Implement automatic secret rotation to enhance security ✅ Apply least privilege access control for applications

Hands-on Labs:

1️⃣ Use AWS Secrets Manager to Store & Retrieve Database Credentials 2️⃣ Implement Parameter Store for Application Configurations 3️⃣ Set Up IAM Policies to Restrict Secret Access

🔹 Outcome: SecureCart removes hardcoded credentials, ensuring secure secret management.