Data Access & Governance

Data access and governance ensure that only authorized users and services can interact with SecureCart’s data while maintaining security, compliance, and operational efficiency.

✔ Why does SecureCart focus on Data Access & Governance?

• Protects customer transactions, payment info, and order history.

• Prevents unauthorized data exposure and access.

• Ensures compliance with industry standards like PCI DSS & GDPR.

• Maintains data integrity and prevents accidental deletions or modifications.

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🔹 Step 1: Defining Data Access Controls

Who Needs Access to Data?

Role	Access Level	Data Type
Developers	Read-only access	Logs, application data.
Security Team	Full visibility	Security logs, IAM policies.
Database Administrators	Read/Write	RDS & DynamoDB databases.
Application Services	Controlled access	Order history, product catalog.
Third-Party Payment Provider	Limited API access	Transaction details.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Follow the principle of least privilege – Grant only the necessary permissions. ✔ Enforce role-based access control (RBAC) using IAM roles and permissions. ✔ Use resource policies to control access at the AWS service level.

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🔹 Step 2: Implementing Data Access Policies

✔ Why? – To enforce who can access what data and prevent unauthorized actions.

A. IAM Identity-Based Policies

• Attached to IAM users, groups, or roles to define allowed/denied actions.

• SecureCart uses IAM roles instead of IAM users to manage data access dynamically.

Service	IAM Policy Use Case
Amazon S3	Developers can read product images but cannot delete them.
DynamoDB	Backend APIs can query order history but cannot modify payment info.
RDS MySQL	Only database administrators have write access to SecureCart’s customer data.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Use IAM roles instead of long-term credentials for applications. ✔ Regularly audit IAM policies with AWS IAM Access Analyzer.

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B. AWS Resource Policies

• Attached directly to AWS resources (S3 buckets, DynamoDB tables, etc.).

• Used to control access without modifying IAM roles.

Service	Resource Policy Use Case
S3 Bucket Policy	Restricts access to only SecureCart’s AWS accounts.
DynamoDB Policy	Allows read/write access only from VPC endpoints.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Always deny public access to S3 buckets. ✔ Use AWS PrivateLink instead of exposing services via the public internet.

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C. Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)

• SecureCart uses IAM session tags to grant dynamic permissions based on user attributes.

• Example: A developer with the "SecureCart-Dev" tag gets access only to development data.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Use tags for dynamic access control instead of static IAM roles. ✔ Combine IAM policies with tags for granular permissions.

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🔹 Step 3: Data Governance with AWS Organizations & SCPs

✔ Why? – To ensure consistent security policies across all SecureCart AWS accounts.

Governance Mechanism	Description	Use Case in SecureCart
AWS Organizations	Manages multiple AWS accounts under one structure.	SecureCart groups accounts by environment (Dev, Staging, Production).
Service Control Policies (SCPs)	Restrict AWS service usage across all accounts.	Prevents IAM user creation in production.
IAM Permission Boundaries	Limits the max permissions an IAM role can have.	Developers cannot grant themselves admin access.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Use AWS Organizations to enforce global security policies. ✔ Apply SCPs to prevent accidental security misconfigurations.

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🔹 Step 4: Data Encryption & Key Management

✔ Why? – Protects sensitive data from unauthorized access.

A. Encrypting Data at Rest

Service	Encryption Method	Use Case in SecureCart
Amazon S3	S3 Default Encryption (AES-256)	Encrypts order invoices stored in SecureCart’s S3 buckets.
Amazon RDS	KMS-Managed Encryption	Protects SecureCart’s MySQL database with customer details.
Amazon DynamoDB	Server-Side Encryption (SSE)	Ensures order transactions remain encrypted.

B. Encrypting Data in Transit

Encryption Type	Use Case in SecureCart
TLS 1.2+ (HTTPS)	Encrypts API calls between frontend & backend.
AWS PrivateLink	Ensures private access to third-party APIs.
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)	Manages SSL certificates for ALB & API Gateway.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Use AWS Key Management Service (KMS) for encryption key lifecycle management. ✔ Enforce TLS 1.2 or later for all network communications.

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🔹 Step 5: Implementing Data Retention & Lifecycle Policies

✔ Why? – To manage data lifecycle and optimize costs.

Data Type	Lifecycle Policy	Storage Class
Order Logs	Archive after 30 days	Amazon S3 Glacier.
Customer Data	Delete after 5 years	Amazon RDS backup retention.
Security Logs	Retain for 1 year	Amazon S3 Standard-IA.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Define clear data retention policies for compliance. ✔ Use S3 Lifecycle Rules to automatically transition data to cheaper storage.

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🔹 Step 6: Monitoring & Auditing Data Access

✔ Why? – Detects unauthorized access & security misconfigurations.

AWS Security Tool	Purpose	Use Case in SecureCart
AWS CloudTrail	Logs all AWS API calls	Detects unauthorized database access.
Amazon Macie	Scans S3 for sensitive data	Identifies exposed customer data.
Amazon GuardDuty	Monitors for suspicious behavior	Alerts on anomalous access patterns.
AWS Security Hub	Centralized security monitoring	Aggregates security findings.

✅ Best Practices: ✔ Enable CloudTrail logging across all AWS accounts. ✔ Use Macie to classify and detect sensitive data in S3. ✔ Regularly review IAM activity logs for anomalies.

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🚀 Summary

✔ Use IAM & Resource Policies to enforce least privilege. ✔ Implement AWS Organizations & SCPs for centralized governance. ✔ Encrypt all data at rest and in transit using AWS KMS & TLS. ✔ Apply S3 Lifecycle Policies to manage data retention and cost. ✔ Monitor security logs with CloudTrail, GuardDuty, and Macie.

Would you like a hands-on lab, Terraform template, or AWS CLI script for SecureCart’s data governance setup? 🔐🚀

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OSearchDeep research

Scenario:

SecureCart needs to restrict data access to authorized users and services while ensuring compliance with regulatory policies.

Key Learning Objectives:

✅ Implement fine-grained access control for data ✅ Apply IAM Policies & Resource-Based Policies ✅ Use AWS Organizations & SCPs for Data Governance ✅ Enforce least privilege and compliance policies

Hands-on Labs:

1️⃣ Apply IAM Policies to Restrict Access to Sensitive Data 2️⃣ Use S3 Bucket Policies to Prevent Public Access 3️⃣ Configure AWS Organizations & SCPs for Data Governance

🔹 Outcome: SecureCart ensures only authorized users can access sensitive data.