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.
🔹 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.
🔹 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.
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.
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.
🔹 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.
🔹 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.
🔹 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.
🔹 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.
🚀 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.
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