Security

The perception of on-premises environments being more secure than cloud environments was a common reason companies big and small would not migrate to the cloud. More and more enterprises now realize that it is tough and expensive to replicate the security features provided by cloud providers such as AWS. Let’s look at a few of the measures that AWS takes to ensure the security of its systems.

Physical security

You probably have a better chance of getting into the Pentagon without a badge than getting into an Amazon data center. AWS data centers are continuously upgraded with the latest surveillance technology. Amazon has had decades to perfect its data centers’ design, construction, and operation.AWS has been providing cloud services for over 15 years, and they have an army of technologists, solution architects, and some of the brightest minds in the business. They are leveraging this experience and expertise to create state-of-the-art data centers. These centers are in nondescript facilities. You could drive by one and never know what it is. It will be extremely difficult to get in if you find out where one is. Perimeter access is heavily guarded. Visitor access is strictly limited, and they always must be accompanied by an Amazon employee.Every corner of the facility is monitored by video surveillance, motion detectors, intrusion detection systems, and other electronic equipment. Amazon employees with access to the building must authenticate themselves four times to step on the data center floor.Only Amazon employees and contractors that have a legitimate right to be in a data center can enter. Any other employee is restricted. Whenever an employee does not have a business need to enter a data center, their access is immediately revoked, even if they are only moved to another Amazon department and stay with the company. Lastly, audits are routinely performed and are part of the normal business process.

Encryption

AWS makes it extremely simple to encrypt data at rest and data in transit. It also offers a variety of options for encryption. For example, for encryption at rest, data can be encrypted on the server-side, or it can be encrypted on the client-side. Additionally, the encryption keys can be managed by AWS, or you can use keys that are managed by you using tamper-proof appliances like Hardware Security Module (HSM). AWS provides you with dedicated cloud HSM to secure your encryption key if you want one.