Selecting appropriate edge services based on anticipated threats and attacks (for example, OWASP Top 10, DDoS)

Can you describe how AWS WAF can protect against OWASP Top 10 security risks?

AWS WAF is a web application firewall that helps protect web applications against common web exploits. It can be configured with rules that correspond to the OWASP Top 10 risks, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and security misconfigurations. By creating custom rules or using managed rule groups, you can filter out malicious traffic and prevent attacks from exploiting vulnerabilities in the application.

How does AWS Shield help in protecting against DDoS attacks, and what are its key features?

AWS Shield is a managed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection service that safeguards applications running on AWS. It provides automatic inline mitigation that can minimize application downtime and latency. AWS Shield comes in two tiers – Standard and Advanced. Shield Standard offers basic protection for all AWS customers at no extra cost, covering common network and transport layer DDoS attacks, while Shield Advanced provides enhanced protections and attack mitigation against larger and more sophisticated DDoS attacks, as well as 24/7 access to the AWS DDoS Response Team (DRT) and cost protection.

What is the difference between AWS Shield Standard and AWS Shield Advanced, and when would you recommend using the latter?

AWS Shield Standard provides basic DDoS protection for all AWS services at no additional cost, but it is limited to defending against common, most frequently occurring network and transport layer DDoS attacks. AWS Shield Advanced provides more comprehensive protection with additional features such as detailed attack diagnostics, the ability to use AWS WAF at no extra charge, and the support of the AWS DDoS Response Team (DRT). The choice to upgrade to Shield Advanced is typically driven by the size, complexity of the infrastructure, the value of the protected assets, and the perceived threat level, especially for mission-critical applications that require higher levels of protection and support.

What role does Amazon CloudFront play in securing edge locations, and how does it integrate with other AWS security services?

Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that securely delivers data, videos, applications, and APIs to customers globally with low latency and high transfer speeds. CloudFront provides a number of security benefits, such as network and application level protection, SSL/TLS encryption, and integration with AWS WAF and AWS Shield for additional protection against web attacks and DDoS. By using CloudFront, you can distribute your content closer to the users while also taking advantage of AWS security services to harden your application’s security at the edge.

How would you configure AWS WAF to mitigate the risk of SQL injection attacks?

To mitigate the risk of SQL injection attacks using AWS WAF, you should create a SQL injection match condition to inspect elements of web requests and detect malicious SQL code. After defining the match condition, you would then create a rule that includes the SQL injection condition, and then associate that rule with a web access control list (ACL). Additionally, you could deploy managed rule groups specifically designed to protect against SQL injection attacks, which are maintained and updated by AWS or AWS Marketplace sellers.

In the context of security, how does AWS’s approach to global edge network benefit customers dealing with threats like DDoS attacks?

AWS’s global edge network consists of Amazon CloudFront and AWS Shield, which work together to provide high availability and scalability to absorb and mitigate DDoS attacks. The global edge network distributes traffic across multiple locations, reducing the impact of a DDoS attack on any single point of presence. This network dispersal, along with automatic routing and instant scaling capabilities, helps to maintain availability and performance for end-users, even during a DDoS attack.

What is the difference between rule-based and rate-based rules in AWS WAF, and how do they apply to threat mitigation?

Rule-based rules in AWS WAF are defined by conditions that specify the criteria that web requests must meet to be allowed or blocked. These rules look at aspects like the IP address, HTTP header, HTTP body, URI strings, and more. Rate-based rules, on the other hand, are designed to track the rate of requests for each originating IP address and trigger an action if the rate goes above a defined threshold. This type of rule is effective in protecting against brute-force attacks and DDoS attacks as it can limit the volume of requests an attacker can make over a given period.

How does AWS WAF’s integration with Amazon API Gateway enhance security for serverless applications?

AWS WAF’s integration with Amazon API Gateway enables you to protect your serverless applications from common web exploits. By applying WAF rules directly to API Gateway, you can filter malicious traffic before it reaches your serverless backend, such as AWS Lambda functions. This not only helps in protecting your applications from attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) but also conserves computing resources and reduces the risk of application downtime.

What measures does AWS provide to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data being transferred to and from edge locations?

AWS provides multiple measures to ensure confidentiality and integrity of data in transit to and from edge locations, such as HTTPS support in Amazon CloudFront with SSL/TLS encryption, the ability to use AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) for managing SSL/TLS certificates, and the option to enforce Field-Level Encryption to protect sensitive data within requests. Moreover, AWS Direct Connect can establish private connectivity between AWS and your datacenter, office, or colocation environment to further enhance data transfer security.

Can you explain the role of AWS Lambda@Edge and how it complements edge security?

AWS Lambda@Edge allows for running Lambda functions at CloudFront edge locations, which enables customers to implement custom authentication, encryption, and security logic close to the users. This capability complements edge security by allowing dynamic responses based on the geographic location of the request or the attributes of the request itself, providing an additional security layer by executing custom code that can inspect and filter malicious traffic before it reaches your application infrastructure.

How do AWS managed rule groups contribute to the security of a web application, and how would their use impact the management of custom WAF rules?

AWS managed rule groups provide a pre-configured set of rules designed to protect web applications against common threats and vulnerabilities, such as rules aligned with OWASP Top 10 security risks. These managed rule groups are maintained and updated by AWS and can be easily added to a web ACL. Using managed rule groups offloads the responsibility of creating and maintaining rules to AWS, which can be a significant benefit for organizations with limited security expertise. However, relying solely on managed rule groups can limit the specificity and fine-grained control offered by custom rules tailored to an application’s unique requirements. Ideally, managed rule groups should be used in conjunction with custom WAF rules for optimal protection.