Implement secure multi-account strategies (for example, AWS Control Tower, AWS Organizations).

AWS Organizations is a service that allows you to consolidate and centrally manage multiple AWS accounts. With AWS Organizations, you can create groups of accounts and then apply policies to those groups. This helps in streamlining account management, enhancing security, and simplifying billing.

Key Features of AWS Organizations:

• Centralized Billing: Consolidates billing across all accounts, enabling you to view and manage your costs from a single point.
• Service Control Policies (SCPs): Allows you to define policies at the organization or account level which can restrict the services and actions users can perform.
• Account Management: Automate the creation and removal of accounts using APIs.
• Consolidated Account Views: Enables you to see a report of all the resources in use across your accounts.

What is AWS Control Tower?

AWS Control Tower simplifies the process of setting up a secure and compliant multi-account AWS environment. It builds on top of AWS Organizations, providing an automated way to set up new accounts with predefined security and compliance controls.

Features of AWS Control Tower:

• Automated Account Setup: Helps in setting up new accounts with best-practice blueprints.
• Guardrails: Offers preventive and detective guardrails that help ensure compliance with policies and best practices.
• Centralized Logging and Monitoring: Integrates with AWS services like Amazon CloudWatch and AWS CloudTrail for compliance checks and monitoring.
• Dashboard: Provides a dashboard to view and manage the compliance status of your organization’s accounts.

Comparison: AWS Control Tower vs AWS Organizations

Implementing a Secure Multi-Account Strategy

When implementing a secure multi-account strategy with AWS, it’s crucial to follow these steps:

1. Plan Your Account Structure: Design an account structure that follows your operational and business structure. For example, you might have separate accounts for development, testing, and production environments or accounts for different departments.
2. Set Up AWS Organizations: Start by setting up an organization in AWS Organizations. Then, invite existing accounts or create new ones, organizing them into organizational units (OUs) for easier management.
3. Implement Service Control Policies: Define and attach SCPs, to OUs or specific accounts as required, to establish permission boundaries.
4. Centralize Identity Management: Use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to create roles and policies and AWS Single Sign-On for centralized user access.
5. Enable AWS Control Tower: If opting for a managed service approach, deploy AWS Control Tower to enforce compliance and account baselines.
6. Implement Logging and Monitoring: Enable AWS CloudTrail for all accounts to capture API activity, and use AWS Config for configuration management and compliance auditing.
7. Regularly Review and Update Policies: Continuously monitor policy adherence, and update SCPs and guardrails as needed to adapt to evolving security requirements.

Conclusion

Securing a multi-account AWS environment is a critical yet complex task. By leveraging AWS Organizations and AWS Control Tower, you can streamline the management of multiple accounts, improve security posture, and ensure compliance. With proper planning and implementation, these services can provide the governance and control required for effectively scaling your cloud infrastructure.

Note that this information is subject to change based on AWS’s evolving services and features. It is always recommended to review the latest documentation and best practices provided by AWS to stay up-to-date.