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Introduction
AWS OpsWorks for Configuration Management (CM) is a service used to manage servers for configuration management are run and managed by a service. It can be used to create, manage, add, and remove nodes for AWS OpsWorks for Chef Automate and AWS OpsWorks for Puppet Enterprise servers.
In this blog, we will discuss Security in AWS OpsWorks Configuration Management in deep detail. Let's start going!
Cloud Security At AWS
Cloud security is the process of defending infrastructure, applications, and data stored in the Cloud against online threats and attacks.
Cloud Security is of two types:
🤖 Security in the Cloud: Use of the AWS service will determine your responsibility. Other aspects, such as your data's sensitivity, your business's needs, and applicable laws and regulations, are also the responsibility of the user.
🤖 Security of the Cloud: The infrastructure that powers AWS services in the AWS Cloud must be kept secure and safe. You can use the secure and safe services of AWS. As part of the AWS compliance programs, third-party regularly check and confirm the effectiveness of our security..
Data Protection in AWS OpsWorks CM
AWS protects the global infrastructure that powers the entire AWS Cloud through the shared responsibility model of AWS. Your content hosted on this infrastructure must be kept under your control.
Methods of securing the data are:
✅ Apply MFA to every account.
✅ To communicate with AWS resources, use SSL/TLS. TLS version 1.2 or later is advised.
✅ AWS CloudTrail can be used to configure API and user activity logging.
✅ Utilize all of the built-in security measures in AWS services and the encryption options AWS provides.
✅ Utilize cutting-edge managed security services like Amazon Macie, which helps you find and secure personal data kept in Amazon S3 storage.
✅ Use a FIPS endpoint if you need FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic modules when interacting with AWS via a command line interface or an API.
Recommendation for Data Privacy
The recommendations for data privacy are:
✍️ Never enter tags or free-form fields like a Name field with private information like customers' email addresses.
✍️ Any information you enter in name fields or tag fields may be used for billing.
✍️ Do not include credentials information in a URL that you provide to an external server to validate your request to that server.
Data Collection By OpsWorks CM
While building and maintaining your AWS OpsWorks for Chef Automate and AWS OpsWorks for Puppet Enterprise servers, OpsWorks CM gathers the following customer data.
🚀 To facilitate communication between your Puppet master and managed nodes, AWS OpsWorks for Puppet Enterprise collects the private keys.
🚀 If you use a custom domain and AWS OpsWorks for Chef Automate, AWS collects the private keys for the certificates you attach to the service. The server receives the private key that you supply while creating a Chef Automate server with a custom domain.
Your configuration code, including Chef cookbooks and Puppet Enterprise modules, is stored on AWS OpsWorks CM servers. Despite the fact that this code is kept in server backups, AWS does not have it. Only administrators with access to your AWS account can decrypt this code.
AWS OpsWorks CM does not keep customer logs or use customer-supplied content to maintain the service. Its server logs are kept in your account's Amazon S3 buckets. AWS logs the IP addresses of users who connect to your AWS OpsWorks CM servers.
Integration with AWS Secrets Manager
When you create a new server in OpsWorks CM starting on May 3, 2021, OpsWorks CM stores the server's secrets in AWS Secrets Manager.
The following characteristics are kept in Secrets Manager as secrets for new servers:-
Chef Automate Server:
🖊️ HTTPS secret key (only servers that do not use a custom domain).
🖊️ Chef Automate administrative password (CHEF_AUTOMATE_ADMIN_PASSWORD).
Puppet Enterprise master:
🖊️ HTTPS private key (only servers that do not use a custom domain).
Chef Automate and Puppet Enterprise servers only store the HTTPS private key in Secrets Manager for servers that do not use a custom domain because it is generated as part of automatic, weekly system maintenance.
Data Encryption in AWS OpsWork CM
AWS OpsWorks CM encrypt the server backups and communications between authorized AWS users and their AWS OpsWorks CM servers. The AWS OpsWorks CM servers' root Amazon EBS volumes are not encrypted.
Encryption at Rest
Backups made by AWS OpsWorks CM servers are secure and safe. The AWS OpsWorks CM servers' root Amazon EBS volumes are not encrypted. The user cannot alter this.
Encryption in Transit
AWS OpsWork CM utilizes HTTP with TLS encryption. If users provide no signed certificate, AWS OpsWorks CM uses self-signed certificates by default to provision and manage servers. It is advised to make use of a certificate that a CA has authorized.
Key Management
Key Management Service by AWS OpsWorks CM does not currently support user-managed keys or AWS-managed keys.
Configuration and Vulnerability Analysis in AWS OpsWorks CM
The operating system on your AWS OpsWorks CM server receives recurring kernel and security updates from AWS OpsWorks CM.
Users can specify a window during which automatic updates should occur, up to two weeks from the current date. For Chef and Puppet Enterprise, AWS OpsWorks CM automatically pushes out minor version updates.
Best Practices of Security for AWS OpsWorks CM
Like all AWS services, AWS OpsWorks CM provides security features for you to create and apply your security policies.
The following recommendations for best practices of security are:
✏️ Secure your Starter Kit and download login credentials: Store the Starter Kit and credentials when you create a new AWS OpsWorks CM server.
✏️ Never share your sign-in information for the Chef or Puppet management consoles with other users. Each user of the Chef or Puppet console websites should have a own unique user account.
✏️ Use CA-signed certificates to connect to nodes: Self-signed certificates are an option when registering or bootstrapping nodes on your AWS OpsWorks CM server. We advise making use of a certificate that a CA has authorized.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does CodePipeline support OpsWorks?
On Chef 11.10, Chef 12, and Chef 12.2 stacks, you can use CodePipeline to automatically release your Chef cookbooks and application code to AWS OpsWorks Stacks.
Do AWS OpsWorks Stacks support tags?
OpsWorks Stacks automatically tag all resources with the stack's name and layer to which they belong. These tags can be used with Cost Allocation Reports to tag and track your AWS expenses.
What does AWS OpsWorks Stacks run on the instance?
OpsWorks Stacks use an agent on the instance to carry out configuration tasks and provide heartbeat health status. On the operating system, the agent is run as a non-privileged user.
Conclusion
Congratulations on finishing the blog! We have studied Security in AWS OpsWorks Configuration Management. We looked further at Cloud Security, Data Protection, Encryption, and best security practices for AWS OpsWorks CM.
We sincerely hope this blog has improved your understanding of the Security in AWS OpsWorks Configuration Management. If you want to learn more, you can check articles on-
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