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AWS Security Specialty Study Notes

Comprehensive study notes covering all SCS-C02 exam domains: Threat Detection, Logging & Monitoring, Infrastructure Security, IAM, Data Protection, and Security Governance.

AWS Security Specialty Study Notes

Threat Detection & Incident Response

Detecting and responding to security incidents

Domain Weight

This domain represents 14% of the exam. Focus on incident response procedures and automated remediation.

AWS Security Services for Detection

Service	Purpose	Key Features
Amazon GuardDuty	Intelligent threat detection	ML-based, analyzes VPC Flow Logs, CloudTrail, DNS logs
AWS Security Hub	Centralized security dashboard	Aggregates findings, compliance checks, integrations
Amazon Inspector	Vulnerability assessment	EC2, ECR, Lambda scanning, CIS benchmarks
Amazon Detective	Security investigation	Graph-based analysis, root cause analysis
Amazon Macie	Data security for S3	Sensitive data discovery, ML classification

Incident Response Process

Preparation: Create runbooks, configure automated responses with Lambda
Detection: Use GuardDuty, CloudWatch Alarms, Security Hub findings
Analysis: Amazon Detective, CloudTrail logs, VPC Flow Logs
Containment: Security groups, NACLs, IAM policy changes
Eradication: Remove compromised resources, rotate credentials
Recovery: Restore from clean backups, verify security posture
Lessons Learned: Update runbooks, improve detection rules

GuardDuty Finding Types

EC2 Findings

Cryptocurrency mining, backdoor activities, trojan behavior, unusual network traffic patterns.

IAM Findings

Anomalous API calls, credential exfiltration, unauthorized access attempts.

S3 Findings

Bucket policy changes, anonymous access, unusual data access patterns.

Kubernetes Findings

Suspicious container activity, privilege escalation, anonymous API access.

Exam Tip

Know the difference between GuardDuty (threat detection), Inspector (vulnerability scanning), and Detective (investigation). Each serves a different purpose in the security lifecycle.

Automated Security Remediation

Automated response to security events

EventBridge + Lambda Pattern

GuardDuty → EventBridge → Lambda: Auto-remediate compromised instances
Config → EventBridge → Lambda: Auto-fix non-compliant resources
Security Hub → EventBridge → Lambda: Custom remediation workflows
IAM Access Analyzer → EventBridge → SNS: Alert on external access

AWS Systems Manager Automation

Document	Use Case	Example
AWS-StopEC2Instance	Stop compromised instance	Triggered by GuardDuty finding
AWS-IsolateEC2Instance	Network isolation	Move to quarantine security group
AWS-CreateSnapshot	Forensic evidence	Snapshot before termination
AWS-DisablePublicAccessForS3Bucket	S3 remediation	Auto-fix public buckets

Best Practice

Always create forensic snapshots before terminating compromised resources. Use a dedicated forensics account for analysis.

Back to AWS Security Specialty

AWS Security Specialty Study Notes

Comprehensive study notes covering all SCS-C02 exam domains: Threat Detection, Logging & Monitoring, Infrastructure Security, IAM, Data Protection, and Security Governance.

AWS Security Specialty Study Notes

Threat Detection & Incident Response

Detecting and responding to security incidents

Domain Weight

This domain represents 14% of the exam. Focus on incident response procedures and automated remediation.

AWS Security Services for Detection

Service	Purpose	Key Features
Amazon GuardDuty	Intelligent threat detection	ML-based, analyzes VPC Flow Logs, CloudTrail, DNS logs
AWS Security Hub	Centralized security dashboard	Aggregates findings, compliance checks, integrations
Amazon Inspector	Vulnerability assessment	EC2, ECR, Lambda scanning, CIS benchmarks
Amazon Detective	Security investigation	Graph-based analysis, root cause analysis
Amazon Macie	Data security for S3	Sensitive data discovery, ML classification

Incident Response Process

Preparation: Create runbooks, configure automated responses with Lambda
Detection: Use GuardDuty, CloudWatch Alarms, Security Hub findings
Analysis: Amazon Detective, CloudTrail logs, VPC Flow Logs
Containment: Security groups, NACLs, IAM policy changes
Eradication: Remove compromised resources, rotate credentials
Recovery: Restore from clean backups, verify security posture
Lessons Learned: Update runbooks, improve detection rules

GuardDuty Finding Types

EC2 Findings

Cryptocurrency mining, backdoor activities, trojan behavior, unusual network traffic patterns.

IAM Findings

Anomalous API calls, credential exfiltration, unauthorized access attempts.

S3 Findings

Bucket policy changes, anonymous access, unusual data access patterns.

Kubernetes Findings

Suspicious container activity, privilege escalation, anonymous API access.

Exam Tip

Know the difference between GuardDuty (threat detection), Inspector (vulnerability scanning), and Detective (investigation). Each serves a different purpose in the security lifecycle.

Automated Security Remediation

Automated response to security events

EventBridge + Lambda Pattern

GuardDuty → EventBridge → Lambda: Auto-remediate compromised instances
Config → EventBridge → Lambda: Auto-fix non-compliant resources
Security Hub → EventBridge → Lambda: Custom remediation workflows
IAM Access Analyzer → EventBridge → SNS: Alert on external access

AWS Systems Manager Automation

Document	Use Case	Example
AWS-StopEC2Instance	Stop compromised instance	Triggered by GuardDuty finding
AWS-IsolateEC2Instance	Network isolation	Move to quarantine security group
AWS-CreateSnapshot	Forensic evidence	Snapshot before termination
AWS-DisablePublicAccessForS3Bucket	S3 remediation	Auto-fix public buckets

Best Practice

Always create forensic snapshots before terminating compromised resources. Use a dedicated forensics account for analysis.