A guide to best practices for securing your automated service provisioning function.
In this blog, we will dive into the critical topic of securing your AWS Lambda function, particularly the automaticServiceCreation function we’ve developed for automated service provisioning. Since Lambda functions often interact with various AWS resources like EC2, S3, API Gateway, and more, it's important to follow security best practices to ensure that your function operates securely without exposing your AWS environment to unnecessary risks.
Table of Contents
- Using IAM Roles and Policies Effectively
- Securing Lambda Function Environment Variables
- Validating Input Data
- Protecting Sensitive Data and Ensuring Compliance
- Implementing Rate Limiting and Throttling
Step 1: Using IAM Roles and Policies Effectively
The first and foremost step in securing your Lambda function is defining IAM roles and policies that control what actions the Lambda function can perform and on which resources.
1. Create a Lambda Execution Role
The Lambda function needs an execution role to interact with AWS services like EC2, S3, API Gateway, and CloudWatch. This execution role should have only the necessary permissions required to perform the tasks within the Lambda function.
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:RunInstances",
"ec2:DescribeInstances",
"s3:CreateBucket",
"s3:PutObject",
"logs:CreateLogGroup",
"logs:PutLogEvents",
"apigateway:POST",
"apigateway:PUT"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
Principle of Least Privilege: Avoid granting broad permissions. Instead, only allow access to the specific resources that the Lambda function needs.
Step 2: Securing Lambda Environment Variables
Lambda environment variables are a great way to manage sensitive configurations, like API keys or database credentials, but they need to be secured properly.
1. Avoid Storing Sensitive Information in Plain Text
Never store sensitive data like API keys, secrets, or passwords directly in the Lambda function code or environment variables in plain text. Use AWS Secrets Manager or AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to securely store and retrieve sensitive data.
const AWS = require('aws-sdk');
const secretsManager = new AWS.SecretsManager();
async function getSecretValue(secretName) {
try {
const data = await secretsManager.getSecretValue({ SecretId: secretName }).promise();
return data.SecretString ? JSON.parse(data.SecretString) : null;
} catch (err) {
console.log("Error retrieving secret", err);
}
}
Conclusion
Securing your AWS Lambda functions is crucial to ensuring that your automated service creation processes are both efficient and secure. By following these best practices, including using IAM roles with least privilege, securing environment variables, validating input, encrypting data, and implementing throttling, you can protect your Lambda functions from security vulnerabilities and comply with your organization’s security standards.
Security is an ongoing effort, and it’s essential to stay informed about the latest security practices and tools available within the AWS ecosystem.