AWS Shared Responsibility Model

The Shared Responsibility Model is a fundamental concept in cloud computing, particularly in the context of cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS). It defines the division of security and compliance responsibilities between the cloud service provider (in this case, AWS) and the customer (you or your organization). This model helps clarify who is responsible for what in terms of securing and managing resources in the cloud.

In the context of AWS, the Shared Responsibility Model typically consists of two main categories of responsibilities:

AWS Responsibilities:

• AWS is responsible for the security “of” the cloud infrastructure. This includes the physical data centers, servers, networking equipment, and the underlying virtualization infrastructure.
• AWS also manages the security “of” the cloud services it provides. This means that AWS is responsible for the security and compliance of their services, such as Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), and others.
• AWS provides essential security features and capabilities, like physical security, network infrastructure, and services that help protect against common threats.

Customer Responsibilities:

• Customers are responsible for the security “in” the cloud. This means that customers are responsible for configuring and securing their own applications, data, and workloads that run on AWS services.
• Customers need to manage access control and identity and ensure that only authorized individuals or systems have access to their AWS resources.
• Customers are responsible for configuring and maintaining the security of their operating systems, applications, and data stored on AWS.
• Customers need to set up appropriate security groups, network ACLs (Access Control Lists), and firewall rules to control traffic to and from their AWS resources.
• Customers also need to monitor their environment for security threats and compliance with relevant standards and regulations.

The specific division of responsibilities can vary depending on the AWS service being used and the deployment model (e.g., Infrastructure as a Service — IaaS, Platform as a Service — PaaS, or Software as a Service — SaaS). AWS provides various tools and resources to help customers meet their responsibilities and secure their workloads in the cloud.

In summary, the Shared Responsibility Model in AWS helps customers and AWS understand their respective roles in ensuring the security and compliance of cloud-based applications and data. AWS takes care of the underlying infrastructure and some aspects of service security, while customers are responsible for configuring and securing their own applications and data running on AWS services.