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Your AWS IAM credentials are compromised and being used by a threat actor. Here’s a detailed playbook to contain, eradicate, and recover from the incident.
Step 1: Analysis – Validate Alerts & Credential Ownership
– Check CloudTrail logs for unauthorized access:
aws cloudtrail lookup-events --lookup-attributes AttributeKey=Username,AttributeValue=<COMPROMISED_USER> --start-time "2023-11-01T00:00:00Z" --end-time "2023-11-02T00:00:00Z"
– Verify IAM user ownership:
aws iam get-user --user-name <COMPROMISED_USER>
Step 2: Scope the Incident & Inventory Affected Resources
– Identify API calls made by the attacker:
aws cloudtrail get-event-selectors --trail-name <TRAIL_NAME>
– Check for unusual EC2 instances or S3 buckets accessed:
aws ec2 describe-instances --filters Name=instance-state-name,Values=running aws s3api list-buckets
Step 3: Determine Business Impact
- Check if sensitive data was accessed:
aws s3api list-objects --bucket <SUSPICIOUS_BUCKET>
- Look for data exfiltration attempts:
aws guardduty list-findings --detector-id <DETECTOR_ID>
Step 4: Containment – Stop the Bleeding
- Disable IAM Access Keys:
aws iam update-access-key --access-key-id <KEY_ID> --status Inactive --user-name <COMPROMISED_USER>
- Revoke Active Sessions:
aws iam list-access-keys --user-name <COMPROMISED_USER> aws iam delete-access-key --access-key-id <KEY_ID> --user-name <COMPROMISED_USER>
- Apply IP Restrictions (if possible):
aws iam update-user --user-name <USER> --permissions-boundary '{"Version":"2012-10-17","Statement":[{"Effect":"Deny","NotAction":"","Resource":"","Condition":{"NotIpAddress":{"aws:SourceIp":["YOUR_IP"]}}}]}'
Step 5: Eradication – Remove the Threat
- Terminate malicious EC2 instances:
aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids i-1234567890abcdef0
- Delete suspicious S3 objects:
aws s3 rm s3://malicious-bucket --recursive
Step 6: Recovery – Restore Operations
- Restore backups if data was deleted:
aws s3 cp s3://backup-bucket/ s3://production-bucket/ --recursive
- Re-enable legitimate access:
aws iam update-access-key --access-key-id <NEW_KEY> --status Active --user-name <LEGITIMATE_USER>
Step 7: Post-Incident – Learn & Improve
- Automate Alerts:
aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name "UnauthorizedAPICalls" --metric-name "UnauthorizedAttempts" --namespace "AWS/CloudTrail" --statistic "Sum" --period 300 --threshold 1 --comparison-operator "GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold" --evaluation-periods 1
- Enable GuardDuty for Future Detection:
aws guardduty create-detector --enable
You Should Know:
- AWS CLI Commands for Incident Response:
Check login history last -f /var/log/auth.log Monitor real-time network connections netstat -tulnp Check running processes ps aux | grep -i suspicious_process Linux log investigation grep "Failed password" /var/log/auth.log
-
Windows Incident Response Commands:
Check active network connections netstat -ano List scheduled tasks schtasks /query /fo LIST /v Check for unusual services Get-WmiObject Win32_Service | Where-Object {$_.State -eq "Running"} | Select-Object Name, DisplayName, PathName
What Undercode Say:
AWS IAM breaches require immediate action. Always rotate keys, enforce MFA, and monitor CloudTrail. Automate responses where possible to reduce human error.
Prediction:
As cloud adoption grows, IAM breaches will increase. Organizations will shift towards Zero Trust and AI-driven anomaly detection to mitigate risks.
Expected Output:
A structured incident response plan with executable AWS CLI and OS-level commands to detect, contain, and recover from IAM credential compromises.
Relevant URL: Cybr AWS Security Training
IT/Security Reporter URL:
Reported By: Christophelimpalair Awssecurity – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
