TL;DR
Managing AWS root keys securely with a team requires careful planning and using services like IAM roles, key rotation policies, and potentially third-party secrets managers. This guide outlines how to do it effectively.
How to Manage AWS Root Keys as a Team
- Understand the Risks: The root account key is extremely powerful. Compromise means full control of your AWS environment. Avoid direct use whenever possible.
- IAM Roles for Access Control: Never share the root account credentials directly. Instead, grant team members access via IAM roles with the least privilege necessary.
- Create specific roles for different tasks (e.g., ‘ReadOnlyAccess’, ‘KeyRotationRole’).
- Attach policies to these roles defining what actions they can perform on which resources.
- Use temporary credentials generated by IAM – users authenticate with their own accounts and assume roles.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for the Root Account: Even if you minimise root account use, MFA adds a critical layer of security.
- Configure virtual MFA using an authenticator app like Google Authenticator or Authy.
- Consider hardware MFA tokens for even stronger protection.
- Key Rotation: Regularly rotate your root account key to limit the impact of a potential compromise.
- AWS allows you to schedule automatic key rotation.
- Alternatively, use AWS CLI or SDKs for manual rotation:
aws iam update-access-key --access-key-id YOUR_ACCESS_KEY_ID --user-name YOUR_USER_NAME
- AWS Config Rules: Use AWS Config to monitor key usage and enforce policies.
- Enable rules like ‘Root Account Access Key Not Used’ to detect if the root account is being used directly.
- Set up alerts when violations occur.
- Secrets Manager or Third-Party Solutions: For applications needing access, use AWS Secrets Manager (or HashiCorp Vault, CyberArk etc.) to store and manage keys securely.
- Applications retrieve credentials from the secrets manager instead of directly accessing IAM.
- Secrets Manager integrates with IAM for fine-grained access control.
- Audit Logging: Enable AWS CloudTrail to log all API calls, including those related to key management.
- Regularly review CloudTrail logs for suspicious activity.
- Integrate with a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system for automated analysis.
- Key Usage Monitoring: Track how the root key is being used.
- AWS IAM Access Analyzer can help identify unused access keys.
- Review key last used dates and revoke any unnecessary keys.
- Regular Security Reviews: Conduct periodic security reviews of your AWS configuration, including key management practices.
- Check IAM policies for overly permissive permissions.
- Verify MFA is enabled and functioning correctly.
By following these steps, you can significantly improve the cyber security of your AWS root keys when managed by a team.