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SEC480: AWS Secure Builder™

  • Online
12 CPEs

Data breaches of cloud infrastructure can often be traced back to inadvertent misconfigurations made by non-security personnel. Cloud developers, engineers, architects, and other security-adjacent roles require platform-specific training to effectively prioritize security and reduce the likelihood of harmful breaches. SEC480: AWS Secure Builder fulfills this requirement by equipping technical professionals with the skills needed to embed security fundamentals into Amazon Web Services (AWS) workloads from the start. This course features eight comprehensive modules, each accompanied by a hands-on lab, ensuring participants gain practical experience in building secure AWS environments.

What You Will Learn

Build In Security From the Start

SEC480: AWS Secure Builder addresses eight critical risk areas, providing students with the skills and knowledge to enable enterprises to securely move workloads to AWS. By completing this course, participants will be well-equipped to implement and enhance security controls, leading to immediate improvements in security and business enablement. With this training, organizations can be confident in their teams' ability to adopt, build, and deploy in the cloud without overburdening security teams.

This training is designed to scale across enterprise engineering and development teams, making a swift and significant impact on the security of AWS workloads.

Business Takeaways

  • Facilitate scalable security solutions across your organization
  • Increase customer trust and satisfaction
  • Strengthen organizational security posture
  • Boost employee confidence and skillset in secure AWS development
  • Improve compliance with cloud security standards
  • Enhance business agility through secure cloud practices
  • Reduce the workload and stress on your security team

Skills Learned

  • Implement industry-standard security best practices in AWS workloads
  • Master AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) including roles, policies, and permissions for secure access control
  • Evaluate and assess AWS services based on security documentation, controls, and audit risks
  • Monitor and respond to security incidents using AWS security tools for detection, response, and mitigation
  • Automate security processes with AWS services like AWS Lambda and AWS GuardDuty
  • Identify security deficiencies in Continuous Integration Continuous Delivery (CICD) pipelines and detect gaps in current cloud security practices
  • Secure data in transit and at rest using encryption and other protective measures
  • Conduct comprehensive security audits and assessments to ensure compliance and risk identification
  • Ensure AWS deployments meet industry standards and regulatory requirements
  • Develop and implement incident response plans tailored to AWS environments
  • Continuously optimize your security posture with regular reviews and updates

Hands-On AWS Cloud Security Training

The SEC480 lab environment immerses students in practical, real-world AWS scenarios, allowing them to apply the theory and skills learned throughout the course. Each student will receive a SANS-provisioned AWS account and a detailed lab workbook, ensuring consistent, repeatable, and relevant hands-on experience.

This dynamic lab environment includes essential cloud resources such as IAM privileges, virtual machines, security tools, and AWS services pre-installed and configured to simulate real-world scenarios. This setup allows students to focus on the most important parts of the lab, without worrying about setting up a complex environment. Each of the eight labs focuses on different aspects of AWS security, runs approximately 15 minutes each, and is designed to be clear, insightful, and easy to follow.

Syllabus Summary

  • Module 1: Responsibility To, For, and Of Security
  • Module 2: Identification and Authorization
  • Module 3: Continuous Integration Continuous Delivery (CICD)
  • Module 4: Workload and Service Hardening
  • Module 5: Security Monitoring
  • Module 6: Exposure and Attack Vectors
  • Module 7: Incident Response
  • Module 8: Trust, Control, and the Supply Chain

What You Will Receive

  • MP3 audio files of the complete course lectures
  • Electronic courseware

The labs in SEC480 engage the student in all of the following AWS services:

  • Application Load Balancer
  • CloudShell
  • CloudTrail
  • CloudWatch
  • CodeBuild
  • CodePipeline
  • Cognito
  • EC2
  • Elastic Container Repository
  • Elastic Container Service
  • GuardDuty
  • IAM
  • Inspector
  • Key Management Service (KMS)
  • Relational Database Service (RDS)
  • S3
  • SecretsManager
  • Simple Storage Service (S3)
  • VPC FlowLogs
  • Web Application Firewall

Syllabus (12 CPEs)

Download PDF
  • Overview

    In Section 1 of Secure AWS Development, we'll concentrate on the shared responsibility model, hardening workloads, securing the CICD pipeline, and understanding the critical role of IAM in AWS.

    Module 1: Responsibility To, For, and Of Security

    Overview

    Understand the shared responsibility model, the difference between cloud and on-premesis security, AWS security architecture, compliance requirements, and how to apply effective security controls.

    Topics

    • Cloud Security and Shared Responsibility Model
    • Security and Compliance
    • AppSec in the Cloud

    Lab

    • Who's Responsible?

    Module 2: Identification and Authorization

    Overview

    Implement best practices for IAM, explore workforce identity management, address common authentication failures, and apply secure access controls.

    Topics

    • IAM in the Cloud
    • Workforce Identity
    • Identification and Authorization Failures

    Lab

    • Cognito or Incognito?

    Module 3: Continuous Integration Continuous Delivery (CICD)

    Overview

    Master CICD pipelines, automate code deployment with AWS Code Pipeline, integrate security tools, and prevent misconfigurations through hands-on labs and real-world demos.

    Topics

    • CICD Explained
    • Build Process
    • CICD Security

    Lab

    • Deploying and Securing Code

    Module 4: Workload and Service Hardening

    Overview

    Harden AWS workloads and services like API Gateway, S3, EC2, and RDS, address misconfigurations, and ensure compliance through practical labs and real-world examples.

    Topics

    • Common Services
    • AWS Workloads
    • Complexity Breeds Insecurity

    Lab

    • Encryption at Rest
  • Overview

    In Section 2 of Secure AWS Development, we turn our attention to understanding what happens when there are misconfigurations in our environment and how to deal with adversaries. In addition, we'll delve into what proper logging and monitoring entail, how to leverage an incident response plan, and strategies to minimize supply chain risks.

    Module 5: Security Monitoring

    Overview

    Implement comprehensive security monitoring with logging at all levels, utilize monitoring tools, enhance alerting with artificial intelligence (AI), and set up early warning systems.

    Topics

    • Logging
    • Monitoring
    • Alerting

    Lab

    • Early Warning System

    Module 6: Exposure and Attack Vectors

    Overview

    Identify and mitigate exposure and attack vectors through open-source intelligence (OSINT), understand the anatomy of attacks, and minimize attack surfaces using threat modeling and compliance tools.

    Topics

    • OSINT
    • Anatomy of an Attack
    • Minimizing Attack Surface

    Lab

    • Reducing Attack Surface

    Module 7: Incident Response

    Overview

    Master the six-step incident response process, implement best practices with roles, playbooks, and technology, and prepare with tools and exercises.

    Topics

    • Six-Step Incident Response Process
    • Incident Response Best Practices
    • Proper Preparation

    Lab

    • Incident Response

    Module 8: Trust, Control, and the Supply Chain

    Overview

    Evaluate vendor reliance and onboarding processes, implement Zero Trust principles, and defend against supply chain attacks to ensure secure vendor interactions and compliance.

    Topics

    • Reliance on Vendors
    • Vendor Onboarding and Risk Evaluation
    • Zero Trust
    • Supply Chain Attacks

    Lab

    • Trusted Vendor

Prerequisites

  • Basic understanding of cloud computing and AWS services
  • Familiarity with general information security principles
  • Knowledge of common cloud technology and experience writing code
  • Experience with TCP/IP, cloud shell, and networking concepts is beneficial, but not required

Laptop Requirements

Important! Bring your own system configured according to these instructions.

A properly configured system is required to fully participate in this course. If you do not carefully read and follow these instructions, you will not be able to fully participate in hands-on exercises in your course. Therefore, please arrive with a system meeting all of the specified requirements.

Back up your system before class. Better yet, use a system without any sensitive/critical data. SANS is not responsible for your system or data.

MANDATORY SEC480 SYSTEM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
  • Wireless networking (802.11 standard) is required. There is no wired Internet access in the classroom.
MANDATORY SEC480 HOST CONFIGURATION AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
  • Your host operating system must be the latest version of Windows 10, Windows 11, or macOS 10.15.x or newer.
  • Fully update your host operating system prior to the class to ensure you have the right drivers and patches installed.
  • Linux hosts are not supported in the classroom due to their numerous variations. If you choose to use Linux as your host, you are solely responsible for configuring it to work with the course materials and/or VMs.
  • Students should have an OpenSSH client installed on their laptop.

If you have additional questions about the laptop specifications, please contact customer service.

Author Statement

"I think everyone can agree on the importance of safeguarding assets in today's world of sustained threats and immeasurable technical complexity, especially in the realm of AWS. How we do that, and why specific actions are performed, however, is not common knowledge; which is why SEC480 exists - to fill that knowledge gap.

In this course, we'll delve into the intricacies of identity management, encryption, access controls, and secure coding. My goal is to teach you how to fortify applications, secure data, harden infrastructure, comply with GRC programs and work to ensure resilience against threats: All while accounting for the fact that we are not completely in control of our success. As we navigate the AWS ecosystem, we'll embrace the shared responsibility model, and lean into the fact that security is not an afterthought, but instead an integral part of every deployment.

With that said, let us explore the AWS cloud, understand cloud-native security solutions, and arm ourselves with the knowledge needed to implement best-in-class security controls."

- Serge Borso

"Serge is the best instructor I've ever had! He's so knowledgeable and has a great teaching style. Very relatable and helps when people have questions." - Seth J.

"The AWS Secure Builder course from SANS offers a comprehensive and hands-on approach to fortifying your cloud infrastructure on AWS, equipping you with the essential skills to design, build, and maintain secure and resilient applications in the cloud." - Mecca Nnacheta, Security Engineer AWS Security Vulnerability Management (AVM)

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