Detecting suspicious activity on AWS using cloud logs

AWS offers a wide range of services and operates under a shared responsibility model, where both the provider and the user have distinct security responsibilities. However, organizations can face security challenges due to deployment errors, misconfigurations, or the use of vulnerable resources, which can lead to incidents like ransomware attacks and data breaches. AWS CloudTrail provides a managed logging service to record all actions within an AWS environment, but it requires proper configuration for extended data retention to support compliance and security use cases. Despite CloudTrail's capabilities, identifying high-risk events in cloud environments is complex and can overwhelm IT and security teams due to the sheer volume of data. Effective threat detection in cloud environments often involves using various strategies, such as Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, although these can have limitations like delayed detection and alert overload. A real-time detection approach, such as using Sysdig for telemetry and Falco for threat detection, can help organizations respond more swiftly to threats by evaluating CloudTrail entries against security rules without introducing additional costs or delays.