Configuring AWS Shield and AWS WAF for advanced protection

Moving forward in this chapter, this section explores the role and practicalities of AWS Shield and AWS WAF to ensure your applications and data in your VPCs are well-protected. AWS Shield specializes in mitigating DDoS attacks, offering automatic detection and response capabilities that scale with your traffic, ensuring continuous protection. AWS WAF complements this by guarding web applications from exploits such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks through customizable security rules. Utilizing both services together enhances your security posture, shielding your applications and data from volumetric attacks and targeted web vulnerabilities with minimal manual intervention. By deploying these services in tandem, you can fortify your applications and data against a broad spectrum of threats. First, let’s dive into the capabilities offered by AWS Shield in more detail.

Enabling AWS Shield for DDoS protection

AWS Shield offers two tiers of security:

• Standard: Automatically activated across all AWS accounts at no additional cost, it protects against the most common types of network-oriented DDoS attacks.
• Advanced: Designed for customers who need a higher level of protection against attacks targeting their applications, AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced protection with advanced detection and mitigation capabilities against larger and more sophisticated DDoS attacks, including those targeting the application layer. Customers with Business or Enterprise support plans also gain access to the AWS Shield Response Team (SRT) for expert assistance during DDoS incidents. Additionally, AWS Shield Advanced includes DDoS cost protection to mitigate unexpected expenses from scaling due to traffic spikes and integrates seamlessly with AWS WAF for comprehensive security coverage.

Choosing AWS Shield Advanced is particularly relevant in the following situations:

• High-risk industries: Industries such as finance, healthcare, or eCommerce are frequently targeted by sophisticated DDoS attacks. The advanced tier offers enhanced detection and mitigation capabilities, making it essential for these sectors to protect their critical operations and sensitive data.
• Complex network architectures: For organizations with intricate network setups that manage high volumes of traffic, the advanced tier’s advanced detection and mitigation strategies are crucial. It enables these organizations to maintain operational integrity despite complex security challenges.
• High-value applications: Organizations operating applications where downtime equates to significant financial losses or reputational damage can particularly benefit from the advanced tier. It provides robust protection measures to ensure application availability and continuity.
• Multi-account AWS environments: The advanced tier facilitates centralized protection management through AWS Firewall Manager, which is ideal for organizations using multiple VPCs and AWS accounts. This feature simplifies its configuration across an organization’s AWS landscape.
• Cost concerns related to DDoS attacks: Financial safeguards against DDoS-related costs due to traffic spikes act as a form of insurance against such risks.

Switching to AWS Shield Advanced requires an annual commitment, which is automatically renewed. The subscription covers the entire organization, not just a single AWS account, meaning the monthly fee is paid once for all accounts. However, if any account within the organization activates the advanced tier, the entire organization incurs the cost.

In conclusion, AWS Shield offers a comprehensive DDoS protection solution for your applications and resources hosted on your VPC with two levels to cater to different needs. The choice between the two depends on your specific needs, the complexity of your network, the associated costs, and the level of risk your organization faces.

Now, let’s turn our attention to our next topic – AWS WAF.