SEC01-BP08 Evaluate and implement new security services and features regularly - AWS Well-Architected Framework
Implementation guidanceResources

SEC01-BP08 Evaluate and implement new security services and features regularly

Evaluate and implement security services and features from AWS and AWS Partners that help you evolve the security posture of your workload. 

Desired outcome: You have a standard practice in place that informs you of new features and services released by AWS and AWS Partners. You evaluate how these new capabilities influence the design of current and new controls for your environments and workloads.

Common anti-patterns:

  • You don't subscribe to AWS blogs and RSS feeds to learn of relevant new features and services quickly

  • You rely on news and updates about security services and features from second-hand sources

  • You don't encourage AWS users in your organization to stay informed on the latest updates

Benefits of establishing this best practice: When you stay on top of new security services and features, you can make informed decisions about the implementation of controls in your cloud environments and workloads. These sources help raise awareness of the evolving security landscape and how AWS services can be used to protect against new and emerging threats.  

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: Low

Implementation guidance

AWS informs customers of new security services and features through several channels:

You can subscribe to an AWS Daily Feature Updates topic using Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) for a comprehensive daily summary of updates. Some security services, such as Amazon GuardDuty and AWS Security Hub, provide their own SNS topics to stay informed about new standards, findings, and other updates for those particular services.

New services and features are also announced and described in detail during conferences, events, and webinars conducted around the globe each year. Of particular note is the annual AWS re:Inforce security conference and the more general AWS re:Invent conference. The previously-mentioned AWS news channels share these conference announcements about security and other services, and you can view deep dive educational breakout sessions online at the AWS Events channel on YouTube.

You can also ask your AWS account team about the latest security service updates and recommendations. You can reach out to your team through the Sales Support form if you do not have their direct contact information. Similarly, if you subscribed to AWS Enterprise Support, you will receive weekly updates from your Technical Account Manager (TAM) and can schedule a regular review meeting with them.

Implementation steps

  1. Subscribe to the various blogs and bulletins with your favorite RSS reader or to the Daily Features Updates SNS topic.

  2. Evaluate which AWS events to attend to learn first-hand about new features and services.

  3. Set up meetings with your AWS account team for any questions about updating security services and features.

  4. Consider subscribing to Enterprise Support to have regular consultations with a Technical Account Manager (TAM).

Resources

Related best practices: