AWS PII Detection
Learn how to detect personally identifiable information (PII) in AWS environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for GDPR compliance.
Why It Matters
The core goal is to identify every location where personally identifiable information is stored within your AWS environment, so you can remediate unintended exposures before they become breaches. Scanning for PII in AWS is a priority for organizations subject to GDPR, as it helps you prove you've discovered and accounted for all sensitive personal data—mitigating the risk of data exposure and unauthorized access.
A thorough scan delivers immediate visibility across S3 buckets, RDS databases, and other AWS services, laying the foundation for automated policy enforcement and ongoing compliance.
Prerequisites
Permissions & Roles
- AWS IAM admin or sufficient privileges
- S3:GetObject, S3:ListBucket permissions
- Macie service-linked role access
External Tools
- AWS CLI
- Cyera DSPM account
- API credentials
Prior Setup
- AWS account with active resources
- S3 buckets containing data
- IAM roles configured
- Network access configured
Introducing Cyera
Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. By leveraging advanced AI and Named Entity Recognition (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies PII patterns in your AWS environment, ensuring you stay ahead of data exposure risks and meet GDPR audit requirements in real time.
Step-by-Step Guide
Ensure proper IAM roles are in place and enable Amazon Macie in your target regions. Create a service account with the minimum required privileges for data discovery.
In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → DSPM → Add new. Select AWS, provide your account ID and IAM role details, then define the scan scope across S3, RDS, and other services.
Configure webhooks or streaming exports to push scan results into your SIEM or AWS Security Hub. Link findings to existing ticketing systems like Jira or ServiceNow for remediation workflows.
Review the initial detection report, prioritize resources with large volumes of PII, and adjust detection rules to reduce false positives. Schedule recurring scans to maintain continuous visibility.
Architecture & Workflow
AWS Services
S3, RDS, DynamoDB, and other data stores
Cyera Connector
Pulls metadata and samples data for classification
AI Classification Engine
Applies NER models and PII detection algorithms
Reporting & Remediation
Dashboards, alerts, and playbooks
Data Flow Summary
Best Practices & Tips
Performance Considerations
- Start with high-priority S3 buckets
- Use sampling for very large datasets
- Configure scanning schedules during off-peak hours
Tuning Detection Rules
- Maintain allowlists for test environments
- Adjust confidence thresholds for PII types
- Configure custom patterns for organization-specific data
Common Pitfalls
- Forgetting cross-region S3 buckets
- Over-scanning temporary or backup data
- Neglecting to rotate scanner credentials