AWS Unstructured Data Exposure Prevention

Learn how to prevent exposure of unstructured data in AWS environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for GDPR compliance and data protection.

data exposure

GDPR

aws

Why It Matters

The core goal is to proactively secure every location where unstructured data is stored within your AWS environment, preventing accidental exposures before they become costly breaches. Implementing preventive controls for unstructured data in AWS is critical for organizations subject to GDPR, as it helps establish proper data governance and demonstrates due diligence in protecting personal information across S3 buckets, EFS volumes, and other storage services.

Primary Risk: Data exposure through misconfigured storage services

Relevant Regulation: GDPR General Data Protection Regulation

A comprehensive prevention strategy delivers proactive security posture, establishing automated policy enforcement and continuous compliance monitoring.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • AWS IAM admin or PowerUser access
  • S3 bucket and object permissions
  • CloudFormation deployment rights

External Tools

  • AWS CLI configured
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • Terraform or CloudFormation

Prior Setup

  • AWS account with active services
  • S3 buckets and storage services
  • CloudTrail logging enabled
  • VPC and networking 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 Natural Language Processing (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies and classifies unstructured data in AWS services like S3, EFS, and FSx, ensuring comprehensive protection against exposure risks while maintaining GDPR compliance requirements.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Configure AWS service security baselines

Enable S3 Block Public Access at the account level, configure default encryption for all buckets, and establish IAM policies that follow the principle of least privilege.

aws s3control put-public-access-block --account-id 123456789012 --public-access-block-configuration BlockPublicAcls=true,IgnorePublicAcls=true,BlockPublicPolicy=true,RestrictPublicBuckets=true

2
Deploy automated discovery and classification

In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → DSPM → Add AWS. Provide your AWS account credentials and configure the service scope to include S3, EFS, and other storage services for comprehensive unstructured data discovery.

3
Implement preventive controls and policies

Configure automated remediation workflows in Cyera to immediately quarantine or encrypt newly discovered sensitive unstructured data. Set up policy violations alerts and integrate with AWS Config for continuous compliance monitoring.

4
Establish monitoring and governance

Deploy CloudWatch alarms for unusual access patterns, configure Cyera dashboards to track data exposure metrics, and establish regular review cycles to ensure ongoing protection of unstructured data assets.

Architecture & Workflow

AWS Storage Services

S3, EFS, FSx containing unstructured data

Cyera AI Engine

NER models classify and tag sensitive content

Policy Engine

Automated remediation and access controls

Monitoring & Alerts

Real-time notifications and compliance tracking

Prevention Flow Summary

Discover Assets → AI Classification → Apply Controls → Monitor Compliance

Best Practices & Tips

Security Hardening

  • Enable MFA for all administrative access
  • Use VPC endpoints for private connectivity
  • Implement server-side encryption by default

Data Governance

  • Establish data retention policies
  • Implement automated data lifecycle management
  • Regular access reviews and audits

Common Pitfalls

  • Forgetting to secure temporary or staging buckets
  • Over-permissive cross-account access policies
  • Neglecting to monitor data sharing activities

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🔍 Detect: Discover existing unstructured data exposures 🔧 Fix: Remediate identified data exposure issues