This engagement combines a configuration review of your AWS environment with hands-on testing of the applications running in it, focused on the misconfigurations and application flaws that turn a small mistake into full account access.
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Cloud breaches rarely come from a broken padlock on AWS itself; they come from how the cloud is configured. An over-permissive IAM role, a storage bucket left public, a security group open to the world, or an application that can be tricked into reading instance credentials, these are the recurring causes of cloud compromise, and none of them are AWS's fault. They are configuration, and configuration is your responsibility.
This engagement combines a configuration review of your AWS environment with hands-on testing of the applications running in it, focused on the misconfigurations and application flaws that turn a small mistake into full account access.
AWS operates a shared-responsibility model: they secure the cloud, and you secure what you put in it. That division is where most organizations get caught, because the sheer flexibility of IAM, networking, and storage makes it easy to grant too much access without realizing it. A review that reasons about your actual configuration finds those excesses before an attacker exploits them.
The application layer and the cloud layer are connected in ways attackers exploit deliberately. A server-side request forgery flaw in a web app, harmless on traditional hosting, becomes critical in the cloud when it can reach the instance metadata service and retrieve credentials. Testing that treats the app and the cloud as one system finds these chains; testing either in isolation misses them.
Exposure in the cloud is quiet and fast. A public storage bucket, a snapshot shared too widely, or a role with broad permissions does not announce itself, and automated scanners crawl the internet constantly looking for exactly these mistakes. Independent testing gives you an attacker's-eye view of what your AWS environment is leaking.
Over-permissive roles and policies, privilege-escalation paths within IAM, exposed access keys, and accounts that can do far more than their purpose requires.
Publicly accessible or over-shared storage buckets, snapshots, and other data stores, plus sensitive data left readable to too broad an audience.
Security groups open to the internet, exposed management ports, and services reachable that should be private.
Application flaws such as server-side request forgery tested for their ability to reach the metadata service and retrieve credentials, turning an app bug into cloud compromise.
The report covers both configuration and application risk. It contains:
Roles or policies granting far more access than needed, often allowing privilege escalation to full account control from a minor foothold.
Buckets or snapshots readable by anyone, a leading cause of large cloud data leaks.
An application flaw that reaches the metadata service and retrieves credentials, converting a web bug into cloud account access.
Network rules exposing databases or management interfaces to the internet that should never be publicly reachable.
For most common testing of your own resources, AWS permits it under their customer support policy without prior approval, though certain activities still require notification. We work within AWS's current rules and agree scope so everything stays authorized.
Both, and combining them is the point. We review your AWS configuration for IAM, storage, and network mistakes, and we test the applications running in it, because the worst outcomes come from chaining an application flaw into a cloud misconfiguration.
Because a server-side request forgery flaw can reach the instance metadata service and retrieve credentials, turning an application bug that would be minor elsewhere into a path to cloud account access. It is a chain we specifically test for.
Typically one to three weeks depending on the size of the environment and the number of applications, followed by the report. We scope it precisely in a short call.
Book a free 30-minute scoping call. We agree the scope, timeline, and a fixed price up front — no obligation, and no surprises for your deadline.