Curriculum Overview: Evaluating Compliance of AWS Resources

This curriculum is designed to master the skills required for Domain 6.3 of the AWS Certified Security - Specialty (SCS-C03) exam. It focuses on the continuous monitoring, auditing, and remediation of AWS resource configurations to maintain a robust security posture.

Prerequisites

Before beginning this module, learners should have a solid grasp of the following foundational AWS concepts:

• Identity and Access Management (IAM): Understanding roles, policies, and service-linked roles.
• AWS Organizations: Knowledge of multi-account structures and Service Control Policies (SCPs).
• Logging & Monitoring: Familiarity with AWS CloudTrail (for tracking API calls) and Amazon CloudWatch (for alerting).
• Basic Security Concepts: Understanding of encryption at rest/transit and the Principle of Least Privilege.

Module Breakdown

Learning Objectives per Module

Module 1: AWS Config Foundations

• Enable the Configuration Recorder: Set up the recording of resource changes and store configuration items (CIs) in S3.
• Resource Timeline: Navigate the history of a resource to identify exactly when and how a configuration drift occurred.
• Relationship Mapping: Visualize how changes in one resource (e.g., an EC2 security group) affect dependent resources (e.g., an EC2 instance).

Module 2: Config Rules & Remediation

• Managed vs. Custom Rules: Deploy AWS-managed rules for common best practices or author custom rules using AWS Lambda or Guard policy language.
• Evaluation Modes: Contrast Detective (post-deployment) vs. Proactive (pre-deployment) compliance checks.
• Auto-Remediation: Configure AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Automation documents to fix non-compliant resources automatically.

Module 3: Multi-Account Compliance

• Aggregators: Centralize compliance data from multiple AWS accounts and Regions into a single "Security Account."
• Conformance Packs: Deploy a collection of Config rules and remediation actions as a single entity across an organization using CloudFormation StackSets.

Module 4: Audit Manager & Evidence

• Evidence Collection: Automate the gathering of evidence to prove compliance with frameworks like PCI-DSS, SOC2, or HIPAA.
• AWS Artifact: Access and download AWS’s own third-party audit reports for shared responsibility verification.

Module 5: Architectural Compliance

• Well-Architected Tool: Perform reviews to identify high-risk issues (HRIs) based on the Security Pillar.
• Security Hub: Map Config findings to the AWS Foundational Security Best Practices (FSBP) standard.

Visual Anchors

The AWS Config Evaluation Loop

Compliance Service Ecosystem

Success Metrics

To demonstrate mastery of this curriculum, the learner must be able to:

1. Configuration Recovery: Successfully restore a resource to a previous "Known Good State" using the AWS Config timeline.
2. Rule Deployment: Author a custom Lambda-based Config rule that flags S3 buckets missing a specific mandatory tag (e.g., Environment).
3. Remediation Latency: Achieve an auto-remediation time of under 5 minutes from the moment a non-compliant change is detected.
4. Audit Readiness: Generate a "Compliance Assessment Report" in Audit Manager that maps 100% of required evidence to a specific regulatory control.

Real-World Application

Evaluating compliance is not just an exam requirement; it is a critical business function:

• Cloud Security Engineer: Automating the "guardrails" that prevent developers from accidentally opening databases to the public internet.
• Compliance Officer: Moving from "Point-in-Time" audits (manual checks every 6 months) to "Continuous Auditing" (real-time visibility).
• Incident Responder: Using the Config Timeline as a forensic tool to see what an attacker changed during a breach.

[!IMPORTANT] AWS Config is a Regional service. To achieve global compliance visibility, you must enable it in every active Region and use an Aggregator to centralize the findings.

[!TIP] Use Proactive Rules within your CI/CD pipelines to stop non-compliant CloudFormation templates from ever being deployed, shifting security "to the left."