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Don't just learn the cloud—BYTE it!
Byte the Cloud is your go-to, on-the-go, podcast for mastering AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications and exam prep!
Chris 0:00
All right, strap in everyone. Let's take a deep dive into Amazon inspector,
Unknown Speaker 0:04
ooh,
Unknown Speaker 0:05
yeah, one
Chris 0:06
of those AWS services, you know, you just can't ignore it.
Kelly 0:11
Yeah, definitely not, especially if
Chris 0:13
you're a cloud engineer aiming for those, you know, those AWS certs, for
Kelly 0:17
sure, those are important. We're
Chris 0:19
going deep on security in the cloud absolutely crucial. These days. You can't just, you know, build stuff and just leave it out there, right?
Kelly 0:25
Security has to be front and center. So
Chris 0:27
for our listeners out there, think mid level cloud engineer probably heard of inspector. Yeah, most likely. But wants to really get it. You know how it ticks? Why it's such a big deal? Makes sense? Let's get right to it. What is Amazon inspector like, really? What is it? Well,
Kelly 0:46
it's an automated security assessment service at its core, okay? So
Chris 0:49
it's doing the security checks for you automatically. That's
Kelly 0:52
the idea. It helps you find vulnerabilities in your AWS workloads so before they become a problem, exactly, before they can be exploited. Ideally, I
Chris 1:00
see. So it's like proactive security, right? Very much. So not just waiting for something bad to happen, exactly.
Kelly 1:05
It's like having a security consultant continuously monitoring your environment.
Chris 1:10
Wow, that sounds pretty valuable. It is. But can you give us some real world examples? How is this actually used, sure?
Kelly 1:17
So imagine you're launching a new e commerce site, right? Okay, before you go live, you'd want to make sure it's not, you know, wide open to attacks. Definitely. You
Chris 1:27
don't want to be the next headline for a data breach, right?
Kelly 1:30
So inspector can scan your application, the whole infrastructure, like a full security checkout exactly finds those gaps, the vulnerabilities, so
Chris 1:39
you can fix them before someone exploits them exactly. What about other scenarios?
Kelly 1:43
Let's say you're a financial institution, okay, high stakes, very much so, and you've got these strict audits, compliance is key, right? Inspector can help you proactively identify and remediate those issues.
Chris 1:56
Show that you're on top of security, yeah, that you're taking it seriously. Okay? I'm starting to see why inspector's so important. It's
Speaker 1 2:02
pretty essential in the cloud. But how does it actually work? What are the key features?
Kelly 2:07
All right? So think of it in three stages, okay, like a good forever. First discovery. Inspector figures out what you have running your resources, like it builds
Chris 2:15
an inventory of all your cloud stuff, exactly. Okay, that makes sense. Then what?
Kelly 2:20
Then comes assessment, the heavy lifting. Yeah, this is where inspector does those security checks, like vulnerability scans,
Chris 2:27
so looking for weak spots in the software, the configurations and all that, exactly.
Kelly 2:31
It goes pretty deep. And then finally, reporting. Inspector gives you, you know, clear reports so you can actually make sense of all the data, right? It tells you what's important, how to fix things, and how
Chris 2:42
does inspector fit in with all the other AWS services? Oh,
Kelly 2:45
it's designed to work seamlessly with others. It plays nice with the rest of the AWS family. Absolutely. Like findings in inspector. They can trigger actions in other services like Security Hub,
Chris 2:55
I see. So it's not just a standalone tool, right? It all works together. But are there any limitations? What can't it do? Good
Kelly 3:04
question. Well, inspectors focused on AWS, you know, cloud native, right? Yeah. So if you have, like, servers in your own data center on premises, exactly, specter can't reach those. It's all about cloud security, right? And one other thing, the one it needs those vulnerability databases to be up to
Chris 3:20
date. Makes sense, like it needs to know what the latest threats are, right? Exactly. It's got to stay current. Okay, this is all great info. We've got a good grasp on what Amazon inspector is, the basics, yeah? How it works its place in the AWS world. It's a big part of that security puzzle. Now let's see how this translates into actually acing those AWS exams.
Kelly 3:39
That's where the real fun begins. Yeah, all right, welcome back to our deep dive on, you know, Amazon inspector.
Chris 3:46
So before the break, you mentioned, Inspector doesn't just point out the problems, right? Yeah, exactly. It gives you some advice too, like how to actually fix them. It tries to help you out. So let's walk through it. Say we get an inspector report and there's a critical vulnerability, yeah, what do we do? Okay,
Kelly 4:03
good question. First things first, no magic button.
Chris 4:06
Oh, man, I was hoping for an easy fix,
Unknown Speaker 4:09
uh huh, wouldn't that
Kelly 4:10
be nice? But inspector does give you clear steps.
Chris 4:13
Okay, so like a roadmap to fix things? Yeah, for example, it
Kelly 4:17
might say, hey, update the software on your EC. Two instances, right? Makes
Chris 4:22
sense. But do I have to manually patch each one? That sounds like a lot of work. No,
Kelly 4:26
no. Automation is key here. Ah, much better. You can use systems manager, for example. Okay, so it can push those patches out for you automatically. Pretty much especially helpful when you have a ton of instances,
Chris 4:39
definitely. So you mentioned different types of assessments that inspector can run, right? Yeah, there are different templates you can choose from, okay, so, like pre built assessments for specific scenarios, exactly
Kelly 4:49
like one for container image scanning, another for network checks, web vulnerabilities. Wow. So
Chris 4:56
it covers a lot of ground. It tries to, yeah, what if those templates aren't about? Perfect fit. Can you customize them? Oh, yeah, absolutely Nice. So you're not stuck with a one size fits all approach. You
Kelly 5:06
know, you can add or remove checks, tweak the severity levels. Very
Chris 5:09
cool. Now let's talk about the cost. Yeah, the elephant in the room is Inspector free, or is there a price tag? So it's pay as you go. Okay, so the more you use it, the more it costs, basically, yeah, but the value it brings is worth it, right? Preventing those security breaches absolutely
Kelly 5:26
think of it as an investment, because, you know, breaches can cost way more. True,
Chris 5:31
that's a good point. Okay, so let's get back to exam prep. What should we know about inspector for those AWS exams? All right, here's
Kelly 5:38
a big one, agent based versus agentless assessments. Make sure you know the difference. Okay,
Chris 5:45
so remind me, agent based means you install something on the instances, right?
Speaker 2 5:49
Yeah, you got it, and that gives you more detailed info. Agentless is more like remote checks exactly
Kelly 5:54
uses other services like Systems Manager, okay, I
Chris 5:57
think I'm getting that. Anything else, uh huh.
Kelly 6:00
Another important one is vulnerability scans versus Network Reachability checks. So two different ways of looking at security, right? One's about finding weaknesses in the software itself, and the other is about like open ports and access, right? Exactly two different lenses got it.
Chris 6:15
So let's say inspector finds a potential issue. Does it just like, flag it, or does it actually do something about it?
Kelly 6:22
Ah, good question. So its main job is identification, right,
Chris 6:27
right, like raising the alarm, yeah, but it can trigger actions too. Oh, interesting. So it's not just passive reporting, not necessarily. This
Kelly 6:36
is where those integrations come in, like with Security Hub, right? Exactly. You could set it up so if inspector finds something critical, Security Hub kicks off a patching workflow.
Chris 6:44
Wow, that's pretty cool. It can actually fix things automatically, well, with
Kelly 6:48
the help of other services, yeah. So it's all connected. The beauty of the AWS ecosystem, okay,
Chris 6:53
this is all super helpful. Any practical tips for using inspector effectively?
Kelly 6:57
Sure, number one, integrate it into your CICD pipeline.
Chris 7:01
Okay, so like, bake security in your development process from
Kelly 7:05
the start exactly. Find those vulnerabilities early,
Chris 7:08
smart move. What else?
Kelly 7:12
Uh, keep an eye on your findings. Don't let them pile up, right? Stay on top of things. And you know, don't be afraid to customize those assessments, tailor it to your specific needs, precisely figure out what works best for your organization. Okay, so integrate
Chris 7:27
early monitor continuously and customize those assessments. Got it? You got it. You mentioned how well inspector integrates with other AWS services? Yeah, it's a team player. Can you give some specific examples, like how this integration boosts security Sure. So
Kelly 7:43
security Hub's a big one. We talked about that a bit. Yeah, right. It gives you that central view of your security posture, like a security dashboard, exactly. And it can trigger automated responses,
Chris 7:53
so say inspector finds a critical vulnerability, yeah. Security
Kelly 7:58
hub could automatically start patching or even isolate the affected instance, wow. So it can actually
Chris 8:03
contain the threat. Pretty powerful stuff, definitely. What
Unknown Speaker 8:05
about CloudTrail? Ah, CloudTrail is essential for
Chris 8:09
auditing, right? It tracks all the activity, yeah,
Kelly 8:11
so you have a record of everything that happened, accountability
Chris 8:14
and transparency. What about Lambda? I know people use that for all sorts of custom stuff, yeah.
Kelly 8:19
Lambda is super versatile, and you can integrate it with inspector. Too interesting.
Chris 8:23
What would that be used for?
Kelly 8:25
Well, say you want some really specific actions to happen based on what inspector finds, okay, more
Chris 8:31
customized responses, right?
Kelly 8:32
You can build Lambda functions for that so
Chris 8:34
you can create these automated workflows tailored to your exact needs, exactly.
Kelly 8:39
It's pretty flexible. I
Chris 8:40
like it. Now a lot of companies are worried about compliance. Yeah,
Kelly 8:44
compliance is huge. How does inspector help with all that? Well, first off, it's designed with compliance in mind. Okay?
Chris 8:50
So it's built to meet those standards, right? It supports things like
Kelly 8:53
PCI, DSS, SOC, two, IPA,
Chris 8:57
so it understands the rules of the game, yeah?
Kelly 9:00
And it helps you align with those requirements. So it's not just about finding any old vulnerability, it's about finding the ones that matter for compliance. Got it, and then
Chris 9:09
with Security Hub and CloudTrail, you can show that you're on top of things. Yeah,
Kelly 9:13
you have the evidence you need for those audits. It's
Chris 9:16
like a built in compliance buddy, huh? I like that. All right, so we've talked a lot about the practical side of inspector, yeah, the real world stuff. Ready for some more exam style scenarios. Hit me with them. Let's
Kelly 9:28
see what we've learned. All
Chris 9:29
right, final stretch of our Amazon inspector deep dive, the home stretch, yeah, we've covered a lot of ground. You know what it is, how it works, how it fits with the other AWS services
Kelly 9:39
and those tricky exam questions, right? Exactly.
Chris 9:42
But let's get into some specific use cases. Yeah,
Kelly 9:45
yeah. Good idea. Seeing it in action really helps solidify things absolutely
Chris 9:49
hit me with some examples. Where does inspector really shine? Okay, well, container
Kelly 9:54
security is huge these days. Containers, yeah, everyone's using them, and for good reason, they're. Lightweight, portable, but they come with their own security headaches, right? Yeah, for sure, because they often share that underlying operating system kernel,
Chris 10:07
so a vulnerability in one could affect others Exactly, and
Kelly 10:11
that's where inspector comes in. It's got these templates specifically for container image standing so
Chris 10:16
it can check for vulnerabilities inside the image itself, right?
Kelly 10:19
And any dependencies, libraries, all that, it's
Chris 10:22
like a security checkpoint before those containers even get deployed, a good
Kelly 10:26
analogy. And if you integrate it with your CICD pipeline, you're
Chris 10:31
catching those vulnerabilities early on before they hit production. Exactly smart. What about serverless? That's another big trend, right?
Kelly 10:38
Yeah, Serverless is exploding Lambda and all that. But even though
Chris 10:42
you're not managing servers directly, you still need to worry about security. Absolutely,
Kelly 10:45
you're still responsible for your code your data, right? You
Chris 10:48
don't get a free pass just because it's serverless, no? And while
Kelly 10:52
inspector doesn't scan the serverless functions themselves, right,
Chris 10:56
it can't look inside the code itself, yeah, but it can secure the environment they run in. Okay, so it's about hardening the foundation exactly make sure those
Kelly 11:05
underlying systems, the dependencies, are secure. And
Chris 11:08
with CloudTrail, you get that visibility into what's happening, right? You
Unknown Speaker 11:12
can track everything. Okay, so earlier, we
Chris 11:15
were talking about how inspector can be helpful for compliance, yeah, for those audits. Can you give us a real world example, like how a company might use it to meet some specific requirements? Sure.
Kelly 11:27
Let's say you have to comply with PCI, DSS, you know, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, okay,
Chris 11:34
that's for protecting credit card info, right? Exactly, lots of rules around that an inspector can help prove that you're following those rules. Yeah, I can,
Kelly 11:42
by running assessments tailored to PCI, DSS, you can find those vulnerabilities, those configuration weaknesses, so you can fix them before they become a problem, right? And you have the evidence to show that you're taking security seriously.
Chris 11:56
Plus, with Security Hub and CloudTrail, you've got that central view and the audit trail, all the documentation you need. Okay, I think we've covered a lot. Anything else our listeners should know about inspector before we wrap up? Yeah,
Kelly 12:07
I think one important thing is, you know, cloud security is always changing,
Chris 12:10
right? New threats, new best practices. It's a moving target, exactly. So you gotta keep learning. Always be learning any advice on how to stay up to date with inspector, well, the
Kelly 12:21
AWS documentation is always a good place to start, right? That's the official word, and it gets updated regularly. Plus, the AWS community is amazing, so
Chris 12:29
many blogs, forums, online groups, yeah,
Kelly 12:32
don't be afraid to ask questions. Connect with other people, learn from each other's experiences, exactly. And of course, there's no substitute for hands on experience, right?
Chris 12:40
Get in there. Spin up some test environments, break things exactly.
Kelly 12:43
You learn so much by doing.
Chris 12:46
I completely agree. Well, I think we've given everyone a pretty thorough deep dive into Amazon inspector. I hope so we've covered a lot from the basics to some pretty advanced stuff, even, how to use it for compliance.
Kelly 12:59
And hopefully, you know, people feel more confident about those AWS exams now, definitely.
Chris 13:03
So go forth and secure those cloud environments, everyone, and keep learning. Great advice that wraps up our deep dive into Amazon inspector. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you in the next one. You.