Security is built into infrastructure rather than reviewed after delivery. IAM policies, network boundaries, encryption, access controls, and audit logging are established as part of the build, not added later when something goes wrong. In regulated environments, this approach is a requirement from the start.
On greenfield projects, establishing a coherent security architecture across IAM, networking, encryption, and monitoring can represent a significant portion of the initial infrastructure work. Getting these foundations right before applications are deployed is considerably less costly than correcting them under live traffic.
IAM and Access Control
IAM strategy designed around least-privilege access from the start. Role and policy design that reflects how applications, services, and people actually need to access resources, rather than broad permissions that accumulate over time.
In multi-account estates, Service Control Policies enforce guardrails at the organisation level, preventing actions that should never be permitted regardless of what individual account IAM policies allow. Cross-account access patterns are defined explicitly, with roles and trust relationships that make access auditable and revocable.
Network Security
VPC design with security as a primary concern: minimising internet exposure by placing workloads in private subnets and routing public traffic through controlled entry points such as load balancers. Security group rules permit only what is required, and network ACLs provide a secondary boundary.
Where infrastructure is treated as immutable, servers are replaced rather than modified, removing persistent SSH access and the attack surface it creates entirely.
Encryption and Data Protection
Encryption at rest for data stores using AWS KMS, with key policies that control access to encryption operations. RDS, S3, EBS, and other storage services encrypted as standard. Encryption in transit enforced at the service and application boundary.
Secrets management through AWS Secrets Manager with IAM-controlled access, keeping credentials out of code and configuration files and providing a centralised, auditable record of secret access.
Audit and Visibility
CloudTrail enabled across accounts to provide a complete record of API activity. GuardDuty for threat detection. AWS Config for continuous compliance checking against defined rules. Security Hub to aggregate findings from across the estate into a single view.
These services provide the audit trail and visibility that regulated environments require, and the early warning capability that makes responding to issues faster.
Regulated Environments
Infrastructure work regularly covers regulated industries where security controls must meet specific requirements. This means building infrastructure that supports audit requirements, maintains appropriate access controls, and produces the evidence that compliance processes need.
The infrastructure is built to support compliance requirements, but compliance programme management, GDPR advisory, and PCI-DSS audit preparation are outside scope. The boundary is clear: the infrastructure is built correctly; the compliance process sits alongside it.
Approach
Security work typically sits within broader infrastructure engagements, built into the architecture from the start rather than assessed afterwards. It can also stand alone. An organisation approaching a go-live that wants an independent review of its AWS and infrastructure security posture before opening to traffic is a clear fit, as is a team that has grown its AWS estate quickly and wants a structured assessment of where the gaps are.
What is in scope is AWS and infrastructure security: IAM, network design, encryption, access controls, audit configuration, and the security services that provide ongoing visibility. Penetration testing and application security are outside scope.
Engagements are hands-on, delivered either embedded within a client team or independently.
Technologies and Tools
Identity and access: AWS IAM, Service Control Policies, AWS Organizations, IAM Identity Center.
Network security: Amazon VPC, security groups, network ACLs.
Encryption: AWS KMS, encryption at rest across RDS, S3, EBS and other services, AWS Secrets Manager.
Audit and detection: AWS CloudTrail, Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Security Hub, AWS Config.
Infrastructure as code: Terraform and OpenTofu, with security controls defined in code alongside the infrastructure they protect.
When You Need This
The clearest signal on greenfield projects is the absence of a defined approach to IAM, network boundaries, and encryption before development begins. Security decisions made under time pressure early in a project tend to persist long after that pressure has passed. Establishing the architecture at the start removes that technical debt before it accrues.
On ongoing contracts, security becomes relevant when infrastructure is growing, when the organisation is entering a regulated market, or when audit requirements are making the gaps in the current setup visible.
For security engagements, contact Digital Endeavours to discuss your infrastructure security requirements.
