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Security for S3 Files - Amazon Simple Storage Service
Data Protection
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Security for S3 Files

Cloud security at Amazon is the highest priority. As an Amazon customer, you benefit from a data center and network architecture that is built to meet the requirements of the most security-sensitive organizations.

Security is a shared responsibility between Amazon and you. The shared responsibility model describes this as security of the cloud and security in the cloud:

Security of the cloud

Amazon is responsible for protecting the infrastructure that runs Amazon services in the Amazon Web Services Cloud. Amazon also provides you with services that you can use securely. Third-party auditors regularly test and verify the effectiveness of our security as part of the Amazon Compliance Programs. To learn about the compliance programs that apply to Amazon S3 Files, see Amazon Services in Scope by Compliance Program.

Security in the cloud

Your responsibility is determined by the Amazon service that you use. You are also responsible for other factors including the sensitivity of your data, your company's requirements, and applicable laws and regulations.

This documentation helps you understand how to apply the shared responsibility model when using Amazon S3 Files.

Data Protection

The Amazon shared responsibility model applies to data protection in S3 Files. As described in this model, Amazon is responsible for protecting the global infrastructure that runs all of the Amazon Web Services Cloud. You are responsible for maintaining control over your content that is hosted on this infrastructure. You are also responsible for the security configuration and management tasks for the Amazon services that you use. For more information about data privacy, see the Data Privacy FAQ. For information about data protection in Europe, see the Amazon Shared Responsibility Model and GDPR blog post on the Amazon Security Blog.

For data protection purposes, we recommend that you protect Amazon account credentials and set up individual users with Amazon IAM Identity Center or Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM). That way, each user is given only the permissions necessary to fulfill their job duties. We also recommend that you secure your data in the following ways:

  • Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) with each account.

  • Use SSL/TLS to communicate with Amazon resources. We require TLS 1.2 and recommend TLS 1.3.

  • Set up API and user activity logging with Amazon CloudTrail. For information about using CloudTrail trails to capture Amazon activities, see Working with CloudTrail trails in the Amazon CloudTrail User Guide.

  • Use Amazon encryption solutions, along with all default security controls within Amazon services.

  • Use advanced managed security services such as Amazon Macie, which assists in discovering and securing sensitive data that is stored in Amazon S3.

  • If you require FIPS 140-3 validated cryptographic modules when accessing Amazon through a command line interface or an API, use a FIPS endpoint. For more information about the available FIPS endpoints, see Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-3.

We strongly recommend that you never put confidential or sensitive information, such as your customers' email addresses, into tags or free-form text fields such as a Name field. This includes when you work with S3 Files or other Amazon services using the console, API, Amazon CLI, or Amazon SDKs. Any data that you enter into tags or free-form text fields used for names may be used for billing or diagnostic logs. If you provide a URL to an external server, we strongly recommend that you do not include credentials information in the URL to validate your request to that server.

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