Security Best Practices
Effective security is essential for protecting data, infrastructure, and reputation. This article outlines key practices you can implement immediately.
Overview
Security is a continuous process that includes prevention, detection, and response. Below are the main pillars:
- Identity & Access Management
- Secure Coding & Configuration
- Network & Perimeter Defense
- Monitoring & Incident Response
Identity & Access Management
Ensure the principle of least privilege:
# Example IAM policy (JSON)
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:GetObject"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*"
}
]
}
Use multi‑factor authentication (MFA) for all privileged accounts.
Secure Coding & Configuration
Adopt a secure development lifecycle:
- Threat modeling
- Static analysis (e.g.,
eslint,bandit) - Dependency scanning
- Runtime protection (WAF, CSP)
Network & Perimeter Defense
Segment your network and enforce firewall rules:
# Example iptables rule
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -s 10.0.0.0/8 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j DROP
Monitoring & Incident Response
Implement centralized logging and automated alerts:
# Sample Logstash pipeline snippet
input { beats { port => 5044 } }
filter { grok { match => { "message" => "%{TIMESTAMP_ISO8601:timestamp} %{LOGLEVEL:level} %{GREEDYDATA:msg}" } } }
output { elasticsearch { hosts => ["es:9200"] } }
Maintain an up‑to‑date incident response playbook.