Trail

5 minutes 5 Questions

A trail in AWS CloudTrail is a configuration that enables delivery of event logs to specified Amazon S3 buckets, Amazon CloudWatch Logs log groups, or an Amazon SNS Topic. You can create one or more trails for an AWS account. By enabling trails, you can periodically capture and store the API activi…

Guide on the AWS CloudTrail

What is AWS CloudTrail?
AWS CloudTrail is a service offered by Amazon Web Services that provides event history of your AWS account activity, including actions taken through the AWS Management Console, AWS SDKs, command-line tools, and other AWS services. This event history simplifies security analysis, resource change tracking, and troubleshooting. In addition, you can use CloudTrail to detect unusual activity in your AWS accounts.

What is a Trail in AWS CloudTrail?
A trail is a configuration that enables delivery of events as log files to an Amazon S3 bucket.

Why is AWS CloudTrail Important?
AWS CloudTrail is important for a variety of reasons:

Security Analysis: CloudTrail provides a history of AWS API calls for your account, including API calls made via the AWS Management Console, AWS SDKs, and third-party tools. This is an important resource in enabling security analysis, tracking changes to resources and troubleshooting operational issues.
Compliance Aid: For regulated industries, CloudTrail can help meet requirements for auditing and compliance by providing a record of all activity in an AWS environment.
Operational Troubleshooting: CloudTrail can aid in troubleshooting operational issues by revealing recent changes in your AWS resources.

How it Works?
AWS CloudTrail trails can be applied to all regions or specific regions. Once you create a trail, CloudTrail captures AWS Management Console actions and API calls. These events are delivered to an S3 bucket which you can access and analyse as needed.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Trail
Understanding the role and functions of AWS CloudTrail and specifically Trails is key to answering exam questions on this topic. Focus on the security, compliance and operational troubleshooting benefits offered by AWS CloudTrail. Be sure to understand the process of how trails capture events and where they are stored.

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Question 1

A security auditor wants to be alerted every time an AWS Administrator stops an EC2 instance. Which of the following can be done?

Configure Amazon SNS notifications using ConsoleSignIn event Create an Amazon SES metric filter Create a CloudWatch Events rule with the 'StopInstances' event to send notifications Use Redis Pub/Sub messages

Correct Answer: Create a CloudWatch Events rule with the 'StopInstances' event to send notifications

Create a CloudWatch Events rule with the 'StopInstances' event to send notifications to the security auditor. The rest of the options target irrelevant events, services or monitoring.

Question 2

An organization is following the best practices of AWS CloudTrail and wants to ensure that their CloudTrail logs are properly encrypted. What can they do to achieve this?

Client-side encryption Enable server-side encryption (SSE) using AWS Key Management Service (KMS) keys Disable server-side encryption Encrypt log files in Amazon S3 Buckets using SHA-256

Correct Answer: Enable server-side encryption (SSE) using AWS Key Management Service (KMS) keys

For encryption of CloudTrail logs, server-side encryption (SSE) using AWS Key Management Service (KMS) keys is recommended as a best practice. Client-side encryption, disabling server-side encryption, encrypting log files with SHA-256, SFTP encryption, or TLS are not the proper approaches for encrypting CloudTrail logs.

Question 3

An organization wants to setup global trails in AWS CloudTrail for their multi-region account setup. Which region should store the logs?

Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA) Store logs only within an organization's private subnet A single designated regional S3 bucket Each region with separate S3 buckets

Correct Answer: A single designated regional S3 bucket

In a global trails setup, centralizing logs in a single designated regional S3 bucket is recommended for easier management and consolidation. Storing in separate regional buckets or instance store does not provide efficient centralization. Amazon S3 One Zone-IA, private subnets, or Amazon Glacier do not align with this purpose.

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