Serverless security is a growing concern as more and more organizations adopt serverless architectures. Serverless computing offers many benefits, such as improved scalability, reduced costs, and faster development times. However, it also presents unique security challenges.
What is serverless security?
Serverless security is the practice of protecting serverless applications from cyberattacks. Serverless applications are code that is deployed and managed by a cloud provider. This means developers don't have to manage servers themselves. However, it also means that developers are responsible for securing their own code.
Security risks of serverless computing
There are several security risks associated with serverless computing, including:
Increased attack surfaces: Serverless applications typically have a larger attack surface than traditional applications. This is because serverless functions can be triggered by a variety of events, such as HTTP requests, database changes, or other cloud events.
Security misconfiguration: Serverless functions are often misconfigured, which can leave them vulnerable to attack. For example, a function might be granted more permissions than it needs, or it might be deployed with sensitive data in its environment variables.
Broken authentication: Serverless functions often rely on authentication to protect access to their resources. However, authentication can be broken in a variety of ways, such as through brute-force attacks or social engineering.
Over-privileged functions: Serverless functions should only be granted the minimum permissions they need to function. However, functions are often granted more permissions than they need, which can increase the risk of attack.
Best practices for securing serverless applications
There are a number of best practices that can be followed to secure serverless applications, including:
Use API gateways: API gateways provide a single point of entry for your serverless applications. This can help to reduce the attack surface and make it easier to control access to your applications.
Data separation: Store sensitive data in a separate location from your serverless functions. This can help to protect your data from being accessed by unauthorized users.
Secure configurations: Use strong passwords and encryption for all of your serverless resources.
Serverless monitoring: Monitor your serverless applications for suspicious activity. This can help you to detect and respond to security incidents quickly.
Challenges of serverless security
Serverless security presents a number of challenges, including:
Managing permissions: Serverless functions can have a complex set of permissions. It can be difficult to keep track of all of these permissions and ensure that they are configured correctly.
Securing event triggers: Serverless functions can be triggered by a variety of events. It is important to secure these events to prevent unauthorized access to your functions.
Monitoring for threats: Serverless functions are often deployed in a distributed manner. This can make it difficult to monitor them for threats.
Benefits of serverless security
Despite the challenges, there are also a number of benefits to serverless security, including:
Improved scalability: Serverless applications can scale automatically to meet demand. This can help to improve the performance and availability of your applications.
Reduced costs: Serverless applications only pay for the resources they use. This can help to reduce your cloud computing costs.
Conclusion
Serverless security is a complex challenge, but it is an important one. By following the best practices outlined in this blog post, you can help to secure your serverless applications and protect your data from cyberattacks.