As more organizations migrate to the cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains the dominant platform, powering everything from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises. But with great scalability comes great responsibility. Misconfigurations, overlooked IAM policies, and hidden vulnerabilities in cloud-native apps are prime targets for attackers.
Why AWS Is a Major Target
- AWS dominates with over 30% of the cloud infrastructure market (Statista).
- In 2024, cloud environments accounted for 45% of breaches, many due to misconfigurations and poor visibility.
- Misconfigured S3 buckets, overly permissive IAM roles, and neglected API endpoints are among the most common security holes exploited.
Real-World Consequences of AWS Breaches
- CapOne (2019): Over 100 million customer records exposed due to a misconfigured WAF and excessive IAM privileges.
- Tesla (2018): Hackers gained access to a Kubernetes admin console running on AWS and used it to mine cryptocurrency.
- Accenture (2021): Left unsecured S3 buckets publicly accessible, exposing proprietary data and internal credentials.
These incidents show that even well-resourced organizations can fall victim to seemingly simple missteps.
Automated Scans Aren’t Enough
While AWS offers native security tools like GuardDuty, Inspector, and Trusted Advisor, they often miss nuanced or business logic vulnerabilities. Automated tools can detect known issues—but only human expertise can simulate how an attacker would chain multiple weaknesses together.
Commonly missed areas by scanners include:
- Privilege escalation paths in IAM roles
- Insecurely coded Lambda functions
- SSRF and IDOR in cloud-hosted APIs
- Improper logging in serverless apps
How Hacker Simulations Helps
At Hacker Simulations, we provide human-powered AWS penetration testing designed to mimic real-world adversaries:
- Manual Testing of IAM, S3, EC2, Lambda, API Gateway & more
- Assessment of misconfigurations, privilege escalation, and exposed cloud assets
- Simulated attacker behavior to identify chained vulnerabilities
- Clear, actionable reporting tailored for both CISOs and technical teams
Our process bridges the gap between compliance and true cloud security readiness.
The Executive and Technical Advantage
For CISOs and business leaders: Our reports translate technical findings into business risk, helping you prioritize remediation.
For security teams and developers: We provide technical root cause analysis and remediation guidance your engineers can act on immediately.
Secure Your Cloud—Before They Do
If your AWS environment hasn’t been tested manually, you’re relying on luck.
Let Hacker Simulations uncover what tools can’t.
Book a free AWS security consultation and get ahead of the next breach.
References
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/500739/worldwide-cloud-infrastructure-services-market-share/
- https://www.csoonline.com/article/3625885/what-you-can-learn-from-the-capital-one-data-breach.html
- https://www.zdnet.com/article/tesla-cloud-hack-exposes-leaky-kubernetes-console/
- https://threatpost.com/accenture-leaves-s3-buckets-exposed/163465/
- https://www.darkreading.com/cloud/the-cloud-is-under-siege