Protecting Data in the Cloud Protecting Data On Your Device

Data Protection in AWS Snowball Edge

AWS Snowball conforms to the AWS shared responsibility model, which includes regulations and guidelines for data protection. AWS is responsible for protecting the global infrastructure that runs all the AWS services. AWS maintains control over data hosted on this infrastructure, including the security configuration controls for handling customer content and personal data. AWS customers and APN partners, acting either as data controllers or data processors, are responsible for any personal data that they put in the AWS Cloud.

For data protection purposes, we recommend that you protect AWS account credentials and set up individual users with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), so that 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 AWS resources. We recommend TLS 1.2 or later.

Set up API and user activity logging with AWS CloudTrail.
Use AWS encryption solutions, along with all default security controls within AWS services.
Use advanced managed security services such as Amazon Macie, which assists in discovering and securing personal data that is stored in Amazon S3.
If you require FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic modules when accessing AWS 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) 140-2.

We strongly recommend that you never put sensitive identifying information, such as your customers' account numbers, into free-form fields such as a Name field. This includes when you work with AWS Snowball or other AWS services using the console, API, AWS CLI, or AWS SDKs. Any data that you enter into AWS Snowball or other services might get picked up for inclusion in diagnostic logs. When you provide a URL to an external server, don't include credentials information in the URL to validate your request to that server.

For more information about data protection, see the AWS Shared Responsibility Model and GDPR blog post on the AWS Security Blog.

Protecting Data in the Cloud

AWS Snowball protects your data when you're importing or exporting data into Amazon S3, when you create a job to order a Snow Family device, and when your device is updated. The following sections describe how you can protect your data when you use Snowball Edge and are online or interacting with AWS in the cloud.

Topics

Encryption for AWS Snowball Edge
AWS Key Management Service in AWS Snowball Edge

Encryption for AWS Snowball Edge

When you're using a Snowball Edge to import data into S3, all data transferred to a device is protected by SSL encryption over the network. To protect data at rest, AWS Snowball Edge uses server side-encryption (SSE).

Server-Side Encryption in AWS Snowball Edge

AWS Snowball Edge supports server-side encryption with Amazon S3–managed encryption keys (SSE-S3). Server-side encryption is about protecting data at rest, and SSE-S3 has strong, multifactor encryption to protect your data at rest in Amazon S3. For more information on SSE-S3, see Protecting Data Using Server-Side Encryption with Amazon S3-Managed Encryption Keys (SSE-S3) in the Amazon Simple Storage Service User Guide.

Currently, AWS Snowball Edge doesn't offer server-side encryption with customer-provided keys (SSE-C). Amazon S3 compatible storage on Snow Family devices offers SSS-C for local compute and storage jobs. However, you might want to use that SSE type to protect data that has been imported, or you might already use it on data you want to export. In these cases, keep the following in mind:

Import –

If you want to use SSE-C to encrypt the objects that you've imported into Amazon S3, you should consider using SSE-KMS or SSE-S3 encryption instead established as a part of that bucket's bucket policy. However, if you have to use SSE-C to encrypt the objects that you've imported into Amazon S3, then you will have to copy the object within your bucket to encrypt with SSE-C. A sample CLI command to achieve this is shown below:
```
aws s3 cp s3://mybucket/object.txt s3://mybucket/object.txt --sse-c --sse-c-key 1234567891SAMPLEKEY
```
or
```
aws s3 cp s3://mybucket s3://mybucket --sse-c --sse-c-key 1234567891SAMPLEKEY --recursive
```
Export – If you want to export objects that are encrypted with SSE-C, first copy those objects to another bucket that either has no server-side encryption, or has SSE-KMS or SSE-S3 specified in that bucket's bucket policy.

Enabling SSE-S3 for Data Imported into Amazon S3 from a Snowball Edge

Use the following procedure in the Amazon S3 Management Console to enable SSE-S3 for data being imported into Amazon S3. No configuration is necessary in the AWS Snow Family Management Console or on the Snowball device itself.

To enable SSE-S3 encryption for the data that you're importing into Amazon S3, simply set the bucket policies for all the buckets that you're importing data into. You update the policies to deny upload object (s3:PutObject) permission if the upload request doesn't include the x-amz-server-side-encryption header.

To enable SSE-S3 for data imported into Amazon S3

Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon S3 console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/s3/.
Choose the bucket that you're importing data into from the list of buckets.
Choose Permissions.
Choose Bucket Policy.

In the Bucket policy editor, enter the following policy. Replace all the instances of YourBucket in this policy with the actual name of your bucket.


{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Id": "PutObjPolicy",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "DenyIncorrectEncryptionHeader",
      "Effect": "Deny",
      "Principal": "*",
      "Action": "s3:PutObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::YourBucket/*",
      "Condition": {
        "StringNotEquals": {
          "s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption": "AES256"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "Sid": "DenyUnEncryptedObjectUploads",
      "Effect": "Deny",
      "Principal": "*",
      "Action": "s3:PutObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::YourBucket/*",
      "Condition": {
        "Null": {
          "s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption": "true"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Choose Save.

You've finished configuring your Amazon S3 bucket. When your data is imported into this bucket, it is protected by SSE-S3. Repeat this procedure for any other buckets, as necessary.

AWS Key Management Service in AWS Snowball Edge

AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) is a managed service that makes it easy for you to create and control the encryption keys used to encrypt your data. AWS KMS uses hardware security modules (HSMs) to protect the security of your keys. Specifically, the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for the AWS KMS key that you choose for a job in AWS Snowball Edge is associated with a KMS key. That KMS key is used to encrypt the unlock code for your job. The unlock code is used to decrypt the top layer of encryption on your manifest file. The encryption keys stored within the manifest file are used to encrypt and de-encrypt the data on the device.

In AWS Snowball Edge, AWS KMS protects the encryption keys used to protect data on each AWS Snowball Edge device. When you create your job, you also choose an existing KMS key. Specifying the ARN for an AWS KMS key tells AWS Snowball which AWS KMS keys to use to encrypt the unique keys on the AWS Snowball Edge device. For more information on AWS Snowball Edge supported Amazon S3 server-side-encryption options , see Server-Side Encryption in AWS Snowball Edge.

Using the Managed Customer AWS KMS keys for Snowball Edge

If you'd like to use the managed customer AWS KMS keys for Snowball Edge created for your account, follow these steps.

To select the AWS KMS keys for your job

On the AWS Snow Family Management Console, choose Create job.
Choose your job type, and then choose Next.
Provide your shipping details, and then choose Next.
Fill in your job's details, and then choose Next.
Set your security options. Under Encryption, for KMS key either choose the AWS managed key or a custom key that was previously created in AWS KMS, or choose Enter a key ARN if you need to enter a key that is owned by a separate account.

Note
The AWS KMS key ARN is a globally unique identifier for customer managed keys.
Choose Next to finish selecting your AWS KMS key.
Give the Snow device IAM user access to the KMS key.
1. In the IAM console (https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/), go to Encryption Keys and open the KMS key you chose to use to encrypt the data on the device.
2. Under Key Users, select Add, search for the Snow device IAM user and select Attach.

Creating a Custom KMS Envelope Encryption Key

You have the option of using your own custom AWS KMS envelope encryption key with AWS Snowball Edge. If you choose to create your own key, that key must be created in the same region that your job was created in.

To create your own AWS KMS key for a job, see Creating Keys in the AWS Key Management Service Developer Guide.

Protecting Data On Your Device

Securing your AWS Snowball Edge

Following are some security points that we recommend you consider when using AWS Snowball Edge, and also some high-level information on other security precautions that we take when a device arrives at AWS for processing.

We recommend the following security approaches:

When the device first arrives, inspect it for damage or obvious tampering. If you notice anything that looks suspicious about the device, don't connect it to your internal network. Instead, contact AWS Support, and a new device will be shipped to you.
You should make an effort to protect your job credentials from disclosure. Any individual who has access to a job's manifest and unlock code can access the contents of the device sent for that job.
Don't leave the device sitting on a loading dock. Left on a loading dock, it can be exposed to the elements. Although each AWS Snowball Edge device is rugged, weather can damage the sturdiest of hardware. Report stolen, missing, or broken devices as soon as possible. The sooner such an issue is reported, the sooner another one can be sent to complete your job.

Note

The AWS Snowball Edge devices are the property of AWS. Tampering with a device is a violation of the AWS Acceptable Use Policy. For more information, see http://aws.amazon.com/aup/.

We perform the following security steps:

When transferring data with the Amazon S3 adapter, object metadata is not persisted. The only metadata that remains the same is filename and filesize. All other metadata is set as in the following example: -rw-rw-r-- 1 root root [filesize] Dec 31 1969 [path/filename]
When transferring data with the file interface, object metadata is persisted.
When a device arrives at AWS, we inspect it for any signs of tampering and to verify that no changes were detected by the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). AWS Snowball Edge uses multiple layers of security designed to protect your data, including tamper-resistant enclosures, 256-bit encryption, and an industry-standard TPM designed to provide both security and full chain of custody for your data.
Once the data transfer job has been processed and verified, AWS performs a software erasure of the Snowball device that follows the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines for media sanitization.

Validating NFC Tags

Snowball Edge Compute Optimized and Snowball Edge Storage Optimized (for data transfer) devices have NFC tags built into them. You can scan these tags with the AWS Snowball Edge Verification App, available on Android. Scanning and validating these NFC tags can help you verify that your device has not been tampered with before you use it.

Validating NFC tags includes using the Snowball Edge client to generate a device-specific QR code to verify that the tags you're scanning are for the right device.

The following procedure describes how to validate the NFC tags on a Snowball Edge device. Before you get started, make sure you've performed the following first five steps of the getting started exercise:

Create your Snowball Edge job. For more information, see Creating a job to order a Snow Family device
Receive the device. For more information, see Receiving the Snowball Edge.
Connect to your local network. For more information, see Connecting to Your Local Network.
Get your credentials and tools. For more information, see Getting credentials to access a Snow Family device.
Download and install the Snowball Edge client. For more information, see Downloading and Installing the Snowball Edge client.

To validate the NFC tags

Run the snowballEdge get-app-qr-code Snowball Edge client command. If you run this command for a node in a cluster, provide the serial number (--device-sn) to get a QR code for a single node. Repeat this step for each node in the cluster. For more information on using this command, see Getting Your QR Code for NFC Validation.

The QR code is saved to a location of your choice as a .png file.
Navigate to the .png file that you saved, and open it so that you can scan the QR code with the app.
You can scan these tags using the AWS Snowball Edge Verification App on Android.

Note
The AWS Snowball Edge Verification App is not available to download, but if you have a device with the app already installed, you can use the app.
Start the app, and follow the on-screen instructions.

You've now successfully scanned and validated the NFC tags for your device.

If you encounter issues while scanning, try the following:

Confirm that your device has the Snowball Edge Compute Optimized options (with or without GPU).
If you have the app on another device, try using that device.
Move the device to an isolated area of the room, away from interference from other NFC tags, and try again.
If issues persist, contact AWS Support.

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