Main takeaways from this article:
IaC security weaves protection into the infrastructure’s foundation, enforcing best practices automatically across environments.
Addressing vulnerabilities early in development avoids costly missteps, such as misconfigurations or overly permissive access.
Security baked into IaC templates makes scaling deployments fast and secure without cutting corners.
Continuous monitoring and proactive measures combat risks like configuration drift and “ghost resources.”
Tools like Wiz simplify policy enforcement, detect security issues, and help maintain secure, compliant cloud environments.
What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?
Infrastructure as code (IaC) consists of the management and configuration of infrastructure using instructions in the form of scripts or files. Infrastructure encompasses virtual machines, containers, databases, and networking. These are the main assets a company needs to secure due to their impact on operational efficiency, scalability, and data integrity.
What is IaC Security?
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) security is the practice of securing cloud infrastructure by embedding security controls into IaC templates and scripts. It's about embedding security right into the scripts and templates used to configure your cloud resources. It enforces consistent protections across your entire cloud setup, drastically cutting down the chances of human error or hidden vulnerabilities.
IaC security doesn’t just keep things locked down; it also powers scalable cloud security coverage. By automating processes like scaling, monitoring, compliance checks, and disaster recovery, it ensures your protections grow with your infrastructure.
Start by pinpointing areas ripe for automation—like deploying resources or configuring software dependencies. Once you’ve nailed that, folding security into these steps becomes smoother and far more effective.
The Secure Coding Best Practices [Cheat Sheet]
With curated insights and easy-to-follow code snippets, this 11-page cheat sheet simplifies complex security concepts, empowering every developer to build secure, reliable applications.
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The critical need for IaC security
IaC security is vital because it ultimately helps prevent vulnerabilities and misconfigurations from being deployed to production.
As cloud environments grow more intricate, keeping infrastructure secure and automated isn't just a nice-to-have—it’s absolutely necessary. That’s where Infrastructure as Code security steps in, embedding protection directly into the code that builds and manages cloud resources. This approach makes security part of the process from the get-go, rather than an afterthought.
Here are the key benefits that make IaC security essential:
Consistency you can count on: With IaC security, your cloud resources stick to the same security standards across the board. No more worrying about accidental human error creating gaps in protection.
Automation that has your back: By applying security controls through IaC templates, you can protect your infrastructure without lifting a finger—manual configurations are where mistakes sneak in.
Speed meets safety: Built-in security speeds up deployment by eliminating the need for separate security steps. The result? Faster launches that don’t skimp on protection.
A trackable paper trail: Version-controlled templates let you track changes, audit configurations, and roll back securely when needed. Transparency and accountability, all in one package.
Catch security and compliance issues early: Why wait until the last minute to fix a major issue? IaC security integrates checks right into the development pipeline, saving you time, money, and a ton of stress.
Bridging the gap between security and DevOps teams: By giving developers tools to fix vulnerabilities in their workflows, IaC security fosters teamwork between DevOps and security.
Scale without breaking a sweat: Need to grow fast? No problem. IaC security scales your infrastructure while keeping it locked down, adapting to new demands without sacrificing safety.
The takeaway? IaC security isn’t just about keeping your cloud safe—it’s about doing it smarter, faster, and with less hassle.
Top IaC security risks and challenges
Although automation boosts productivity, scalability, and reliability, it also brings some challenges.
Misconfigurations and configuration drift
A misconfiguration in an IaC template can create a snowball effect. For example, an AWS CloudFormation template accidentally sets a security group to public, exposing sensitive databases.
Then there’s configuration drift—manual tweaks or undocumented changes that, over time, open the door to potential vulnerabilities.
Ghost resources
These are untagged or forgotten resources, like a rogue virtual machine. For instance, take a marketing agency using Azure Resource Manager without adequately tagging its storage resources. Over time, these ghost resources could become numerous, and if left running, they could not only add extra costs but also enlarge the attack surface, highlighting the importance of proper resource tagging.
Exposed secrets
If secrets are saved in plain text or in any other insecure way, these could be read by malicious actors, resulting in a privilege escalation attack.
Say an e-commerce platform is using Ansible to manage their cloud resources and is keeping their API secrets in plain text within its configuration files. An audit could reveal this security gap, exposing the risks of a potential privilege escalation attack if those secrets were leaked.
Excessive privileges
Giving users unnecessary access – intentionally or not – expands your attack surface. Stick to the principle of least privilege (PoLP): only grant what’s absolutely needed, and nothing more.
IaC Scanning: Concepts, Process, and Tools
Infrastructure as code (IaC) scanning is the process of analyzing the scripts that automatically provision and configure infrastructure.
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10 essential IaC security best practices
The following eight best practices are practical, proven, and designed to keep your cloud environments safe from nasty surprises. Let’s break them down:
Use version control: Think of version control as your safety net. By storing IaC templates in systems like Git, you can track every change made to your infrastructure—whether it’s a tweak or a major overhaul. Need to roll back to a previous version after something goes haywire? No problem. Plus, version control doubles as your audit trail, giving teams a clear log of who changed what and when.
Scan IaC for vulnerabilities: Don’t let sneaky security gaps linger. Regular IaC scanning can uncover misconfigurations, hardcoded credentials, or compliance missteps long before they become a headache. Automated tools like Terrascan or Checkov are lifesavers here, flagging issues early so they never make it into production.
Use secrets management: Don't hardcode sensitive data like API keys and passwords. Instead, let secrets management tools like HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager handle that heavy lifting. These tools keep your secrets locked down tight, reducing the chances of someone stumbling across them in your codebase.
Enforce least privilege: When it comes to permissions, less is more. Grant users and services only the access they absolutely need to do their job—nothing more, nothing less. PoLP keeps potential security breaches contained and limits the damage a compromised account can cause.
Integrate security checks into CI/CD pipelines: Why wait until deployment to find security flaws? Build automated checks into your CI/CD pipelines to catch vulnerabilities before they hit production. Think of it as having a bouncer at the door, keeping trouble out while letting the good stuff through.
Perform code reviews: Two (or more) heads are better than one, especially when it comes to spotting security blind spots. Regular peer reviews of IaC code can unearth misconfigurations or overlooked risks that might slip through automated scans. Plus, it’s a great way to share knowledge and reinforce security practices across the team.
Enable logging and monitoring: You can’t fix what you don’t know about. Set up logging and real-time monitoring to keep an eye on deployed resources. Whether it’s tracking changes, catching anomalies, or responding to incidents, logs are your first line of defense—and a solid tool for audits and investigations.
Enforce security policies: Establish clear, enforceable security policies that align with best practices and compliance requirements. Use policy-as-code tools like Open Policy Agent (OPA) or Sentinel to automate enforcement, ensuring consistent application across all environments.
Eliminate unused or "ghost" resources: Inactive resources, like abandoned VMs or unlinked storage buckets, can quietly introduce vulnerabilities. Regularly audit and clean up unused resources to reduce attack surfaces and improve cloud hygiene.
10. Use a cloud security posture management (CSPM) tool: Staying on top of your cloud’s security posture is no small task, but CSPM tools (like Wiz) make it way easier. These tools monitor your IaC deployments 24/7, flagging policy violations and other issues so you can squash them before they escalate. Think of it as your always-on security watchdog.
The Wiz approach to IaC security
Wiz Code flips the script on IaC security by making real-time scanning a natural part of your cloud workflows, giving developers instant feedback to fix vulnerabilities before they grow. Here’s how it works and why it matters:
Real-time feedback for developers: Vulnerabilities are flagged as you code, so you can squash issues early instead of scrambling to patch them later.
Deep risk prioritization: By connecting code repositories and CI/CD pipelines to your cloud through the Wiz Security Graph, teams can trace vulnerabilities back to their source, prioritize the biggest threats, and fix them fast.
Policy enforcement made easy: Built-in policy enforcement and runtime-to-code feedback ensure security stays consistent across your entire stack.
Wiz also offers a number of features that are specifically designed to help with IaC security, such as:
Golden VM Image Pipeline: The Golden VM Image Pipeline feature helps organizations to ensure that their VM images are secure and compliant before they are deployed.
Runtime-to-code feedback: Wiz provides security feedback on running cloud environments. This feedback can be used to improve the security of IaC templates and scripts.
Integration with CI/CD pipelines: Wiz can be integrated with CI/CD pipelines to automate the security scanning of IaC templates and scripts. This helps to shift security to the left and to prevent security vulnerabilities from being introduced into production.
To see for yourself how an IaC security solution can work in your environment and what value it brings, schedule a Wiz demo today.
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