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Case Studies

Center Parcs: Strengthening Cloud Security with Root Login Monitoring

Center Parcs UK and Ireland, renowned for its family-friendly forest retreats, sought to improve the security of its AWS environment to meet stringent industry standards and ensure operational integrity.

Challenge

Center Parcs required a robust solution to monitor and manage root user logins within its AWS accounts. The root user's elevated access posed significant risks if credentials were compromised. A system was needed to track and report root login events, ensure real-time alerts, and provide actionable insights to enhance security.

Solution

Our team deployed a serverless AWS solution to address Center Parcs' security needs. The implementation included Amazon EventBridge integrated with AWS CloudTrail to detect root login events. EventBridge rules relayed these events to a dedicated audit account via a custom event bus.

The solution utilised Amazon SNS to send real-time notifications to the security team for immediate action. Simultaneously, events were routed to Amazon Kinesis Firehose for processing and storage in S3. Metadata was catalogued using AWS Glue, enabling queries through Amazon Athena. Monthly reports were generated using AWS Lambda functions, which queried Athena and formatted the results for distribution via Amazon SES.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using CloudFormation ensured consistent and reliable deployments across AWS environments, enhancing the overall reliability of the solution.

Results

The new system provided significant improvements in security and operational efficiency. Real-time notifications allowed Center Parcs to quickly respond to root login events, aligning with zero-trust principles. Monthly reports offered detailed visibility into root user activities, strengthening audit compliance.

Cost efficiency was achieved through the use of serverless components, ensuring resources were only consumed when needed. Observability was enhanced with CloudWatch, offering metrics and alerts for proactive monitoring and response.

Impact

With this solution, Center Parcs now benefits from unparalleled visibility and control over its AWS environment. The system's scalability, cost efficiency, and security capabilities have fortified its cloud infrastructure, safeguarding critical systems and ensuring compliance with industry best practices.