🔰 Step-by-Step Guide: Secure Your AWS Account from Day 1

✅ Step 1: You Created an AWS Account — What Happens Now?

When you sign up for AWS:

• You provide your email address, password, and billing info
• AWS creates a root account with full control over all resources
• You can now access the AWS Management Console

🎯 This root user is very powerful and dangerous if misused. If someone gets your root credentials, they control your cloud.

🛡️ Step 2: Secure the Root Account Immediately

🔹 What to Do:

1. Set a strong password
2. Add MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)
3. Delete access keys (if any exist)

🔹 How to Do It:

Set a strong password:

• Go to AWS Sign-In
• Click on your account name → "My Security Credentials"
• Choose “Change Password”

Enable MFA:

• Go to “My Security Credentials”
• Under Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), click “Activate MFA”
• Choose Virtual MFA Device
• Scan QR code with an app (like Google Authenticator)
• Enter two consecutive codes from the app

Delete root access keys:

• Still in “My Security Credentials”
• Under “Access Keys”, delete any keys listed there

👥 Step 3: Create an Admin IAM User for Yourself

Why? The root user is for emergencies only. You should use an IAM user for daily work.

🔹 How to Do It:

1. Go to the AWS console → IAM (search in top bar)
2. Click Users → “Add users”
3. Enter a username like admin-user
4. Choose "Password - AWS Management Console access"
5. Check “Require password reset”
6. Attach existing policies → select AdministratorAccess
7. Review and create

💡 Use this IAM user going forward, NOT the root user.

👨👩👧👦 Step 4: Set Up IAM Groups and Roles

🔹 IAM Groups:

• Useful for managing permissions for multiple users (e.g., Developers, Admins)
• Go to IAM → “Groups” → Create group → Assign permissions

🔹 IAM Roles:

• Used for services or temporary access (e.g., EC2 assuming a role)
• Go to IAM → “Roles” → Create role → Choose service that will assume the role

🗝️ Step 5: Don’t Use Root for CLI or API — Use IAM Access Keys Instead

🔹 How to Do It:

1. Go to IAM
2. Click on your IAM user
3. Go to Security Credentials
4. Click “Create access key”
5. Save key ID and secret securely (use AWS Secrets Manager or a password vault)

🔐 Use this access key in your terminal (e.g., AWS CLI):

• Access key ID
• Secret key
• Region (e.g., us-east-1)
• Output format (json, table, etc.)

📜 Step 6: Enable CloudTrail in All Regions

Why? To track everything that happens in your account — useful for audits, security alerts, and compliance.

🔹 How to Do It:

1. Go to the AWS Console → search for CloudTrail
2. Click “Create trail”
3. Choose “Apply trail to all regions”
4. Create or select an S3 bucket to store logs
5. Enable management and data events if needed
6. Click Create

📈 You’ll now have full activity logs of every API call made in your account.

📧 Step 7: Use a Group Email Alias for Root Account

Why? If you’re unavailable, other trusted team members can get AWS alerts.

🔹 How to Do It:

• Sign in as root → go to “My Account”
• Change email to something like: aws-alerts@yourcompany.com
• Make sure that email forwards to you + your team

👨💻 So, What Can You Do as an AWS User?

As a DevOps Engineer or Cloud Practitioner, here’s your role:

✅ Secure root account Enable MFA, delete keys

✅ Use IAM for daily tasks Admin via IAM, never root

✅ Apply least privilege Don’t over grant permissions

✅ Monitor with CloudTrail Know what’s happening in your account

✅ Stay updated Follow AWS security blogs & whitepapers

📚 Additional Resources to Level Up

• AWS Secure Initial Setup
• IAM Best Practices
• AWS Well-Architected Security Pillar
• AWS Free Tier Training

💬 Final Words

Security is not just a checkbox. It's your first line of defense in the cloud. Start secure, scale confidently. 👨💻💪