AWS TFR SEC1 Answer: Control Objectives & Controls

Question

"Based on your compliance requirements and risks identified from your threat model, derive and validate the control objectives and controls that you need to apply to your workload. Ongoing validation of control objectives and controls help you measure the effectiveness of risk mitigation."

Executive Summary

Bike4Mind has derived focused control objectives based on our specific threat model and business requirements. Our approach leverages 30+ years of game development security experience and a robust CI/CD security pipeline to address our primary concerns: Data Protection and Access Control.

Risk Assessment & Threat Model

Business Context

• No Free Tier: Eliminates common abuse vectors from unpaid users
• Enterprise Focus: Source-available platform with customer-hosted deployment options
• Primary Concerns: Data protection and access control (not AI-specific threats)
• Deployment Model: Multi-region capability (US/EU) for compliance flexibility

Identified Risks (Prioritized)

1. Data Breach - Customer data exposure (HIGH)
2. Unauthorized Access - Account takeover, privilege escalation (HIGH)
3. Infrastructure Compromise - AWS resource abuse (MEDIUM)
4. Compliance Violations - SOC 2, GDPR requirements (MEDIUM)

Risks Explicitly Excluded

• PII leakage through AI models (customers control their own data)
• Model extraction/stealing (not a business concern)
• Prompt injection/jailbreaking (customers manage their own prompts)
• Free tier abuse (no free tier exists)

Control Objectives

CO-1: Data Protection & Encryption

Objective: Ensure all customer data is protected through encryption at rest and in transit, with appropriate data classification and handling.

Business Justification: Core customer trust requirement; enables enterprise sales and compliance Risk Mitigation: Prevents data breaches, ensures compliance with GDPR/SOC 2

CO-2: Access Control & Authentication

Objective: Implement robust authentication and authorization controls to prevent unauthorized access to customer data and systems.

Business Justification: Prevents account takeover; enables multi-tenant security Risk Mitigation: Eliminates unauthorized access, supports enterprise security requirements

Control Implementation

1. Data Protection Controls

C1.1: Encryption at Rest & Transit

Implementation:

• MongoDB Atlas: Encryption at rest enabled (AES-256)
• S3 Buckets: Server-side encryption (SSE-S3) for all customer data
• TLS 1.2+: All API communications encrypted in transit
• Application: bcrypt for passwords, strong JWT secrets

Validation (Automated via CI/CD):

# Daily encryption validation
aws s3api get-bucket-encryption --bucket $BUCKET_NAME
curl -I https://app.bike4mind.com | grep -i "strict-transport-security"

Evidence: CloudWatch logs, S3 encryption status, TLS configuration reports

C1.2: Data Classification & Handling

Implementation:

export enum DataClassification {
  PUBLIC = 'public',           // Marketing, docs
  INTERNAL = 'internal',       // Operational data  
  CONFIDENTIAL = 'confidential', // Customer sessions/files
  SENSITIVE = 'sensitive'      // Auth credentials
}

Validation: Schema validation in CI/CD pipeline, quarterly classification review Evidence: Data classification reports, schema validation logs

C1.3: Data Retention & Secure Disposal

Implementation:

• Automated retention policies via SST Cron jobs
• S3 lifecycle policies for data archival
• Secure deletion procedures for customer data

Validation: Daily retention job logs, quarterly compliance audit Evidence: Retention execution logs, data disposal certificates

2. Access Control Controls

C2.1: Multi-Factor Authentication

Implementation:

• OAuth providers (Google, GitHub, Okta) with MFA enforcement
• JWT tokens with short expiration (1 day access, 2 days refresh)
• Admin account additional verification requirements

Validation (Automated):

export async function validateMFACompliance() {
  const adminUsers = await User.find({ isAdmin: true });
  const nonCompliantUsers = adminUsers.filter(user => 
    !user.authProviders?.some(provider => provider.mfaEnabled)
  );
  
  return { compliant: nonCompliantUsers.length === 0 };
}

Evidence: MFA compliance reports, authentication logs, Slack alerts

C2.2: Least Privilege Access (CASL Framework)

Implementation:

• CASL-based permission system with granular controls
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Resource-level permissions (user can only access their own data)

Validation (CI/CD Integrated):

export async function validateCASLPermissions() {
  const testCases = [
    { user: 'regular', resource: 'FabFile', action: 'read', shouldPass: true },
    { user: 'regular', resource: 'AdminSettings', action: 'update', shouldPass: false },
  ];
  
  for (const testCase of testCases) {
    const result = await testPermission(testCase);
    if (result !== testCase.shouldPass) {
      throw new Error(`CASL validation failed`);
    }
  }
}

Evidence: CASL test results, permission audit logs, access violation alerts

Control Validation Framework

Automated Validation (CI/CD Integrated)

Our robust CI/CD pipeline includes continuous security validation:

• Semgrep: Static code analysis for security vulnerabilities
• Gitleaks: Prevents credential leaks
• OWASP ZAP: Dynamic application security testing
• Prowler: AWS infrastructure security auditing
• npm audit: Dependency vulnerability scanning

Validation Schedule

Control	Automated Frequency	Manual Review
Encryption	Daily	Monthly
Data Classification	Continuous (CI/CD)	Quarterly
MFA Compliance	Daily	Weekly
CASL Permissions	Every Commit	Weekly

Control Effectiveness Metrics

interface ControlMetrics {
  controlId: string;
  effectivenessScore: number; // 0-100
  lastValidated: Date;
  complianceStatus: 'compliant' | 'minor_issues' | 'non_compliant';
  automatedValidation: boolean;
}

Key Metrics Tracked:

• Encryption coverage: 100% of customer data
• MFA compliance: 100% of admin accounts
• Permission test pass rate: 100% in CI/CD
• Data classification coverage: 100% of new schemas

Ongoing Validation Process

1. Continuous Monitoring

• Real-time: CI/CD pipeline security checks on every commit
• Daily: Automated validation scripts for encryption and access controls
• Weekly: Comprehensive permission testing and MFA compliance
• Monthly: Manual security control review
• Quarterly: Full compliance audit and control effectiveness assessment

2. Evidence Collection

• CloudWatch Logs: All security events and control validations
• Slack Alerts: Real-time notifications of control failures
• CI/CD Reports: Automated security scan results
• Audit Trails: Complete access and permission logs

3. Control Improvement Process

• Quarterly Reviews: Assess control effectiveness based on metrics
• Incident-Driven: Update controls based on security events
• Compliance-Driven: Adjust controls for changing requirements (SOC 2, GDPR)

SOC 2 Compliance Mapping

Control	SOC 2 Criteria	Implementation Status
C1.1 Encryption	CC6.1, CC6.7	✅ Implemented
C1.2 Classification	CC6.1	✅ Implemented
C1.3 Retention	CC6.5	✅ Implemented
C2.1 MFA	CC6.2	✅ Implemented
C2.2 CASL	CC6.3	✅ Implemented

Risk Mitigation Effectiveness

Measured Outcomes

• Zero data breaches since implementation
• 100% encryption coverage of customer data
• 100% MFA compliance for administrative accounts
• Automated control validation prevents configuration drift
• Real-time alerting enables rapid incident response

Continuous Improvement

• Controls evolve based on new features and threats
• Customer feedback incorporated into security requirements
• Regular security tool updates maintain effectiveness
• Game development security principles applied to anticipate adversarial behavior

Conclusion

Bike4Mind's focused control framework effectively addresses our primary security concerns through:

1. Comprehensive Data Protection: Multi-layered encryption and classification
2. Robust Access Control: MFA + CASL-based least privilege access
3. Automated Validation: CI/CD integrated security testing
4. Continuous Monitoring: Real-time control effectiveness measurement
5. Evidence-Based Improvement: Metrics-driven control enhancement

This approach provides strong security posture while maintaining operational efficiency and supporting our enterprise customer requirements.