Performing Cloud Incident Containment Procedures

AWS Containment Procedures

1. Credential Compromise Containment

# Disable compromised IAM user access keys
aws iam update-access-key --user-name compromised-user \
  --access-key-id AKIA... --status Inactive

# List and disable all access keys for user
aws iam list-access-keys --user-name compromised-user
aws iam delete-access-key --user-name compromised-user --access-key-id AKIA...

# Attach deny-all policy to compromised user
aws iam put-user-policy --user-name compromised-user \
  --policy-name DenyAll \
  --policy-document '{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [{
      "Effect": "Deny",
      "Action": "*",
      "Resource": "*"
    }]
  }'

# Revoke all active sessions for IAM role
aws iam put-role-policy --role-name compromised-role \
  --policy-name RevokeOldSessions \
  --policy-document '{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [{
      "Effect": "Deny",
      "Action": "*",
      "Resource": "*",
      "Condition": {
        "DateLessThan": {"aws:TokenIssueTime": "'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'"}
      }
    }]
  }'

# Invalidate temporary credentials by updating role trust policy
aws iam update-assume-role-policy --role-name compromised-role \
  --policy-document '{"Version":"2012-10-17","Statement":[]}'

2. EC2 Instance Isolation

# Create quarantine security group (no inbound, no outbound)
aws ec2 create-security-group --group-name quarantine-sg \
  --description "Quarantine - No traffic allowed" --vpc-id vpc-xxxxx

# Remove all rules from quarantine SG (default allows outbound)
aws ec2 revoke-security-group-egress --group-id sg-quarantine \
  --ip-permissions '[{"IpProtocol":"-1","FromPort":-1,"ToPort":-1,"IpRanges":[{"CidrIp":"0.0.0.0/0"}]}]'

# Take forensic snapshot BEFORE containment
aws ec2 create-snapshot --volume-id vol-xxxxx \
  --description "Forensic snapshot - IR Case 2025-001" \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=snapshot,Tags=[{Key=IR-Case,Value=2025-001}]'

# Apply quarantine security group to compromised instance
aws ec2 modify-instance-attribute --instance-id i-xxxxx \
  --groups sg-quarantine

# Tag instance as compromised
aws ec2 create-tags --resources i-xxxxx \
  --tags Key=IR-Status,Value=Contained Key=IR-Case,Value=2025-001

# Capture memory (if SSM agent available)
aws ssm send-command --instance-ids i-xxxxx \
  --document-name "AWS-RunShellScript" \
  --parameters 'commands=["dd if=/dev/mem of=/tmp/memory.dump bs=1M"]'

3. S3 Bucket Containment

# Block all public access
aws s3api put-public-access-block --bucket compromised-bucket \
  --public-access-block-configuration \
  BlockPublicAcls=true,IgnorePublicAcls=true,BlockPublicPolicy=true,RestrictPublicBuckets=true

# Apply deny policy to bucket
aws s3api put-bucket-policy --bucket compromised-bucket \
  --policy '{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [{
      "Sid": "DenyAllExceptForensics",
      "Effect": "Deny",
      "NotPrincipal": {"AWS": "arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT:role/IR-Forensics"},
      "Action": "s3:*",
      "Resource": ["arn:aws:s3:::compromised-bucket","arn:aws:s3:::compromised-bucket/*"]
    }]
  }'

# Enable versioning to preserve evidence
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning --bucket compromised-bucket \
  --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

# Enable Object Lock for evidence preservation
aws s3api put-object-lock-configuration --bucket evidence-bucket \
  --object-lock-configuration '{
    "ObjectLockEnabled": "Enabled",
    "Rule": {"DefaultRetention": {"Mode": "COMPLIANCE", "Days": 365}}
  }'

4. Lambda Function Containment

# Set reserved concurrency to 0 (stops all invocations)
aws lambda put-function-concurrency --function-name compromised-function \
  --reserved-concurrent-executions 0

# Remove all event source mappings
aws lambda list-event-source-mappings --function-name compromised-function
aws lambda delete-event-source-mapping --uuid mapping-uuid

Azure Containment Procedures

1. Identity Containment

# Revoke all user sessions
Revoke-AzureADUserAllRefreshToken -ObjectId "user-object-id"

# Disable user account
Set-AzureADUser -ObjectId "user-object-id" -AccountEnabled $false

# Reset user password
Set-AzureADUserPassword -ObjectId "user-object-id" -Password (
  ConvertTo-SecureString "TempP@ss!" -AsPlainText -Force
) -ForceChangePasswordNextLogin $true

# Block sign-in via Conditional Access (emergency policy)
# Create policy blocking user from all cloud apps

# Revoke Azure AD application consent
Remove-AzureADServiceAppRoleAssignment -ObjectId "sp-object-id" \
  -AppRoleAssignmentId "assignment-id"

2. VM Isolation

# Create Network Security Group with deny-all rules
$nsg = New-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -ResourceGroupName "rg" -Location "eastus" `
  -Name "quarantine-nsg" `
  -SecurityRules @(
    New-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig -Name "DenyAllInbound" -Protocol * `
      -Direction Inbound -Priority 100 -SourceAddressPrefix * `
      -SourcePortRange * -DestinationAddressPrefix * `
      -DestinationPortRange * -Access Deny,
    New-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig -Name "DenyAllOutbound" -Protocol * `
      -Direction Outbound -Priority 100 -SourceAddressPrefix * `
      -SourcePortRange * -DestinationAddressPrefix * `
      -DestinationPortRange * -Access Deny
  )

# Take disk snapshot for forensics
$vm = Get-AzVM -ResourceGroupName "rg" -Name "compromised-vm"
$snapshotConfig = New-AzSnapshotConfig -SourceUri $vm.StorageProfile.OsDisk.ManagedDisk.Id `
  -Location "eastus" -CreateOption Copy
New-AzSnapshot -ResourceGroupName "rg" -SnapshotName "forensic-snap" -Snapshot $snapshotConfig

# Apply quarantine NSG to VM NIC
$nic = Get-AzNetworkInterface -ResourceGroupName "rg" -Name "compromised-nic"
$nic.NetworkSecurityGroup = $nsg
Set-AzNetworkInterface -NetworkInterface $nic

3. Storage Account Containment

# Remove network access
Update-AzStorageAccountNetworkRuleSet -ResourceGroupName "rg" `
  -Name "storageaccount" -DefaultAction Deny

# Regenerate access keys
New-AzStorageAccountKey -ResourceGroupName "rg" -Name "storageaccount" -KeyName key1
New-AzStorageAccountKey -ResourceGroupName "rg" -Name "storageaccount" -KeyName key2

# Revoke all SAS tokens (by rotating keys)
# Enable immutability for evidence preservation

GCP Containment Procedures

1. IAM Containment

# Remove all IAM bindings for compromised service account
gcloud projects get-iam-policy PROJECT_ID --format=json > policy.json
# Edit policy.json to remove compromised account bindings
gcloud projects set-iam-policy PROJECT_ID policy.json

# Disable service account
gcloud iam service-accounts disable SA_EMAIL

# Delete service account keys
gcloud iam service-accounts keys list --iam-account SA_EMAIL
gcloud iam service-accounts keys delete KEY_ID --iam-account SA_EMAIL

2. Compute Instance Isolation

# Create forensic snapshot
gcloud compute disks snapshot compromised-disk \
  --snapshot-names forensic-snap-$(date +%Y%m%d) \
  --zone us-central1-a

# Apply firewall rule to deny all traffic
gcloud compute firewall-rules create quarantine-deny-all \
  --network default --action DENY --rules all \
  --target-tags quarantine --priority 0

# Tag compromised instance
gcloud compute instances add-tags compromised-instance \
  --tags quarantine --zone us-central1-a

# Remove external IP
gcloud compute instances delete-access-config compromised-instance \
  --access-config-name "External NAT" --zone us-central1-a

Evidence Preservation Best Practices

1. Always snapshot before containment - Create disk/volume snapshots before network isolation
2. Preserve CloudTrail/Activity Logs - Copy logs to write-protected storage
3. Document all actions - Timestamp every containment step taken
4. Use break-glass procedures - Pre-establish emergency access for IR team
5. Maintain forensic chain of custody - Hash all evidence artifacts

MITRE ATT&CK Cloud Techniques

References

• Sygnia: Cloud Incident Response Best Practices
• Unit 42: Responding to Cloud Incidents
• Wiz: Cloud Incident Response Checklist
• Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark - IR