We are excited to announce support for AWS Lambda as a part of Upwind’s agentless Cloud Scanners.

Upwind’s protection for Lambda functions running on AWS can be seen throughout the Upwind platform, extending our proactive risk analysis and visibility across  your entire cloud infrastructure – from containers to VMs to serverless.

What are Lambda Functions?

Lambda functions, a key component of serverless architectures on AWS, allow developers to run code without provisioning or managing servers, leading to faster development cycles and cost savings. However, these benefits introduce unique challenges to managing security risks effectively.

Why are Lambda Functions Difficult to Secure?

Securing Lambda functions is a challenge due to their granular permissions model, dynamic execution environments, and the absence of persistent infrastructure typically found in VM or container-based architectures, making traditional security controls difficult to apply. Additionally, each Lambda function operates within a shared environment and requires separate permission controls for each individual Lambda function with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), which can lead to excessive permissions and resource exposure if IAM roles are misconfigured.

Lambda functions can also be difficult to secure due to their ephemeral nature, meaning they can be rapidly deployed and modified and are at higher risk of vulnerabilities. Monitoring and auditing logs for Lambda executions can also be more complex compared to traditional VM or container-based  environments, making it harder to detect unauthorized access or anomalous behavior.

Upwind’s Comprehensive Security for AWS Lambda Functions

Upwind’s agentless Cloud Scanners provide comprehensive security for Lambda functions, which can be seen across  the capabilities within the Upwind platform:

• Vulnerability Management: Upwind scans for vulnerabilities in Lambda functions, which are shown in the Vulnerabilities tab.
• Posture: Upwind scans for exposed secrets and misconfigurations related to Lambda IAM roles.
• Threats: Upwind scans for malware impacting AWS Lambda functions, surfacing findings in the Threats tab.
• Inventory: See comprehensive status & manage  the scanning of your Lambda environments  in the Inventory tab of the Upwind platform under “Upwind components,” and view all scans and their results. 
• Identity Security: Managing all human and non-human identities and their permissions, including IAM roles and permissions for AWS Lambda functions.

Upwind’s comprehensive protection for Lambda functions provides you with increased visibility into Lambda functions, proactive risk management and prioritized  findings that are surfaced as a part of the Upwind platform. To learn more, schedule a demo.