gabrielmoreira Analyzing Cloud Storage Access Patterns
When to Use
- When investigating security incidents that require analyzing cloud storage access patterns
- When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
- When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
- When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with cloud security concepts and tools
- Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
- Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
- Appropriate authorization for any testing activities
Instructions
- Install dependencies:
pip install boto3 requests - Query CloudTrail for S3 Data Events using AWS CLI or boto3.
- Build access baselines: hourly request volume, per-user object counts, source IP history.
- Detect anomalies:
- After-hours access (outside 8am-6pm local time)
- Bulk downloads: >100 GetObject calls from single principal in 1 hour
- New source IPs not seen in the prior 30 days
- ListBucket enumeration spikes (reconnaissance indicator)
- Generate prioritized findings report.
python scripts/agent.py --bucket my-sensitive-data --hours-back 24 --output s3_access_report.json
Examples
CloudTrail S3 Data Event
{"eventName": "GetObject", "requestParameters": {"bucketName": "sensitive-data", "key": "financials/q4.xlsx"},
"sourceIPAddress": "203.0.113.50", "userIdentity": {"arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/analyst"}}