AWS re:Inforce 2024 planted a new flag in Philadelphia, making it the home for AWS’s security-focused conference. Every year, Amazon Web Services hosts a collaborative, immersive event in which attendees get hands-on training from AWS experts and learn more about security in the cloud. As one of those attendees, I was able to soak up some valuable top-level tips and see what lies on the horizon for tool consolidation, the Shared Responsibility Model, and expanding workplace capabilities using AI.
Here’s what I learned.
All Under One Roof: AWS Security Tools, Consolidation, and M&A
Aside from major M&A announcements from AWS partners, AWS’s messaging was centered around bringing many of their individual security tools into closer cooperation with each other: instead of three different screwdrivers, a set of screwdrivers; instead of three different wrenches, a set of wrenches.
This fits in with industry leanings right now as the security landscape has long been struggling with tool sprawl, hypercomplexity, and vendor overwhelm. Fortra is also playing the consolidation game, looking towards the future by rolling out its very own platform. Fortra's platform combines some of our key solutions in a way that fits together seamlessly to detect threat intel, correlate it from across the network, and give customers a more powerful punch when it comes to mitigating risks across their enterprise.
The fact that AWS seems to be doing something similar indicates to me that this is a major security trend we’ll be seeing a lot more of going forward.
AWS Shared Responsibility Model: Cloud Security Going Forward
At the same time as their tooling consolidation story, they doubled down on the inherent security “of the cloud,” their part of the Shared Responsibility Model, with improvements in their own silicon, the Nitro chip.
Combining this new approach to packaged tooling with more deeply embedded hardware security, AWS delivered a clear message to every security ISV and customer -—AWS is focused on security, and security outcomes are delivered by partners building solutions with AWS tools.
As a recognized AWS Partner with demonstrated competency in several areas, it’s encouraging, though not surprising, to hear that AWS is committed to holding up their end of the security bargain, and actually pretty gung-ho about it. Their Nitro System underpins their completely re-imagined virtualization infrastructure, and promises to cut costs, increase security, and deliver new instance types. As we work closely with AWS to help our customers secure their cloud environment, this is going to be an exciting innovation to support.
AWS AI: AI-Powered Security Solutions vs. Human Managed Services
AWS has no intention of getting into the human-powered managed services game, instead focusing on making the tools ISVs and customers use for day-to-day security provide the most efficient, effective approach to security possible. This security approach will include more AI-powered solutions that can work alongside human security professionals to limit the number of false positives (which cause extra work) and false negatives (which increase risk and response).
At the risk of stating the glaringly obvious, this is another clear trend we’re seeing everywhere in security today and it will only continue to pick up steam. Fortra’s AI-driven XDR offering, along with other solutions in our arsenal, also lean heavily on artificial intelligence to relieve the human workload and cut risks, errors, and cost at scale. In doing so, we always try to balance new approaches with what was right with the old ones. As AI-driven solutions become the way of the future, we are proud to introduce them with the aim of aiding, and not replacing, human counterparts. It would appear that AWS has the same objectives in mind.
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