AWS CloudTrail
Enables governance, compliance, and operational auditing of your AWS account.
| Category | Security Monitoring & Logging |
|---|---|
| This page updated | 2 months ago |
| Pricing Details | Pricing is based on the number of events recorded and the storage used in S3. |
| Target Audience | AWS account administrators, security teams, compliance officers. |
AWS CloudTrail addresses the challenge of getting visibility into user and API activity within AWS accounts. This service records actions taken by users, roles, or AWS services as events, which can be accessed through the AWS Management Console, AWS Command Line Interface, or AWS SDKs and APIs.
The technical architecture of CloudTrail involves creating trails that capture and deliver event logs to Amazon S3 buckets, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, or Amazon EventBridge. Events are categorized into management events, data events, and Insights events, each providing different levels of detail about account activity. Management events are logged by default and include actions taken in the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, and AWS SDKs. Data events, which require explicit configuration, log activity related to specific resources such as S3 buckets or Lambda functions. Insights events help identify unusual activity patterns.
Operational considerations include managing permissions through IAM policies like AWSCloudTrail_FullAccess and AWSCloudTrail_ReadOnlyAccess, which control who can create, update, or view trails and event data stores. Integrations with other AWS services like Amazon CloudWatch Logs and Amazon EventBridge enable real-time monitoring and automated responses to specific events. However, these integrations come with additional costs, such as S3 storage fees and CloudWatch Logs charges.
Technically, CloudTrail logs are stored in JSON format and can be queried using SQL through Amazon Athena. The service supports encryption using AWS KMS keys and provides features like AI-powered query result summarization to streamline investigations. Limitations include the potential for high storage costs, especially in multi-account setups, and the need for careful permission management to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive auditing functions.