Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Demonstration of what’s new with AWS governance and compliance (COP348)

Summary

The session focused on demonstrating new features in AWS governance and compliance tools, specifically AWS Control Tower and AWS Config.
AWS Control Tower now includes a Digital Sovereignty group with 246 controls to help with digital sovereignty requirements.
A new feature in Control Tower allows denying access based on an organizational unit (OU), enabling region-specific policies for OUs.
AWS Config introduced the ability to exclude certain resource types from tracking, beneficial for ephemeral workloads.
AWS Config now supports periodic recording, allowing snapshots of the environment at set intervals.
Advanced Query in AWS Config can now be simplified using natural language processing, which converts plain English into SQL queries.
CloudTrail Lake has been enhanced with federation using Athena for easier data querying and integration with QuickSight for visualization.
The session ended with a Q&A segment.

The addition of Digital Sovereignty in AWS Control Tower reflects a growing need for organizations to comply with local data governance laws.
The ability to deny access based on OU and region-specific policies in Control Tower demonstrates AWS's commitment to providing granular control over cloud environments.
AWS Config's new exclusion feature addresses customer feedback, showing AWS's responsiveness to user needs and the importance of managing ephemeral workloads efficiently.
The introduction of natural language processing for AWS Config queries lowers the barrier to entry for users unfamiliar with SQL or AWS Config's schema, making the platform more accessible.
CloudTrail Lake's new features, including federation with Athena and integration with QuickSight, indicate a push towards making audit and compliance data more actionable and easier to analyze.
The session's focus on practical demonstrations of new features rather than slides suggests a hands-on approach to engaging with the audience and providing real-world applications of AWS services.