Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Improve SaaS application security observability with AWS AppFabric (BIZ213)

Summary

• AWS AppFabric is a fully managed service designed to connect leading SaaS applications with security tools, aggregating, normalizing, and enriching audit logs.
• The service addresses challenges faced by security teams in managing point-to-point integrations and data pipeline management.
• AWS AppFabric uses the open cybersecurity schema framework (OCSF) for normalization, which is extended to represent SaaS application behaviors effectively.
• The service offers flexibility in data format and destination, supporting raw or normalized logs in JSON or Parquet, and can send to Amazon S3 or Kinesis Data Firehose.
• AWS AppFabric supports a growing list of SaaS applications and security destinations, with plans to expand dramatically.
• The setup process for AWS AppFabric is straightforward, requiring no coding and minimal time investment.
• Splunk integrates with AWS AppFabric, providing powerful threat detection capabilities and efficient data ingestion and normalization.
• Customers from regulated industries like financial services and healthcare have found AWS AppFabric beneficial, citing its simplicity and compliance with standards like HIPAA.

Insights

• The normalization of SaaS application audit logs into a common schema is a significant pain point for security teams, which AWS AppFabric aims to alleviate.
• The adoption of OCSF by AWS AppFabric indicates a move towards standardization in security event logging and a focus on interoperability with security tools like Splunk.
• The integration of AWS AppFabric with Splunk demonstrates the importance of partnerships in the AWS ecosystem, enhancing the value proposition of AWS services through third-party tools.
• The emphasis on ease of use and quick setup for AWS AppFabric suggests AWS is targeting not only large enterprises but also smaller organizations that may lack extensive IT resources.
• The mention of a generative AI-powered assistant in the context of AWS AppFabric hints at future developments in AI and machine learning within AWS services, potentially leading to more proactive and intelligent security measures.
• The focus on regulated industries and compliance with standards like HIPAA indicates AWS's commitment to meeting the stringent security and privacy requirements of these sectors.
• The planned expansion of supported SaaS applications and security destinations for AWS AppFabric suggests AWS's ambition to become a central hub for security observability across a wide array of SaaS products.