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Continuously Scan AWS - Serverless Integration

The Mondoo serverless AWS integration enables continuous cron-scheduled and event-based scanning of your AWS account or Organization.

To learn about how an integration runs and its required permissions, read AWS Integration FAQ.

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Mondoo also offers a Mondoo-hosted method for assessing AWS security. It requires no agent in AWS and is easier to set up. To compare the two approaches, read Continuously Scan with an AWS Integration.

Integrate with an entire organization or single account

The serverless Mondoo AWS integration supports scanning multiple AWS accounts. To do this, you install Mondoo across an AWS Organization using CloudFormation StackSets. All scan configuration options you choose apply to every AWS account in the AWS Organization.

IMPORTANT

Before creating a serverless Mondoo deployment on an AWS Organization, be sure the configuration of your AWS Organization meets the requirements.

You can also opt to scan a single AWS account only. Single account integrations rely on CloudFormation stacks.

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When you deploy an integration with Mondoo using a StackSet on the organizational level, the StackSet only creates an integration of the target accounts.

The administrator account in which the StackSet for the target accounts resides needs its own separate single account integration.

This follows the architectural concepts of AWS StackSets.

Set up a new AWS integration

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Only team members with Editor or Owner access can perform this task.

  1. Access the Integrations > Add > AWS page in one of two ways:

    • New space setup: After creating a new Mondoo account or creating a new space, the initial setup guide welcomes you. Select BROWSE INTEGRATIONS and then select AWS.

      Welcome to Mondoo Page

    • INTEGRATIONS page: In the side navigation bar, under INTEGRATIONS, select Add New Integration. Near the top of the page, select AWS.

    AWS integration options

  2. Select the SELECT SERVERLESS INTEGRATION button.

    Create a serverless AWS integration in Mondoo

  3. Give the new integration a name that is easy to recognize as an AWS integration and differentiates it from any other AWS integrations.

  4. Select the type of integration:

    OptionDescription
    Organization installIntegrate Mondoo with an entire AWS Organization.
    Single account installIntegrate Mondoo with a single AWS account.
  5. Select the region in which you want to deploy the integration.

  6. Choose whether to use the region's default virtual private cloud (VPC) or to create a new VPC dedicated for Mondoo's use.

    • If you select AWS default VPC, be sure the selected region has a default VPC. Every VPCs created after 2013 has a default VPC unless it's been deleted. To check in the AWS console, choose the region, go to the VPC service, and select VPCs.

    • If you select Mondoo-created VPC, in the Configure CIDR box, specify an IPv4 address range for the VPC that Mondoo creates. To learn more, read VPC CIDR blocks in the AWS documentation.

  7. In the Schedule full scan box, set the interval (in hours) at which to execute a full scan of the AWS account, independent of change events. The default is 12 hours.

  8. Set the EC2 options:

    Mondoo serverless AWS integration EC2 options

    OptionDescription
    Discover EC2 instancesInclude EC2 instances in asset discovery. By default, this applies across all regions.
    Trigger on instance state change eventsTrigger a scan of all EC2 instances whenever an instance changes state.
    Use SSM for instance connectivityUse the AWS SSM service to trigger scans for EC2 instances (when it's available).
    Use EC2 Instance Connect for instance connectivityIf an EC2 instance has a public IP, connect using EC2 Instance Connect.
    Use EBS volume scanning for instance connectivityUse EBS volume scanning to scan the filesystems of instances that Mondoo otherwise can't reach. This includes stopped instances.
  9. If desired, limit the EC2 instances that Mondoo scans:

    Mondoo serverless AWS EC2 filtering

    OptionDescriptionExample
    Filter by instance IDsLimit instance scanning to a subset of IDs, separated by commas.i-0d1f840578ca82600,i-07ae83fe5d22600a
    Filter by regionsLimit instance scanning to a subset of regions, separating values with commas.us-east-1,us-east-2
    Filter by tagsTo Limit instance scanning to a subset of tags, separated with commas.Name:testname, env:test
  10. Specify if you want to scan containers or container images:

Mondoo serverless AWS integration container options

OptionDescription
Discover and scan ECS containersDiscover AWS Fargate containers and scan them using ECS Exec.
Discover and scan container imagesDiscover container images and scan them for security misconfigurations.
  1. Select the START SCANNING button.

Create an AWS integration and launch CloudFormation

  1. Follow the instructions to launch the AWS CloudFormation stack (for an account) or StackSet (for an Organization).
IMPORTANT

Selecting START SCANNING does not finalize the integration between Mondoo and AWS. You must launch the AWS CloudFormation stack or StackSet to complete the setup.

Manage an AWS integration

You can view the status of an AWS integration, change its configuration options, and more on its integration page.

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Only team members with Editor or Owner access can perform this task.

To access an existing integration:

  1. In the Mondoo Console, navigate to the space containing the integration.

  2. In the side navigation bar, under Integrations, select AWS.

    integration-list-image

  3. Select the integration you want to view or manage.

    integration-detail-image

View an integration's status

Mondoo shows the status at the top of the integration page, beside the integration name.

Mondoo AWS integration status and actions

Ping an integration

At the top of the integration page, below the integration name, Mondoo shows the time of the last ping.

To ping the integration now, select the ping icon (a heartbeat to the left of the SCAN NOW button).

Request a fresh scan

To see fresh scan results, select the SCAN NOW button. Mondoo retrieves new scan results as soon as possible.

Stop all running scans

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Only team members with Editor or Owner access can perform this task.

To stop all currently running AWS scans, on the ellipsis menu of the integration page, select Cancel Scans.

Stop an AWS scan in Mondoo

Enable and disable policies for an AWS integration

The RECOMMENDED POLICIES tab on the integration page lists policies that can help you protect your AWS environment. It shows which policies are enabled and disabled.

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Only team members with Editor or Owner access can perform this task.

Policies for a Mondoo AWS integration

Use the toggle on the right side of each policy's row to enable or disable the policy.

To learn more about policies, read Policy as Code.

Reconfigure an AWS integration

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Only team members with Editor or Owner access can perform this task.

The CONFIGURATION tab on the integration page shows the current settings and lets you make changes.

Reconfigure a Mondoo AWS integration

To learn about individual settings, read the Set up a new AWS integration section above.

Remove an integration

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Only team members with Editor or Owner access can perform this task.

To remove an integration, select the Remove (trash can) icon at the top of the integration page.

Remove an AWS Mondoo integration

A notification displays with a link to the CloudFormation Stacks list in the AWS console. Select the link and, in the AWS console, delete the stack. This removes the configured integration from Mondoo Platform and deletes the rule allowing the Mondoo AWS account to send events to the target account.

Learn more