Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Security is the practice of identifying, preventing, and fixing security flaws within the code that defines and manages cloud infrastructure. It ensures that infrastructure configurations such as network rules, identity access, and storage settings, are secure from the moment they are written, not just after deployment.
Rather than treating infrastructure security as a post-deployment concern, IaC security integrates protection directly into the development workflow. This allows developers and DevOps teams to build infrastructure that is not only scalable and automated, but also resilient and compliant by design.
In essence, IaC security is about embedding secure-by-default principles into the very code that powers cloud environments, reducing risk without slowing down innovation.
Infrastructure as Code allows teams to quickly provision new infrastructure by leveraging existing templates - but if those templates have vulnerabilities, they'll appear in all of the new infrastructure as well. Infrastructure as code security is important because it ensures clean code from the start, helping maintain velocity without slowing down development. Application security tools that work with developers, and within their workflows, do exactly that, providing the means for them to commit secure code without sacrificing speed.
As powerful as Infrastructure as Code is, it also introduces a new category of vulnerabilities that can scale just as quickly as your cloud infrastructure. When IaC isn’t implemented with security in mind, even a single misconfiguration can become a critical flaw replicated across every environment.
We've broken these down in detail with examples in our code security piece here, so we'll list and briefly describe some of the most common security risks associated with IaC below.
Hardcoded Secrets and Credentials - Embedding secrets like API keys or passwords directly into IaC templates exposes them to version control and anyone with access. This creates an easy path for attackers if the repository is ever leaked or breached.
Overly Permissive IAM Policies - Granting excessive permissions, such as admin access, violates the principle of least privilege. If a role is compromised, attackers can exploit broad access to escalate control across your environment.
Open Ports and Unrestricted Ingress Rules - Leaving ports open to the entire internet (e.g. 0.0.0.0/0) creates exposed attack surfaces. This invites brute-force attempts and scanning bots to probe for vulnerabilities.
Unencrypted Storage or Data Transit - Failing to enable encryption for data at rest or in transit puts sensitive information at risk. Without encryption, any breach may result in unprotected data exposure.
Lack of Input Validation and Sanitization - Unvalidated variables or user inputs in IaC templates can lead to malformed or insecure deployments. Improper input handling opens the door to logic errors or injection attacks.
Missing or Inconsistent Logging and Monitoring - When logging isn’t automatically provisioned via IaC, security events may go undetected. Without monitoring, even major breaches can occur unnoticed until it’s too late.
Interestingly, conversation about infrastructure as code security is somewhat lacking within the industry - and much to its own peril. Very large and well-known enterprises whose business is software, like Netflix or Microsoft, understandably have targets on them. Cybercriminals are highly motivated to target those enterprises and their software in particular because the potential payoff is huge. As such, they will invest the necessary time, resources, and effort to find vulnerabilities - not necessarily in their Infrastructure as Code, but directly in the code of their application. There are a number of reasons for this:
Companies that are less high-profile, like midsize fintech, healthtech, entertainment, etc., are less likely to be specifically targeted by cybercriminals investing so much time in finding vulnerabilities in their apps. However, it is very easy to scan the infrastructure of the apps at scale because scanning is generic and the infrastructure is all public - a cybercriminal can scan thousands of infrastructures for security mistakes automatically. They launch a scan, let it run for a while, and when they find one the hacker will be alerted and focus their efforts on exploiting that specific vulnerability.
There may not be as much reward for a hacker in going after a small-to-medium sized business (SMB), but since the effort is negligible, they might as well. As a result SMBs have an outsized chance of suffering an attack on their Infrastructure as Code rather than the application itself, so securing it is all the more important for SMBs.
Infrastructure as Code security must be multifaceted and multilayered. At every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), IaC security should involve:
Tools that can detect and remediate security vulnerabilities as left in the SDLC as possible are a necessity. More specifically, tools that allow developers to spot and fix vulnerabilities in code they are currently writing (like spellcheck, but for vulnerabilities). This ensures no disruption of workflow or productivity, because it happens at the point of development where mistakes are part of the process - not after they’ve already been committed and signed off. In fact, tools that can even go beyond that and into training and education (also without disrupting workflow and productivity) are even better.
This is because, contrary to the popular saying, the strongest point of cybersecurity is between the chair and the screen - people. Developers knowing what the vulnerabilities are, how to spot them, how to fix them, and the risks and consequences brings all of that knowledge in house and keeps them, and developers they train, from making the same mistakes - and will help them in their careers.
The combined institutional knowledge and naturally security-aware teams create stronger, more robust processes for new and existing employees to follow, and solidifies the foundation and culture of security throughout the SDLC.
