AWS Security Support Tools
Identify components and resources for security support
What you will learn
- Distinguish AWS Shield Standard from Shield Advanced.
- Explain AWS WAF's role in filtering web traffic.
- Explain AWS Security Hub's role as an aggregation layer, not a detector itself.
- Connect these tools to GuardDuty, Trusted Advisor, and Artifact covered earlier.
Alongside GuardDuty, Trusted Advisor, and Artifact, AWS offers other security support tools targeting specific threats: Shield for denial-of-service, WAF for malicious web traffic, and Security Hub, which aggregates all these tools' findings into a single dashboard instead of checking each one separately.
The tools
| AWS Shield | Protection against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks at the network and transport layers. |
|---|---|
| AWS WAF | A web application firewall that filters incoming HTTP/S traffic according to customizable rules. |
| AWS Security Hub | A central dashboard that aggregates findings from GuardDuty, Inspector, Macie, and others into one place in a unified format. |
Shield Standard vs. Shield Advanced
| Shield Standard | Shield Advanced | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free and automatically enabled for every AWS customer | An additional paid subscription |
| Protection level | Basic protection against the most common DDoS attacks | Extended protection, specialized support during an attack, and financial protection from scaling costs the attack caused |
What matters on the exam
- Security Hub does not detect threats itself — it aggregates what other tools (GuardDuty, Inspector...) already detected into one place.
- Shield Standard is free and automatically enabled for every customer — unlike Shield Advanced, it needs no manual activation.
A quick map of the security tools
GuardDuty detects suspicious behavior generally, Inspector scans for specific resource vulnerabilities, Shield/WAF protect against specific network and web attacks, Trusted Advisor checks general best practices, Artifact documents compliance — and Security Hub aggregates most of these tools' findings into one place.
Quick check
Answer in your head first, then reveal.
Is Shield Standard free?Reveal the answer
Yes — automatically enabled for every AWS customer at no extra cost.
What does AWS WAF do?Reveal the answer
Filtering incoming HTTP/S traffic to protect web applications.
Does Security Hub detect threats itself?Reveal the answer
No — it aggregates other tools' findings, like GuardDuty and Inspector, in one place.
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Sources
Used to verify the facts. The writing is original to Passuit.