Overview

Updated in May 2025. This course now features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. Explore the essentials of AWS pentesting with this comprehensive course designed to sharpen your cloud security skills. Dive into key concepts such as understanding the AWS pentesting policy, managing IAM security issues, and identifying vulnerabilities in critical AWS services like S3, EC2, and Lambda. Learn how to protect cloud environments by recognizing and mitigating security risks. The course kicks off with foundational concepts, explaining the basics of AWS architecture, its policies, and security concerns. You'll gain hands-on insights into crucial services such as IAM, ARNs, and cloud storage. By the end of this section, you’ll have a strong understanding of the vulnerabilities pentesters face in AWS environments. Next, explore specialized tools and techniques to enhance your penetration testing efforts. From using the AWS CLI to advanced tools like Pacu and GrayhatWarfare, you'll master strategies for uncovering and exploiting weaknesses. Simultaneously, you'll tackle real-world challenges with the Flaws and CloudGoat modules, where step-by-step scenarios test and refine your AWS pentesting skills. This course is tailored for cybersecurity enthusiasts, IT professionals, and cloud engineers aiming to secure their AWS environments. Basic knowledge of AWS and familiarity with security practices is recommended. With a balanced approach to theory and practice, this intermediate-level course equips you with the skills to excel in AWS pentesting.

Syllabus

Basic Concepts

In this module, we will delve into the essential concepts and terminologies necessary for AWS pentesting. We will start with an overview of the course, followed by an exploration of AWS-specific policies, keys, and common vulnerabilities in services like IAM, S3, EC2, and Lambda. Finally, we will discuss the critical role of ARNs and their relevance to pentesters. This foundational knowledge sets the stage for practical and advanced pentesting scenarios.

Tools

In this module, we will introduce the essential tools used for AWS pentesting. Starting with the AWS CLI for basic environment interactions, we will then dive into advanced tools like Pacu for comprehensive pentesting frameworks. Additionally, we will explore AWS Bucket Dump and GrayhatWarfare for discovering and exploiting misconfigured S3 buckets. These tools are indispensable for automating and streamlining the pentesting process.

Flaws

In this module, we will tackle six hands-on challenges from the Flaws series, each simulating real-world AWS vulnerabilities. Starting with enumeration and weak S3 permissions, we will progress through advanced scenarios involving open repositories, unencrypted EBS volumes, and EC2 metadata exploitation. By the final challenge, we’ll address complex issues in IAM policies, Lambda, and REST APIs. These exercises are designed to build confidence and expertise in identifying and exploiting AWS-specific security flaws.

CloudGoat

In this module, we will use CloudGoat, a hands-on AWS pentesting training resource, to explore realistic security scenarios. Starting with the configuration of CloudGoat, we’ll tackle specific challenges such as IAM privilege escalation via rollback and attachment, Lambda and EC2 misconfigurations, and S3 bucket breaches. Each scenario will enhance your understanding of AWS vulnerabilities and teach you the techniques necessary to identify and exploit these weaknesses in real-world environments.