Challenge
Conducting comprehensive IGA audits across 200+ AWS accounts required collecting detailed identity and access management data. Traditional bulk data collection was blocked by in-house gatekeeper systems designed to prevent data exfiltration, requiring an innovative approach to bypass rate limiting and access restrictions.
Solution
Developed a novel iterative data collection system:
Identity Scope: Comprehensive audit of accounts, service accounts, roles, permissions, and access patterns
Rate Limiting Solution: Implemented MongoDB-based partial data storage to handle gatekeeper restrictions
Iterative Collection: Parallel processing with data integrity validation across multiple collection runs
Data Validation: Complete system picture reconstruction from partial data captures
Export System: Automated generation of auditor-ready artifacts and compliance reports
The system overcame gatekeeper banning through intelligent retry logic and data deduplication.
Key Metrics
Audited 200+ AWS accounts
Identified and remediated 50+ critical vulnerabilities across all accounts
100% compliance with access management policies
Reduced audit time from weeks to days
Security Impact
Enhanced organization-wide security posture by establishing a repeatable, thorough audit process that works within existing security constraints.
Results
Successfully completed comprehensive IGA audit across 200+ AWS accounts despite significant technical obstacles. The innovative data collection approach maintained data integrity while bypassing security restrictions, demonstrating advanced problem-solving in constrained environments.
