View source for Recommendations for configuring an AWS linked account

== Initial account settings ==
* Login to the Amazon management console: https://<AWS_Account_ID>.signin.aws.amazon.com/console
: Note: Replace AWS Account ID with your actual account ID or DNS name.
* From the upper right pane, click on account name -> choose “My account”:
:* Write down the “AWS Account ID” (it will be used in the next sections)
:* Make sure the Contact information is up to date
:* Under “Alternate Contacts” -> specify contact details for “Billing”, “Operations” and “Security”
:* Configure “Security Challenge Questions”

== Configuring the IAM policies and IAM administrator account ==
* Login to the IAM console:
: https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/
* From the left pane, click on “Account settings” and set the following password policy:
:* Minimum password length: 8 characters
:* Require at least one uppercase letter (Selected)
:* Require at least one lowercase letter (Selected)
:* Require at least one number (Selected)
:* Allow users to change their own password (Selected)
:* Enable password expiration (Selected)
::* Password expiration period in days: 90
:* Prevent password reuse (Selected)
::* Number of passwords to remember: 24
* Click on “Apply password policy”
*From the left pane click on “Users” -> review each and every account member of “admin” / “administrators” group -> click on “Security credentials” tab -> click on the pencil icon near “Assigned MFA device” -> select the MFA device to activate and follow the steps to active the MFA device
* It is strongly recommended that each and every privileged account will be configured with “AWS Management Console access” only – in case privileged account has Access keys, it is strongly recommended to make all keys inactive and create separate accounts for programmatic access

== Configure S3 buckets for auditing ==
* Login to the S3 console:
: https://s3.console.aws.amazon.com/s3/
* Click on “Create bucket” -> specify bucket name <AWS_Account_ID>-auditlogs (Replace AWS Account ID with your actual account ID) -> select a region close to your location -> click Next
:* Click on “Server access logging” -> click “Enable” -> click Save
:* Click on “Tags” -> specify key: AccountName, Value – specify here the AWS account name or ID -> click Save
:* Click on “Default encryption” -> select “AES-256” -> click Save
* Click Next
* Leave the default settings “Do not grant public read access to this bucket” -> click Next -> click “Create bucket”
* Login to the AWS CloudTrail console:
: https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudtrail/
* From the left pane, click on “Dashboard” -> click on “Create trail” -> specify trail name <AWS_Account_ID>-audit-trail (Replace AWS Account ID with your actual account ID)
:* “Apply trail to all regions” should be set to “Yes”
:* “Read/Write events” should be set to “All”
:* Configure “Storage location”:
:: Create a new S3 bucket – No
:: '''S3 bucket – specify <AWS_Account_ID>-auditlogs'''
:: Note: Replace AWS Account ID with your actual account ID
* Click on “Create”
: Note: AWS CloudTrail is not free. See the pricing information:
: https://aws.amazon.com/cloudtrail/pricing/

== Configure Trusted Advisor ==
* Login to the Trusted Advisor management console:
: https://console.aws.amazon.com/trustedadvisor/
* From the left pane, click on “Preferences” -> select all recipients and set email addresses for “Billing contact”, “Operations Contact” and “Security contact” (similar to the addresses you set up under “My Account” settings)
* It is strongly recommended to review from time to time, the AWS Trusted Advisor recommendations in each of the sections (Cost, performance, security, fault tolerance and service limits) in-order to optimize your AWS environment, save money and raise performance, etc.