Serverless and Orchestration

Author: Damien Burks

Now that you’ve explored the foundations of IAM, secrets management, APIs, and visibility, it’s time to talk about what truly enables cloud-native automation: serverless computing and orchestration.

This is where scalability meets security. Serverless architectures allow you to automate detection, response, and compliance enforcement, all without managing servers, patching, or scaling infrastructure yourself.

Overview

So, what is Serverless?

According to AWS, serverless computing allows you to build and run applications and services without thinking about servers. The cloud provider automatically provisions, scales, and manages the infrastructure required to run your code.

In simple terms, you write the function, and the cloud runs it.

For security engineers, this is a breakthrough. It means you can automate security actions quickly, cost-effectively, and reliably which are all triggered by real-time events.

Orchestration, on the other hand, coordinates multiple serverless functions or workflows into a single automated process. Think of it as a conductor managing a symphony of security automation.

Together, serverless and orchestration enable event-driven, continuous, and scalable security.

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Serverless automation turns detection into action, thus reducing response time from hours to seconds.

Why Serverless and Orchestration Matter for Security

Modern cloud environments generate thousands of changes every hour — new resources, policy updates, and access attempts.
Manually investigating each one isn’t sustainable. Serverless automation and orchestration workflows make it possible to:

• React in Real Time: Trigger actions instantly through events and webhooks.
• Automate Remediation: Detect and fix issues like public S3 buckets or open ports automatically.
• Enforce Compliance Continuously: Check configurations against benchmarks such as CIS or NIST.
• Reduce Human Error: Codify standard procedures into reusable automation.
• Scale Effortlessly: No infrastructure to manage — functions scale automatically.

In short, these technologies transform cloud security from reactive to proactive automation.

The Serverless Security Lifecycle

Like other security disciplines, serverless automation follows a lifecycle: Trigger → Execute → Orchestrate → Monitor → Improve.

1. Trigger

A cloud event occurs, such as a resource being created, a policy changing, or a vulnerability being detected.

2. Execute

A serverless function (Lambda, Cloud Function, or Azure Function) runs code in response. Some examples are: tagging resources, revoking access, or sending alerts.

3. Orchestrate

If multiple actions are required, orchestration services like AWS Step Functions, Azure Logic Apps, or GCP Workflows connect functions together into structured processes.

4. Monitor

Each function’s activity is logged, monitored, and analyzed for performance and errors.

5. Improve

Metrics and alerts drive iteration — automation evolves with new risks and requirements.

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Start small. Automate one task, like tagging untagged resources, before expanding to full workflows.

Core Concepts

Event-Driven Architecture

Serverless systems are built on events, and any action in the cloud can be a trigger.

Event Source	Example Use Case
Storage Events	Scan uploaded files for sensitive data or malware.
IAM Events	Detect creation of risky roles or permissions.
Compute Events	Quarantine instances launched in unapproved networks.
Security Alerts	Trigger custom workflows when a vulnerability is detected.

Functions as a Service (FaaS)

Cloud Provider	Service	Purpose
AWS	Lambda	Event-driven compute integrated with S3, CloudWatch, and EventBridge.
Azure	Functions	Run code in response to HTTP requests or platform events.
Google Cloud	Cloud Functions	Lightweight compute for processing cloud events and automation.

Functions handle one clear responsibility: act on an event quickly and securely.

Workflow Orchestration

Cloud Provider	Service	Purpose
AWS	Step Functions	Combine multiple Lambdas into stateful workflows.
Azure	Logic Apps / Durable Functions	Chain actions and apply conditional logic for automation.
Google Cloud	Workflows	Coordinate multi-step processes across GCP services.

Example:
Detect a public S3 bucket → Remove public access → Notify the security team → Record results in a log. That’s serverless orchestration in action.

Common Use Cases

1. Auto-Remediation: Fix misconfigurations automatically (for example, close open ports).
2. Incident Response: Isolate compromised workloads or disable IAM keys instantly.
3. Compliance Enforcement: Continuously validate configurations against policy-as-code frameworks.
4. Threat Intelligence: Ingest feeds from EventBridge, Pub/Sub, or external APIs for analysis.
5. Alert Routing: Forward findings to Slack, Teams, or PagerDuty automatically.
6. Data Sanitization: Scan uploaded files for sensitive or malicious content.

Serverless automation becomes the hands of your security team.

Common Security Risks

Even though serverless removes infrastructure overhead, you’re still responsible for securing your code and configuration.

Risk	Description
Overprivileged Roles	Functions granted excessive IAM permissions.
Unvalidated Input	Unsanitized event payloads leading to injection or privilege escalation.
Leaked Secrets	Environment variables or logs exposing credentials.
Insecure Dependencies	Using outdated or unpatched libraries in your functions.
Silent Failures	Missing error handling that hides failed remediations.
Unmonitored Activity	No alerts or metrics tracking function performance and anomalies.

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Serverless doesn’t remove responsibility. Instead, it shifts it closer to your code. You own the function logic and its security.

Best Practices for Secure Serverless and Orchestration

1. Apply Least Privilege
   Grant functions only the permissions they need to perform their job.

2. Validate Inputs
   Sanitize and verify all incoming event payloads.

3. Use Secrets Managers
   Retrieve credentials dynamically from services like Secrets Manager, Key Vault, or Vault.

4. Enable Full Logging
   Log invocations, errors, and security actions to your provider’s monitoring service.

5. Version and Tag Functions
   Use version control for rollbacks and traceability.

6. Add Observability
   Monitor function duration, concurrency, and error rates.

7. Leverage Dead Letter Queues (DLQs)
   Capture failed invocations for later investigation.

8. Integrate with Orchestration Tools
   Build workflows that combine multiple automated security actions.

Practice What You’ve Learned

Let’s put this into action with a practical mini capstone.

Goal

Build a serverless security function that detects and responds to a cloud misconfiguration automatically.

Tasks

1. Choose an event source — for example, S3 bucket creation or IAM role update.
2. Write a function (Lambda, Azure Function, or Cloud Function) that:
   • Parses event data.
   • Validates the input.
   • Takes action (for example, removes public access, tags noncompliant resources, or sends a notification).
3. Secure the function using least privilege roles and dynamic secrets.
4. Add orchestration (optional):
   Use Step Functions, Logic Apps, or Workflows to chain multiple automations (for example, remediation + alerting).

✅ Capstone Goal: Demonstrate real-time detection and automated response to a cloud security event using serverless automation.

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Add a secondary function that notifies your team when automation triggers.Observability is key to building trust in automation.

Recommended Resources

Recommended Certifications

Certification	Provider	Why It’s Relevant
AWS Certified Security – Specialty	AWS	Includes Lambda-based automation and event-driven security.
Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer	Google Cloud	Focuses on automation through Pub/Sub and Cloud Functions.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate	Microsoft	Covers Logic Apps, Functions, and secure orchestration patterns.
Certified DevSecOps Professional (CDP)	Practical DevSecOps	Demonstrates real-world automation of detection and response workflows.

📚 Books

Book Title	Author	Link	Why It’s Useful
Learning Serverless Security: Hacking and Securing Serverless Cloud Applications on AWS, Azure, and GCP	Joshua Arvin Lat	Amazon	Provides hands-on guidance for identifying, exploiting, and defending against common serverless security risks across major cloud platforms.

🎥 Videos

AWS Serverless Security: The Most Security Way to Build In The Cloud

AWS re:Invent 2024 - Implementing security best practices for serverless applications