Rule: EBS Volumes in a Backup Plan
Ensure EBS volumes are included in a backup plan for data recovery and protection.
| Rule | EBS volumes should be in a backup plan |
| Framework | HIPAA |
| Severity | ✔ High |
Overview of the Rule: EBS Volumes and HIPAA Backup Requirements
AWS Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes store data that can be critical for the functioning of applications. For compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), it is essential that all EBS volumes containing Protected Health Information (PHI) are regularly backed up to prevent data loss and ensure data availability. Backup plans must be robust, automated, and compliant with the HIPAA Security Rule, which mandates that covered entities and business associates have policies and procedures in place to backup electronic PHI (e-PHI).
Troubleshooting Steps
Troubleshooting in this context generally involves ensuring that the backup process is set up correctly and diagnosing any issues that might prevent backups from completing successfully. Here are common troubleshooting steps:
- 1.Verify that the AWS Backup service is being used or that there is an automated process in place for backing up EBS volumes.
- 2.Check if the backup policy includes all necessary EBS volumes containing PHI.
- 3.Confirm that backup jobs are completing successfully by checking the job history in the AWS Backup dashboard.
- 4.Ensure that the backup policy complies with the required retention period under HIPAA.
- 5.Investigate any permissions issues that might prevent AWS Backup from accessing the EBS volumes.
Necessary Codes
This section provides necessary commands and code for creating backup plans for EBS volumes. We'll use AWS CLI commands for illustration purposes.
Step 1: Create a Backup Plan
aws backup create-backup-plan --backup-plan 'file://backup-plan.json'
This requires a backup plan specified in a JSON file (
backup-plan.jsonSample
backup-plan.json{
"BackupPlanName": "HIPAACompliantBackupPlan",
"Rules": [
{
"RuleName": "DailyBackup",
"TargetBackupVaultName": "MyBackupVault",
"ScheduleExpression": "cron(0 12 * * ? *)",
"StartWindowMinutes": 60,
"CompletionWindowMinutes": 120,
"RecoveryPointTags": {
"HIPAA": "Backup"
},
"Lifecycle": {
"DeleteAfterDays": 30
}
}
]
}
Step 2: Assign Resources to the Backup Plan
aws backup create-selection --backup-plan-id <backup-plan-id> --backup-selection 'file://selection.json'
You need to replace
<backup-plan-id>Sample
selection.json{
"SelectionName": "AllEBSVolumes",
"IamRoleArn": "arn:aws:iam::<your-account-id>:role/service-role/AWSBackupDefaultServiceRole",
"Resources": [
"arn:aws:ec2:<region>:<your-account-id>:volume/*"
]
}
Step 3: Create the Backup Vault
aws backup create-backup-vault --backup-vault-name "MyBackupVault"
Step 4: Start On-Demand Backup Job (Optional)
aws backup start-backup-job --backup-vault-name "MyBackupVault" --resource-arn <ebs-volume-arn> --iam-role-arn <role-arn> --idempotency-token <token> --recovery-point-tags '{"HIPAA":"Backup"}'
Replace
<ebs-volume-arn><role-arn><token>Step by Step Guide for Remediation
If the EBS volumes are not in a backup plan compliant with HIPAA, follow these steps to remediate:
- 1.Create a backup vault to store the backups securely using the
command.create-backup-vault - 2.Define a backup plan with appropriate backup rules and frequencies (daily backups, for instance) and lifecycle policies using the
command.create-backup-plan - 3.Assign the EBS volumes containing PHI to the backup plan using the
command.create-selection - 4.Use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to ensure that the backup process has the necessary permissions.
- 5.Set up backup job completion notifications through Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) to monitor the automated backup's success and failures.
- 6.Regularly test the recovery process to ensure that the backup and restore procedures work as expected for quick and reliable data recovery.
It's important to continually review, test, and update the backup plan to remain compliant with HIPAA requirements as your AWS environment evolves. Regular audits must be performed to ensure that the data is recoverable and that the backups do not fail unnoticed. Compliance with HIPAA is not static, and backup strategies have to adapt to changes in the regulatory environment as well as in the technical infrastructure.