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Elasticsearch domains should encrypt data sent between nodes

Severity: Medium

Resource Types: AWS::ElasticsearchService::Domain

Description

This control checks whether Amazon ES domains have node-to-node encryption enabled.

HTTPS (TLS) can be used to help prevent potential attackers from eavesdropping on or manipulating network traffic using person-in-the-middle or similar attacks. Only encrypted connections over HTTPS (TLS) should be allowed. Enabling node-to-node encryption for Amazon ES domains ensures that intra-cluster communications are encrypted in transit.

There can be a performance penalty associated with this configuration. You should be aware of and test the performance trade-off before enabling this option.

Remediation

Node-to-node encryption can only be enabled on a new domain. To remediate this finding, first Create a new domain with the Node-to-node encryption check box selected. Then follow Using a snapshot to migrate data to migrate your data to the new domain.