Suspicious activity

AWS root account was used to stop EC2 instances

Risk Level

Informational (4)

Platform(s)

Description

Orca detected that the root account was used to stop EC2 instances. This action may indicate of a presence of an unauthorized actor in the cloud environment, since EC2 instances usually are not stopped from the root account profile. In case this is a legit action then the root account should not be used in day to day administrative tasks because it can't be deleted and its permissions can't be revoked. If its credentials will be stolen the entire account is at risk.
  • Recommended Mitigation

    It is recommended to review the root account activity and eliminate the use of the root account by creating individual users with set permissions.