Is AWS Access Key / Secret Key encrypted during transport and Is it safe to be used on public WIFI hotspot?

user_3703783 0
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I was connected to a public WIFI hotspot and I executed this command:

aws ec2 describe-instances

and it successfully returned all my EC2 instance information.(since I have my AWS Access Key / Secret Key configured in my local machine)

To prepare for the worst, let us assume this public wifi is not safe and hacked, now does my action above expose the AWS Access Key / Secret Key?

P.S. If on public WIFI, I only visit HTTPS websites, is there still any security risks regarding my credentials to these websites?

amazon-web-services
2 Answers

You don't really have to worry about your key being stolen in transit -- HTTPS will do a reasonably good job of ensuring that you're really talking to AWS, and all communication will be encrypted.

If your computer is hacked, though, then all bets are off. The danger of this is significantly increased on a public network.

user_54835260

No, It will not expose anything, until you will not share your username with a hacker to ease his job of hacking your account.

Your Access key is like a username and the secret key is like a password. The Access/Secret key use a secure protocol to call the AWS information/API.

You can also create and use temporary access keys, known as temporary security credentials. The advantage of temporary security credentials is that they are short term. After they expire, they're no longer valid.

user_135595890
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