RDS instance storage is not encrypted at rest

Severity: High
Service: RDS
Check ID: RDS_NOT_ENCRYPTED

What this check finds

RDS database storage should be encrypted at rest to protect data from unauthorised access at the disk layer. Encryption is a baseline requirement for PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and SOC 2.

Passing looks like: RDS storage encrypted at rest.

How to fix it

Encryption cannot be enabled on an existing unencrypted RDS instance. Take a snapshot, copy it with --kms-key-id to create an encrypted copy, then restore a new encrypted instance from the copy.

AWS console

RDS → Databases → take snapshot → copy snapshot → enable encryption → restore.

Compliance controls it is evidence for

A failing result counts against these controls in KloudLytics; a passing one is evidence towards them. How compliance mapping works

Compliance controls mapped to RDS instance storage is not encrypted at rest
Framework	Controls
CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark v5.0.0	2.2.1 Ensure that encryption-at-rest is enabled for RDS instances
PCI-DSS v4.0.1	3.5 Primary account number (PAN) is secured wherever it is stored
HIPAA Security Rule	164.312(a)(2)(iv) Encryption and Decryption of ePHI at Rest
SOC 2 — Trust Services Criteria	CC6.7 Encryption and Secret Management C1.1 Encryption of Confidential Data
NIST SP 800-53 Rev5 (Moderate)	SC-13 Cryptographic Protection SC-28 Protection of Information at Rest
NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0	PR.DS-01 Data-at-rest is protected
ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A	A.8.24 Use of cryptography

Checked on every scan

KloudLytics runs this check each time it scans a connected AWS account, through a read-only role, and lists every affected resource with its region. On Pro and Business a fix is written for the specific resource rather than the general case above. The exact access it needs

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