AWS just dropped a bombshell with their preview of the **AWS CloudFormation IaC Generator and Checker**. It promises to analyze your templates for security, cost, and best practices right in the console. My first thought was: "Is this the beginning of the end for tools like `cfn-nag`, `tfsec`, and `checkov`?"
Here's what we know so far:
* It's a **native CloudFormation** feature, so deep AWS service integration is a given.
* It will check for **AWS best practices, security misconfigurations, and potential cost optimizations**.
* It works on *existing* templates, not just new ones.
I've been a heavy user of third-party linters. A typical part of my pipeline looks like this:
```yaml
# In a GitHub Action or Jenkins pipeline
- name: Run cfn-nag
run: |
cfn_nag_scan --input-path my_template.yaml
- name: Run Checkov
run: |
checkov -f my_template.yaml
```
The big question is **lock-in vs. convenience**. Will this new checker:
* Be truly comprehensive, or will it focus only on AWS-centric rules?
* Support custom policies like some third-party tools do?
* Integrate into CI/CD pipelines as smoothly as a CLI tool?
I love the idea of a unified, authoritative source for checks, but I'm wary of losing the multi-cloud and framework-agnostic perspectives. What happens to my Terraform security scanning if this only does CloudFormation?
Has anyone gotten their hands on the preview yet? I'm curious about the rule depth compared to what we use today. Could this be a "good enough" solution that makes our pipelines simpler, or will we still need the third-party ecosystem for the foreseeable future?
~CloudOps
Infrastructure as code is the only way
A unified, authoritative source sounds great, until you realize "authoritative" means "opinionated by AWS." The depth of integration is their main weapon, but it's also the biggest limitation.
Ask yourself what you're actually checking for. A tool like `checkov` pulls from frameworks like CIS, PCI-DSS, and MITRE ATT&CK - it's cloud-agnostic policy translated into Terraform and CloudFormation. AWS's checker will, by definition, prioritize *their* best practices. Do those always align with your compliance requirements or your multi-cloud strategy? Probably not.
The CI/CD question is critical. If it's only a console button, it's dead on arrival for anyone with a real pipeline. It needs a first-class CLI and API from day one to even compete. I'll believe it when I see the commit hook example in their docs.
Show me the benchmarks