AWS External Boundary & Scope Audit Evidence

Clear, defensible evidence for defining AWS system boundaries and external exposure. In AWS, boundaries are defined by actual externally reachable services, endpoints, and access paths—not diagrams or intent.

SOC 2 System Boundaries PCI DSS Scope ISO 27001 A.13 HIPAA Environment

Why AWS Boundary and Scope Are Commonly Incorrect

Many audits rely on:

  • Architecture diagrams that are outdated
  • Client-provided lists of external connections
  • Assumptions about which services are internet-facing

In practice:

  • External exposure is often service-driven, not network-driven
  • Teams overlook managed services with public endpoints
  • Audit scope is understated due to incomplete discovery

Without comprehensive discovery, auditors cannot confidently defend scope conclusions.

What Auditors Must Be Able to Defend

A defensible AWS boundary and scope review must clearly answer:

  • Which AWS services are externally reachable?
  • What IP addresses, DNS names, or endpoints are exposed?
  • Which environments and accounts are in scope?
  • Are there undocumented or unexpected external access points?
  • Does actual exposure align with documented scope statements?

Blackbox Auditor is designed to answer these questions directly.

External Boundary & Scope Evidence Domains

Comprehensive External Exposure Discovery

Blackbox Auditor scans the AWS account to identify all potential external boundary points.

  • Internet-facing services by AWS service type
  • Public IP addresses and DNS names
  • Managed services with external endpoints
  • Exposure identified without relying on client self-reporting

No external entry points are missed.

Service-Level Boundary Attribution

External exposure is rarely uniform across services. Blackbox Auditor organizes findings by:

  • Compute services (EC2, ECS, EKS, Lambda)
  • Load balancers and API Gateways
  • Storage services with public access
  • Other managed services relevant to audit scope

Tie exposure directly to audit-relevant services.

Boundary Validation for Audit Scope

Boundary evidence must support scope decisions.

  • Validate whether environments are truly in or out of scope
  • Identify exposure that contradicts documented scope
  • Support inclusion or exclusion decisions with evidence
  • Reduce reliance on verbal or undocumented assertions

Strengthens scope narratives and reduces audit risk.

External Access and Third-Party Exposure

External boundaries often include third-party access.

  • External endpoints supporting vendor or partner access
  • Boundary points associated with third-party integrations
  • Exposure requiring contractual or compensating controls

Verify third-party exposure aligns with policy and agreements.

What the Evidence Looks Like

Consolidated, auditor-friendly exposure tables with timestamped and reproducible evidence outputs.

Evidence Table Coming Soon

We're preparing sanitized evidence output for this product. Request access to be notified when it's available, or schedule a demo to see live evidence today.

Evidence is designed to withstand internal and external review.

Who This Page Is For

  • External auditors validating AWS audit scope
  • Internal GRC teams defining system boundaries
  • Security teams supporting exposure and scope analysis

Not Intended For

  • Network penetration testing
  • Continuous attack surface monitoring
  • Cloud architecture design

Evaluate Boundaries the Way Auditors Do

See what defensible boundary and scope evidence actually looks like.