What AWS Evidence Proves Data Center Entry Controls? (Artifact > Reports)

For AWS-operated data centers, AWS Artifact physical entry controls evidence should consist of the current AWS SOC report and AWS ISO certificate downloaded from AWS Artifact, with the relevant physical-security control language identified for the assessor. This supports ISO 27001 practice 7.2, Physical Entry, because AWS—not the customer—operates the secure areas and their access points. AWS Artifact can satisfy the inherited-evidence portion of the control, while your organization must separately prove entry controls for any offices, cages, network rooms, or other facilities it operates.

What does ISO 27001 control 7.2 require AWS Artifact physical entry controls evidence to show?

ISO 27001 physical entry practice 7.2 requires that “secure areas shall be protected by appropriate entry controls and access points.” For cloud-hosted systems, an assessor will normally want to see a clear division between the AWS physical environment and the facilities your company controls.

A current AWS SOC 2 Type II report is usually the most useful Artifact document because it provides an independent auditor’s description and testing results for AWS controls, including physical and environmental safeguards within the report scope. The AWS ISO certificate is useful corroboration: it demonstrates AWS maintains a certified information security management system, but it is not a substitute for the detailed control evidence in the SOC report.

For an IT manager, the objective is not to claim that your team badges AWS data-center staff. It is to show that you selected AWS as a supplier, obtained current independent assurance over AWS’s physical controls, reviewed the report, documented any exceptions, and retained the evidence in the audit package.

How do you configure AWS Artifact access and retrieve the right reports?

AWS Artifact does not have a setting that turns on door controls; AWS configures and operates those controls. Your configuration task is to establish controlled, repeatable access to the AWS evidence and retrieve the current reports from the correct AWS account.

1. Use the AWS Organizations management account or the account designated for compliance evidence. Sign in through your organization’s approved administrator or audit role. Use a named role rather than a shared administrator identity so report access is attributable to an individual or team.
2. Create a restricted permission set for evidence reviewers. In the AWS IAM Identity Center console, go to Permission sets, select Create permission set, choose Custom permission set, and name it Audit-AWSArtifact-Reader. Add an inline policy that permits report discovery and download but does not permit agreement acceptance or account administration.
3. Assign the permission set to the audit group. In IAM Identity Center, go to AWS accounts, select the account that will retrieve the evidence, choose Assign users or groups, select the internal Compliance-Audit group, and assign Audit-AWSArtifact-Reader. Do not assign this access to all engineering users; Artifact reports are confidential AWS documents.
4. Open the report library. Switch into the assigned AWS account and open the AWS Management Console. Search for AWS Artifact, then select Reports in the left navigation pane.
5. Retrieve the current SOC report. In Reports, use the search field to search for SOC 2. Select the current AWS SOC 2 Type II report available to your account. Review the report description, period covered, and scope before selecting Download report. If AWS presents terms, select Accept and download only through the approved evidence owner.
6. Retrieve the ISO certificate. Return to AWS Artifact > Reports, search for ISO, select the current AWS ISO certificate, and select Download report. Retain it with the SOC report as supporting assurance, not as the primary detailed test artifact.
7. Record review ownership. Store the downloaded, unaltered PDFs in the restricted audit repository. Create a review record that names the report, publication or coverage period, reviewer, review date, applicable AWS services, and any findings requiring follow-up.

Use a least-privilege policy similar to the following for the read-only evidence role. Confirm the available Artifact actions in your environment before deployment, because AWS service permissions can evolve.

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "ReadAndDownloadArtifactReports",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "artifact:ListReports",
        "artifact:GetReport",
        "artifact:DownloadReport"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

For example, a 220-person payments processor using Amazon EKS for its authorization API, Amazon RDS for transaction services, and Amazon S3 for encrypted settlement files can assign this permission set to its security compliance manager and IT operations manager. Those individuals download the reports quarterly, while the engineering team has no routine access to confidential AWS audit materials.

How do you verify that AWS Artifact report access and evidence collection worked?

Verification should prove both that access is properly limited and that the report actually supports the inherited physical-control claim. First, sign in as a member of the Compliance-Audit group and confirm that AWS Artifact > Reports is accessible and the current SOC report can be downloaded. Then test a standard engineering role and confirm it cannot access the report library or download confidential reports.

Next, open the downloaded SOC report and verify four items: the independent auditor’s opinion, the report period, the AWS services and locations within scope, and the physical-security or data-center security controls tested. Do not rely only on the report title or an AWS public compliance webpage. The report itself is the stronger artifact because it contains the auditor’s attestation and testing context.

Finally, review AWS CloudTrail activity. In the CloudTrail console, go to Event history, set Event source to artifact.amazonaws.com, and search the date of retrieval. Where the event is available in your account history, retain the event details showing the authenticated role and report-download activity. This verifies the evidence workflow without exposing the report broadly.

What evidence should an assessor receive?

Package the evidence so the assessor can follow the chain from the ISO 27001 requirement to AWS’s independent assurance and then to your internal review. AWS Artifact evidence for physical entry controls is strongest when the original report, access-control proof, and review record are presented together.

A practical review record can state that the AWS SOC 2 Type II report covering the relevant period was reviewed on a specific date, that AWS physical access controls were within scope, and that no exception affecting the company’s use of AWS services was identified. If the report contains a relevant exception, document the risk decision, compensating measure, supplier follow-up, and target review date.

At a 75-person fintech with a small production network room used for payment-terminal management, the AWS report only addresses AWS facilities. The audit package should therefore include two distinct evidence sets: the AWS SOC report for cloud infrastructure and local badge-system logs, visitor records, and restricted-room access approvals for the company-operated network room.

Where does AWS Artifact fall short, and what fills the gap?

AWS Artifact reports do not prove that your office, colocation cage, warehouse, branch location, or on-premises server room has appropriate entry controls. They also do not prove that your employees follow your visitor-management process, promptly remove departed employees from badge access, or review access logs. Those are customer-controlled responsibilities under ISO 27001 practice 7.2.

Fill that gap with evidence from your physical access-control system: badge-access lists for secure rooms, quarterly access reviews, visitor sign-in records, escorted-visitor procedures, door alarm tests, access termination tickets, and photos or diagrams showing controlled entry points. If you use a colocation provider, obtain that provider’s SOC report or physical-security attestation separately; AWS Artifact physical-entry evidence cannot cover another provider’s facility.

For an audit-ready package, map each location to an owner. AWS data centers map to the AWS Artifact SOC report; corporate offices map to facilities controls; network rooms map to badge logs and restricted-access approvals; and colocation sites map to the relevant provider assurance report. This prevents the common audit failure of presenting an AWS report as if it covered every physical location in the organization.

Next, assign an evidence owner to download the current AWS Artifact reports, document the review, and pair them with your own facility-access records before the certification audit begins.