Encrypt Amazon ECS traffic: VPC encryption controls and Service Connect TLS

This article explains how to encrypt Amazon ECS traffic using VPC encryption controls for network-layer encryption and Service Connect TLS for application-layer encryption, with a hands-on walkthrough.

• VPC encryption controls provide transparent network-layer encryption (Nitro AES-256-GCM) for intra-VPC traffic without code changes or certificate management
• Monitor mode adds encryption-status field to VPC Flow Logs; Enforce mode prevents unencrypted traffic within the VPC
• Service Connect TLS adds application-layer encryption with cryptographic service identity using AWS Private CA certificates
• Custom application-level TLS provides full control for mutual authentication, non-HTTP protocols, or targets outside the VPC
• Combine approaches: use VPC encryption controls as baseline, add Service Connect TLS for service identity, reserve custom TLS for edge cases
• Walkthrough demonstrates deploying a sample web store on AWS Fargate, activating VPC encryption controls, and verifying encryption in VPC Flow Logs

Layer these encryption approaches to balance security coverage against operational complexity for Amazon ECS workloads.