Check ID: ec2_ebs_volume_protected_by_backup_plan
Provider: AWS
Service: ec2
Severity: MEDIUM
Categories: resilience
Resource type: AwsEc2Volume

What this check verifies

EBS volumes are evaluated for coverage by an AWS Backup plan, whether explicitly targeted or included via broad resource selection, confirming scheduled, policy-driven backups exist for the volume.

Risk

Absent backup coverage, volumes face data loss, weakened integrity, and reduced availability. Deletion or corruption-whether accidental or malicious-can leave no recovery path, causing prolonged outages, failed point-in-time restoration, unmet retention needs, and harder incident response.

Recommendation

Include all critical EBS volumes in standardized AWS Backup plans aligned to your RPO/RTO. Use tags for automatic assignment, enable cross-Region/account copies, apply Vault Lock for WORM retention, encrypt with KMS, enforce least-privilege access, and regularly test restores to verify integrity.

Remediation

aws backup create-backup-selection --backup-plan-id <BACKUP_PLAN_ID> --backup-selection '{"SelectionName":"<example_resource_name>","IamRoleArn":"arn:aws:iam::<example_account_id>:role/service-role/AWSBackupDefaultServiceRole","Resources":["arn:aws:ec2:*:*:volume/*"]}'

References

Where this check fires

This check runs on every scheduled scan against your AWS account. Findings appear at Cloud Security → Findings filterable by Check ID = ec2_ebs_volume_protected_by_backup_plan. To re-evaluate after a fix, hit Run now on the account’s schedule under Cloud Security → Schedules — the next scan re-checks this control and marks the finding fixed or keeps it persistent.
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