Build a Mean Girls-Style Burn Book | The Big Dev Theory | S2 | Ep.6

In this episode of The Big Dev Theory on Twitch we are joined by Pranav Shikarpur and Vanessa Villa from Panega. We jump into the fascinating world of building encryption in-transit APIs using AWS Lambda alongside Pangea Vault. The goal was to showcase how field-level encryption can be leveraged effectively to secure sensitive customer data and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.

To make this concept relatable and fun, we used a clever analogy involving the iconic movie "Mean Girls," specifically through the lens of a burn book. Just like how the burn book in the movie contained private information about individuals, our scenario mirrored this concept with sensitive data that needed to be protected. Imagine if the burn book represented a database storing customer information. In this case, each entry (or "page") in the book equated to a piece of customer data. However, rather than leaving this data vulnerable to prying eyes, we wanted to encrypt it dynamically, similar to how the burn book's content was concealed to avoid public exposure. The AWS Lambda functions acted as our digital guardians, swooping in to encrypt data in transit—essentially locking up each "page" in our digital burn book. Pangea Vault, our trusty companion in this endeavor, played the crucial role of providing secure encryption keys, akin to the master key to the burn book.

Just as the characters in "Mean Girls" navigated the complexities of high school drama, our data was navigating the complex landscape of information security. By utilizing AWS Lambda and Pangea Vault, we were able to ensure that each piece of data—each "story" in our burn book—was protected and inaccessible to unauthorized individuals.

This live demonstration not only illustrated the technical aspects of encryption in-transit APIs but also highlighted the importance of safeguarding sensitive information in today's digital age. Just like in the movies, where secrets have consequences, safeguarding customer data is crucial for maintaining trust and compliance in the real world.

Stuart Clark, Senior Developer Advocate @AWS

Shannon Brazil, Incident Responder, CIRT @AWS

The Big Dev Theory is a live stream broadcast every week on the AWS Twitch channel. Our live streams are designed to help developers learn about the advantages of our partner technologies and AWS, these events provide developers with the opportunity to learn from some of the top minds in the industry and connect with other developers who are working on similar projects. A key part of its mission to help developers build and innovate with confidence.