When using Server-Side Encryption with Amazon S3-Managed Keys (SSE-S3), Amazon S3 encrypts your data as it writes it to disks in their data centers and decrypts it for you when you access it. Amazon S3 manages the encryption keys and uses one of the strongest block ciphers available, 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256)1.
However, it’s important to note that while SSE-S3 provides a high level of security by encrypting the data at rest, the S3 service itself can access the encrypted files. This is because the encryption and decryption are handled server-side by Amazon S3. For instance, when you request an object, Amazon S3 decrypts the object before returning it to you2.
So, while others cannot see your files without proper authentication and authorization, the S3 service, as the provider, can technically access the encrypted files, although AWS has strict policies and controls in place to protect customer data3. If you require a higher level of control over the encryption keys, you might consider using Server-Side Encryption with AWS Key Management Service (SSE-KMS) or Server-Side Encryption with Customer-Provided Keys (SSE-C), which provide different levels of control and audit capability2.