This blog post, the first in a series on hacking AWS Lambda functions, discusses common vulnerabilities and best practices for securing serverless applications. It emphasizes that while AWS manages many aspects of Lambda, developers are responsible for code security, dependencies, and IAM permissions. The article highlights potential threats, including configuration mistakes, event-data injection, and various code injection techniques. It introduces Amazon Inspector, a vulnerability management service that scans Lambda functions for known vulnerabilities in dependencies and custom code. The post concludes with a comprehensive list of AWS Lambda security best practices, including the principle of least privilege, input validation, dependency monitoring, code reviews, VPC deployment, secret management, and implementing robust monitoring systems.