AWS added a new IAM policy condition key, autoscaling:ForceDelete, to control the use of the ForceDelete parameter when deleting Auto Scaling groups (ASGs), restricting deletion permission especially if running instances remain. This adds a safeguard against unintended ASG removal.
Additionally, deletion protection at the group level can now be set during creation or update of ASGs, offering multiple protection levels. Together, these mechanisms provide layered defenses to maintain application availability by preventing accidental or unauthorized ASG deletions. These features are available across all AWS commercial and GovCloud regions.
Source & further reading
EC2 Auto Scaling Introduces New Mechanisms for Group Deletion Protection ↗Source published 2026-01-23. This report was prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary-source material. Claims and limitations should be checked against the original announcement or research.