What are some options for automated account shutoff in case of sudden consumption spike?

AWS provides native options for automated cost protection that don't require running destructive tools like AWS Nuke. Here are your main approaches:

Service Control Policies (SCPs) with AWS Budgets You can configure AWS Budgets to automatically attach Service Control Policies when spending thresholds are reached. This approach blocks the creation of NEW expensive resources while allowing existing resources to continue running. You can set up graduated levels - for example, blocking large EC2 instances and storage volumes at 80% of budget, and blocking most compute services (EC2, RDS, Redshift) at 95% of budget. Essential services like monitoring, logging, and billing access remain available. This system works through AWS Organizations and requires no custom code or servers.

Account Freezing For environments like Innovation Sandbox, you can configure accounts to freeze when budget limits are reached. Freezing prevents further user activity while existing resources continue running, giving you time to investigate the spending. You can set multiple alert thresholds before the freeze occurs.

Automatic Account Wiping In controlled environments, you can configure accounts to be automatically wiped when a maximum budget threshold is reached, though this is typically used in sandbox or testing scenarios rather than production accounts.

Emergency Override Mechanisms These solutions support tagging specific users or roles to bypass restrictions for critical resource creation during urgent business needs.

The SCP-based approach is generally preferable to destructive deletion because it prevents new spending without disrupting existing workloads, giving you time to respond appropriately to the situation.
Sources
How to Automatically Block New AWS Service Launches When Your Budget Is Exceeded | AWS re:Post
How to Automatically Block New AWS Service Operations using SCPs When Your Budget Is Exceeded | AWS re:Post
How to automatically control new AWS Services when your Budget limit is reached | AWS re:Post
Manager Guide - Innovation Sandbox on AWS