Understanding IAM: AWS Identity and Access Management Explained

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a security service that specifies actions assigned or delegated. This makes sure that systems or people have necessary permissions which helps mitigate security risks.

IAM can be compared with the castle gates of AWS, which aids in controlling

• Users (any individual that holds an AWS account)

• Groups (a set of Users who have numerous equal privileges)

• Roles (permission assigned to carry out particular tasks using AWS services)

• Policies (decides what a user explicitly can do or can’t do)

1. Security & Access Control

• Prevents unauthorized Users from accessing AWS resources.
• Users and Applications is restricted what they are able to and not able to do.

2. Granular Permissions

• You have the option to specify S3 read only access or EC2 Full Access.
• The Principle Of Least Privilege (PoLP) is there to make sure users are not given more access than what they require.

3. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

• An additional security layer that requires a password and another form of identification e.g. hardware token.

4. Temporary Access With Roles

• IAM Roles are used to provide limited access to AWS services temporarily to external users. For example, a selective external application may reach a database.

5. Audit & Compliance

• Identities actions are being logged to AWS CloudTrail Services and are tracked by who did what.
• Ensures security compliance best practices.

1. Establish IAM Users & Groups Create a unique login for every individual user.

2. Policies Define Documents Set permissions with the JSON-based policy documents.

3. Assign Roles Assign temporary access to AWS applications or other services.

4. Modify Multi-factor Authentication Setting Additional security Enabling MFA to offer more secure access.

5. Check Activity Track access through AWS CloudTrail logs and System Activity Reports.

• Developers & DevOps Safeguard the API keys Set and control the boundaries of AWS access.

• System Admins Define the thresholds a user is allowed to use in terms of services/resources.

• Security Team Ensure compliance and investigate user’s behavior.

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