Identity Management

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Explanation
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is the core service used to control access to AWS resources. It enables authentication and authorization through users, groups, roles, and policies. IAM policies define permissions using a JSON-based language that specifies allowed or denied actions on resources. Roles allow secure access without long-term credentials and are commonly used by AWS services and applications. IAM supports multi-factor authentication, fine-grained access control, and integration with external identity providers, forming the foundation of AWS security.

Table

Example
A development team creates IAM users for each engineer and assigns them to groups with predefined permissions. Applications running on EC2 assume IAM roles instead of storing access keys. Multi-factor authentication is enabled for sensitive operations. Permissions are reviewed regularly to enforce least privilege. This approach minimizes security risks and simplifies access management.

Use Cases
• Secure access control
• Least-privilege permission management
• Application authentication
• Cross-account access