AWS IAM-Related Concepts in Certification Exams
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AWS certifications at all levels—Foundational, Associate, Professional, and Specialty—frequently include questions about AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). Below is an overview of the most common IAM-related concepts you will likely encounter, grouped by certification level.
IAM controls access to AWS resources by defining who can access what and under which conditions.
Differentiates authentication (verifying identity) from authorization (defining allowed actions).
IAM User vs. IAM Role: Users have long-term credentials; roles provide temporary credentials.
Benefits of using IAM Groups:
Simplifies permissions management by assigning policies to groups instead of individual users.
Types:
Identity-based (attached to users, groups, or roles).
Resource-based (attached to resources like S3 buckets).
Policy Structure: Composed of Effect, Action, Resource, and Condition.
Explicit Deny: Overrides all allow rules, ensuring restrictive security.
Grant only the permissions needed for a task.
Programmatic Access: Using access keys for CLI, SDK, or API calls.
Management Console Access: Passwords for browser-based access.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adds an extra layer of security.
Use cases:
Cross-account access.
Applications on EC2, Lambda, or ECS needing temporary credentials.
Roles include trust policies and require assumptions by users or services.
Provides temporary, limited-privilege credentials.
Common APIs:
AssumeRole and AssumeRoleWithSAML.
GetSessionToken.
Policy Types
Identity-based Policies: Attached to users, groups, or roles.
Resource-based Policies: Attached directly to AWS resources.
Service Control Policies (SCPs): Applied at the organizational level.
Permissions Boundaries: Set maximum permissions.
Session Policies: Provide temporary access.
Default deny.
Explicit allow (if policy allows the action).
Explicit deny (overrides all allows).
Condition Keys:
Refine access by setting conditions (e.g., IP ranges, MFA, tags).
Enforce account-wide permissions in AWS Organizations.
Restrict actions even if identity policies allow them.
Define the maximum permissions an IAM user or role can have.
Use roles and trust policies for secure interactions across accounts.
Enable SSO using SAML or OpenID Connect.
Grant federated users temporary access.
Detects resources with external access.
Provides actionable findings.
Lists IAM users, password policies, and access key activity.
Tracks IAM changes, API calls, and policy updates.
Enable MFA for all users.
Avoid using the root user except for account setup.
Use roles instead of embedding credentials in applications.
Rotate access keys regularly.
Manage permissions dynamically using resource tags.
Assign unique roles or groups for distinct teams or functions.
Scenario: An application on EC2 needs access to an S3 bucket.
Answer: Use an IAM role attached to the EC2 instance.
Scenario: Restrict access to an S3 bucket to a specific IP range.
Answer: Use a bucket policy with an IP condition.
Scenario: Provide secure, temporary access for external users.
Answer: Use AWS STS for temporary credentials.
Scenario: Which IAM policy element explicitly denies access?
Answer: Explicit Deny.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01):
Basic IAM concepts: Users, Groups, Policies.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03):
IAM roles, policies, and advanced access management.
AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02):
Temporary credentials, programmatic access.
AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C01):
Advanced IAM features: SCPs, federation, permissions boundaries.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (SAP-C02):
Complex IAM scenarios, organizational security, governance.
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