IAM
IAM in Plain Terms
Imagine you have a large office building with many employees, each requiring different levels of access to certain rooms. You wouldn't give every employee the master key to all the rooms. Instead, you'd provide specific keys that open only the rooms they need. That's exactly what AWS IAM does—it's a tool that lets you manage "who can do what" in your AWS environment.
What is AWS IAM?
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a service that helps you:
- Define who can access your AWS resources (for example, you can give access to an employee or another AWS service).
- Control how they can use those resources (read-only, full control, limited actions, etc.).
Essentially, IAM is your digital security guard, ensuring that only the right people and services can access the correct parts of your AWS environment.
Key IAM Concepts
Practical Use Cases
Create IAM Users and add them to the correct IAM Groups for new employees.
Benefit: Easier user management and reduced risk of accidentally giving too many permissions.
Create an IAM Role with limited permissions for temporary access.
Benefit: Consultants can do their job without exposing sensitive information or risking major changes.
Create roles for EC2 instances to access other AWS services like S3.
Benefit: More secure system that's easier to maintain without embedding credentials.
Create specific policies for accessing sensitive data like financial information.
Benefit: Clear compliance and audit trail for who can access sensitive data.
IAM Best Practices Checklist
Remember, good IAM practices are not just about security—they're about building trust with your users and stakeholders. By ensuring proper access controls, you're demonstrating your commitment to protecting your product and its data.