Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the major cloud service provider in the market. AWS is maintaining it’s market-leading position since it’s launch. Although many other players are coming into the picture like Microsoft’s Azure, Google Compute Cloud, IBM, but the AWS is still preferred cloud service provider given its non-competing nature with its client base.
I will try to share updates and information about different cloud services.
AWS Identity and Access Management service which is also known as IAM.
AWS IAM is a kind of service by which you can secure and control access to AWS resources. We can also use IAM to authenticate and authorize anyone to use AWS resources.
What are the features of AWS IAM?
- Shared access to resources in AWS account because you cannot share personal passwords.
- A configuration of the granular level of permission to specific AWS services is possible, so that specific people can get access to specific services.
- You can give Applications running on AWS, permissions to access other services running on AWS.
- We can enable Multi-factor authentication to make AWS account more secure.
- Identity federation by a third party identity provider for the users wants to use your AWS account temporarily.
- You can get to know who all are making API requests to your AWS account by using AWS CloudTrail service.
- IAM is PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant.
- To access any particular service we can integrate IAM with them.
- Eventually consistent: policies and permission you change, takes time to propagate in case of large cloud infrastructure, but eventually, it will.
Different ways of accessing IAM:
- AWS Management console, by choosing from the AWS services catalog.
- Using AWS CLI (Command line interface)
- SDK (Software Development Kits) in the language you are comfortable with.
- IAM HTTPS API
Links: AWS Identity and Access Management Service