What you will learn
- Write least-privilege policies
- Use roles over keys
- Understand the trust model
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The basics, in plain English
IAM stands for Identity and Access Management. It is the system that decides who is allowed to do what in your cloud account. Think of it like keys and locks: a person or program gets an identity, and you hand them only the keys they truly need.
- Identity
- Who someone is, such as a user account or an automated program.
- Permission
- A specific thing an identity is allowed to do, like read a file or start a server.
- Role
- A bundle of permissions you can hand to a person or service at once.
- Policy
- A written rule that lists exactly what is allowed or denied.
- Least privilege
- Giving each identity the smallest set of permissions it needs and nothing more.
- Credential
- The secret proof of identity, like a password or access key, used to log in.
01
IAM
Identities (users, roles) get policies granting actions on resources. Prefer roles and short-lived credentials over long-lived keys. Least privilege always.
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