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IAM Best Practices

Maarek highlights some best practices for managing IAM in AWS

Key takeaways​

  • Limit Root Account Usage: Use the root account only for initial setup tasks to minimize security risks. Create individual IAM accounts for each user.
  • One Physical User = One IAM User. Do not share IAM user credentials among multiple people.
  • User Management: Assign user to groups and assign permission to groups. This makes it easier to apply policies and manage security at the group level rather than individually.
  • Strong Password Policies: Implement strict password policies and enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) to secure accounts against unauthorized access.
  • Use of Roles: Create roles for granting permissions to AWS services (like EC2) to ensure that permissions are correctly allocated based on the services used.
  • Access Keys for Programmatic Access (CLI/SDK): For programmatic access through the AWS CLI or SDKs, generate access keys carefully, ensuring they remain confidential.
  • Management tools: Utilize IAM credentials reports and IAM access advisor (Last Accessed) to audit permissions and monitor access.
  • Never share IAM users & Access keys