Question

Difficulty: EasyIdentity and Access Management (IAM)

A company wants to set up access for a new employee who needs to manage Amazon EC2 instances on a daily basis. The manager wants to follow AWS security best practices. Which of the following actions should the administrator take to grant the employee this access?

  1. A
    Allow the employee to log in daily using the AWS Account Root User credentials.
  2. B
    Configure an IAM role for the employee to use as their permanent daily login identity.
  3. Create an IAM user for the employee and attach an IAM policy with EC2 management permissions.Answer
  4. D
    Request AWS Support to manage the permissions and secure the employee's local operating system.

Answer

Create an IAM user for the employee and attach an IAM policy with EC2 management permissions.
Creating a dedicated IAM user for the employee and attaching an IAM policy with the necessary EC2 management permissions is the standard AWS best practice. This ensures accountability, follows the principle of least privilege, and aligns with secure identity management recommendations.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the type of identity required for a new employee's daily operations.
An IAM user is appropriate for an individual human needing long-term credentials for AWS console or CLI access.
AWS best practices dictate that individuals should have unique IAM users rather than sharing root credentials or using temporary roles as permanent logins.
2
Determine how to grant the minimum required permissions to the IAM user.
Attach an IAM policy specifying permissions to manage EC2 instances.
Following the principle of least privilege ensures the employee only has access to the resources required for their job role.

Key Concept

Identity and Access Management (IAM) Identity Types and Best Practices
Estimated Time:45s
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