Question

Difficulty: EasyIdentity and Access Management (IAM)

A startup is setting up its AWS environment and wants to establish secure access for its developers and applications. The solutions architect needs to follow the principle of least privilege and AWS security best practices. Which TWO actions should the solutions architect take to meet these requirements? (Select TWO.)

  1. Configure AWS IAM Identity Center to federate the company's corporate identity provider for user access.Answer
  2. Create IAM roles with least-privilege permissions and require users or applications to assume them.Answer
  3. C
    Use the AWS account root user credentials for daily administrative tasks to simplify permission management.
  4. D
    Create individual IAM users with long-term access keys for all corporate active directory users to access AWS resources.
  5. E
    Store application database passwords as plaintext String parameters in Systems Manager Parameter Store for easy retrieval.

Answer

Configuring AWS IAM Identity Center to federate the company's corporate identity provider and creating IAM roles with least-privilege permissions.
Configuring AWS IAM Identity Center for identity federation and utilizing IAM roles with least-privilege policies are standard AWS best practices. Federation provides central access management using temporary security credentials, while roles enforce granular access limits without relying on long-term keys.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate user access requirements.
Identify that using AWS IAM Identity Center for federation is the best practice for directory users.
This avoids creating individual IAM users with long-term access keys and centralizes user management.
2
Apply the principle of least privilege for permissions.
Create IAM roles with minimal necessary permissions that users and systems assume dynamically.
Roles issue short-lived credentials, which reduces the threat window if credentials are intercepted.

Key Concept

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) security best practices including identity federation, least-privilege IAM roles, and avoiding long-term credentials or root user usage.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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