IAM (Identity and Access Management)

IAM (Identity and Access Management) in AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a service that helps you control and manage access to your AWS resources. It allows you to create and manage user accounts, set permissions, and control what actions each user can perform on your resources.

Think of IAM as a security guard for your AWS account. It helps ensure that only authorized individuals or services can access and perform actions on your resources, such as launching instances, accessing data, or modifying configurations.

With IAM, you can create unique user accounts for different people or services within your organization. Each user is provided with a set of credentials (username and password) or access keys (programmatic access) to authenticate themselves.

IAM allows you to define permissions for each user, specifying what actions they are allowed to perform and which AWS resources they can access. These permissions are based on policies that you define, which are sets of rules that govern access and actions.

By using IAM, you can follow the principle of least privilege, granting only the necessary permissions to each user or service. This helps in maintaining the security and integrity of your AWS resources, reducing the risk of unauthorized access or accidental misconfiguration.

Conclusion: IAM provides a simple and effective way to manage user access and control within your AWS environment, ensuring that your resources are secure and only accessible by authorized individuals or services.