What Is AWS IAM?
By Karthick Selvam · Published · Updated
AWS Identity and Access Management controls who can do what in an AWS account.
Core concepts
Users, groups, roles and policies. Policies are JSON documents that allow or deny actions on resources.
Roles over keys
Prefer roles with temporary credentials for applications and services instead of long-lived access keys.
Best practices
Apply least privilege, enable MFA, avoid using the root account, and use IAM Identity Center for workforce access across accounts.
Common pitfalls
Overly broad policies (for example "*" actions), unused credentials and keys committed to code.
Frequently asked questions
Is IAM free?
IAM itself has no additional charge.
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