Understanding AWS Credentials
AWS credentials are the key pair combinations that authenticate and authorize access to AWS services. Effective credentials management is critical to protecting your cloud infrastructure from unauthorized access.
- Access Key ID
- Secret Access Key
- Security Tokens (ST)
Store Securely
- Use AWS Secrets Manager for dynamic credential rotation
- Encrypt credentials at rest with KMS
- Leverage IAM roles instead of long-term credentials
- Use environment variables in production code
Access Control
- Implement least privilege with IAM policies
- Use policy conditions for time-based access
- Enable multi-factor authentication for root users
- Monitor access patterns with CloudTrail