Best practices for identity and access management in cloud-native infrastructure

In this article, the author discusses best practices for securing access to and from cloud environments. They begin by explaining identity and access management (IAM) in the context of cloud security, which involves managing digital identities and their level of access to resources within an environment. The AAA model—comprising authentication, authorization, and accounting—is used as a framework for creating efficient access control. The article then delves into specific best practices for strengthening IAM systems: treating identities as a new kind of boundary, using complex passwords and multi-factor authentication for user accounts, limiting the use of static, long-lived credentials for service accounts, organizing identities into logical groups, assigning permissions based on zero-trust and least-privilege principles, and monitoring IAM activity using logs. The author emphasizes the importance of regular auditing to identify orphaned user accounts and other vulnerabilities within an organization's environment. They also recommend enforcing strong passwords and MFA for user accounts, as well as leveraging cloud provider-based identity management services to replace static credentials for service accounts. Furthermore, the article highlights the significance of organizing identities into logical groups based on their role or function, which enables efficient management of permissions at a high level. The author also discusses implementing zero-trust and least privilege controls for IAM by considering factors such as who should access a resource, how they should access it, when they should be allowed to access it, why they need access, what data they should be allowed to access, and where they should be allowed to access it from. Lastly, the article underscores the importance of monitoring IAM activity using logs, which provide valuable insights into user behavior within an environment. The author suggests using centralized logging tools and Cloud SIEM platforms to efficiently identify security threats and build identity-centric monitoring workflows.