Cloud Security
IAM
Identity and access management: least privilege, MFA and Zero Trust.
- 9 notes
- 68 minutes of reading
- Identity and access management: identities, authentication, authorisation and lifecycleThe core ideas of identity and access management (IAM): what an identity is, how authentication differs from authorisation, and how the joiner, mover, leaver lifecycle keeps access correct over time. 7 min · Beginner
- Single sign-on and federation: SAML, OAuth 2.0 and OpenID ConnectHow single sign-on and federation let one identity provider vouch for users across many applications, and what SAML, OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect each actually do. 9 min · Intermediate
- MFA and passwordless sign-in: factors, FIDO2 and passkeysThe types of authentication factor, how common MFA methods compare in strength, and why FIDO2 security keys and passkeys are called phishing-resistant. 8 min · Beginner
- Access control models: RBAC, ABAC, least privilege and access reviewsHow role-based and attribute-based access control work, how they compare, and how least privilege and regular access reviews keep permissions under control in cloud environments. 8 min · Intermediate
- Privileged access management: admin accounts, just-in-time access and break-glassWhy privileged accounts need extra protection, and how vaulting, just-in-time elevation, session recording and break-glass accounts keep administrative power under control. 8 min · Intermediate
- Service accounts, workload identities and secrets: avoiding long-lived keysHow applications, scripts and pipelines should authenticate to cloud services, why long-lived access keys are risky, and how managed identities and workload identity federation remove them. 8 min · Intermediate
- Zero Trust in plain wordsWhat Zero Trust really means, how it differs from the old perimeter model, and practical first steps for any organisation. 7 min · Intermediate
- Zero trust architecture and network segmentationWhy the old castle-and-moat model fails, the principles of zero trust, macro- and micro-segmentation, network access control with 802.1X, zero trust network access (ZTNA) replacing VPNs, and a practical roadmap. 8 min · Intermediate
- Strong passwords and multi-factor authenticationHow to create passwords that are easy to remember and hard to crack, why password managers help, and why MFA matters most. 5 min · Basics