AWS IAM Governance & Access Management Platform

AWS IAM Governance & Access Management Platform

Business Value & Impact

This IAM governance platform addresses one of the most critical cloud security challenges: managing identity and access at scale. My contribution includes designing the complete governance framework, building automated access review workflows, and implementing least-privilege optimization algorithms.

Key Business Metrics:

• 80% reduction in overprivileged access through automated analysis and remediation
• 100% access review automation eliminating manual certification processes
• Zero unused IAM roles/users through automated cleanup
• Sub-hour access request approval time vs. days of manual review
• Continuous compliance with IAM policies and access controls

Risk Reduction

• Prevents privilege escalation attacks by identifying and removing overprivileged access
• Eliminates unused credentials that could be exploited if compromised
• Ensures least-privilege through automated policy optimization
• Reduces compliance violations through continuous access certification
• Minimizes insider threat risk by maintaining proper access controls

Reporting & Visibility

• Access review reports showing all IAM users, roles, and policies
• Overprivileged access analysis with specific recommendations
• Unused credential reports identifying cleanup opportunities
• Access request workflow dashboards
• Compliance reports for SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA requirements

Technical Contributions

• IAM Analysis Engine: Built comprehensive analyzer for users, roles, and policies
• Access Review Automation: Created automated review workflows with approval processes
• Policy Optimizer: Developed algorithms to optimize IAM policies for least-privilege
• Usage Analytics: Implemented CloudTrail analysis to identify actual API usage vs. permissions
• Multi-Account Support: Built AWS Organizations integration for enterprise-wide governance
• Documentation: Created guides for access reviews, policy optimization, and compliance

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Build This Project Step-by-Step

This project teaches you IAM Governance—a critical skill for IAM Engineer and Cloud Security roles. You’ll build a complete platform that demonstrates enterprise-grade identity management capabilities.

What You’ll Learn

By building this project, you’ll master:

• IAM Deep Dive - Understanding users, roles, policies, and trust relationships
• Least-Privilege Principles - Implementing and enforcing minimal access requirements
• Access Review Processes - Automating access certification workflows
• Policy Optimization - Analyzing and optimizing IAM policies
• CloudTrail Analysis - Using audit logs to understand actual access patterns
• Multi-Account Governance - Managing IAM across AWS Organizations
• Compliance Automation - Meeting SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA IAM requirements

Step-by-Step Learning Path

Week 1: IAM Fundamentals

1. Deep dive into IAM users, roles, groups, and policies
2. Understand trust relationships and assume role
3. Learn IAM best practices and least-privilege
4. Set up Python development environment with Boto3

Week 2: IAM Analysis

1. Build IAM user analyzer
2. Create role and policy analyzer
3. Implement overprivileged access detector
4. Build unused credential finder

Week 3: Access Reviews

1. Design access review workflow
2. Build review report generator
3. Implement approval process
4. Create review scheduling system

Week 4: Policy Optimization

1. Analyze actual API usage from CloudTrail
2. Compare usage vs. permissions
3. Generate optimized policy recommendations
4. Build policy comparison tools

Week 5: Multi-Account & Compliance

1. Integrate with AWS Organizations
2. Build cross-account IAM analysis
3. Create compliance reports
4. Implement automated remediation

Getting Started

Prerequisites:

• AWS Account with IAM permissions
• Python 3.11+ installed
• AWS CLI configured
• Understanding of IAM concepts
• AWS Organizations (optional, for multi-account features)

Quick Start:

1. Clone and explore the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Atouba64/aResume.git
   cd aResume/CybersecurityJunior_projects/aws-iam-governance-platform
   

2. Follow the deployment guide: The repository includes a complete deployment guide covering:
   • Setting up AWS environment
   • Installing dependencies
   • Running IAM analysis
   • Generating access reviews
   • Setting up automated reviews
3. Run initial analysis:

   python scripts/analyze_iam.py --all-accounts
   

4. Study access reviews: Review the access review guide to understand:
   • How access reviews work
   • Setting up automated reviews
   • Review report structure
   • Compliance integration
5. Explore policy optimization: Learn how to optimize IAM policies:

   python scripts/optimize_policy.py --role-name MyRole
   

Technologies You’ll Master

• Python & Boto3: AWS SDK for IAM operations
• IAM Concepts: Users, roles, policies, trust relationships
• CloudTrail Analysis: Understanding actual API usage
• AWS Organizations: Multi-account IAM governance
• Policy Optimization: Least-privilege algorithms
• Access Reviews: Automated certification workflows

Real-World Application

After building this project, you’ll be able to:

• ✅ Analyze IAM configurations for security issues
• ✅ Implement least-privilege access controls
• ✅ Automate access review processes
• ✅ Optimize IAM policies based on actual usage
• ✅ Manage IAM across multiple AWS accounts
• ✅ Meet compliance requirements for access management

GitHub Repository

🔗 Complete source code and documentation: github.com/Atouba64/aResume/tree/main/CybersecurityJunior_projects/aws-iam-governance-platform

The repository includes:

• IAM analysis modules
• Access review automation
• Policy optimization tools
• Multi-account governance
• Complete deployment documentation
• Access review guides

Additional Learning Resources

• AWS IAM Best Practices
• AWS Organizations User Guide
• Least-Privilege Access Guide

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Ready to build this project? Visit the GitHub repository to get started with IAM analysis tools, access review automation, and comprehensive documentation.