Introducing the AWS access policy types
We've mentioned the word policy before. In an organizational, regulatory, or legal setting, a policy represents the rules, patterns, and guidance meant to steer a decision-making process. In the context of IAM, a policy is how things such as business logic, security controls, and compliance requirements are translated into an access management system, such as AWS IAM. Within AWS IAM, policy are objects that specifically spell out the permissions of a principal or resource they are attached to. This can be seen in the following diagram:
Figure 4.1 – An example of policy objects that can apply to one or more AWS objects
Access policies can apply to IAM objects, as shown in the preceding diagram. They can also apply to specific AWS objects, such as S3 buckets, or even across multiple AWS accounts under the management of an AWS Organization.
In some regards, an AWS access policy can be thought of as a &apos...
