Implementing role-based and attribute-based access control patterns

What is the difference between role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC) in the context of AWS?

RBAC is access control based on user roles within an organization and is typically used to restrict system access to authorized users. ABAC, on the other hand, uses attributes (which can be user attributes, resource attributes, environmental attributes, etc.) to grant or deny access to resources dynamically based on a set of policies and rules. While RBAC is a simpler model defining permissions based on roles, ABAC offers more granular control and can factor in a variety of attributes such as time of access, location, and device compliance status.

Can you describe how you can implement RBAC on AWS services?

RBAC can be implemented on AWS by creating IAM (Identity and Access Management) roles and associating them with specific policies that grant or deny permissions to AWS resources. Users or services can then assume these roles to perform certain actions within AWS. The IAM policies are attached to the roles and define the permissions.

What AWS service would you use to facilitate ABAC and how would it be configured?

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) supports ABAC by allowing you to define permissions using tags. You can configure ABAC by creating IAM permissions policies that include conditions that check for matching tags on IAM principals (users or roles) and AWS resources. These tag-based conditions in the policy language enable you to specify access control.

How might DynamoDB be used in conjunction with ABAC to secure data at the item level?

DynamoDB supports fine-grained access control using IAM policies which can include tag-based conditions, enabling ABAC. You can leverage this by tagging DynamoDB items and then creating IAM policies that allow or deny actions on those items based on the tags. This way, you can secure access to individual DynamoDB items based on attributes.

In an environment using AWS and ABAC, how would you ensure temporary access to a resource is granted to a third party?

You can provide temporary access to a resource using AWS Security Token Service (STS). With STS, you can create temporary credentials that have limited permissions defined by IAM policies that include ABAC conditions. The third party would then use these temporary credentials to access the resource in accordance with the ABAC policies.

How do you set up cross-account access using RBAC in AWS?

You can set up cross-account access by creating an IAM role intended for cross-account usage with the necessary permissions, and then establishing trust between accounts. The trusted account can assume the role and perform actions as defined by the role’s permissions policy.

How does Amazon Cognito fit into implementing RBAC or ABAC in an AWS environment?

Amazon Cognito provides authentication, authorization, and user management for web and mobile apps. Once users are authenticated, Cognito interfaces with IAM to provide temporary credentials that map to IAM roles. These roles can then employ either RBAC or ABAC by attaching policies that determine what the authenticated user can access or perform within AWS services.

Discuss how you would audit the effectiveness of implemented RBAC and ABAC systems in AWS?

Auditing the effectiveness of RBAC and ABAC can be achieved through AWS CloudTrail, which logs all API calls and activities. By monitoring these logs, you can verify that access patterns align with your intended policy definitions. Additionally, AWS Config can be used to assess whether your configurations comply with your access control policies over time.

Which AWS feature can be used to simulate permissions assigned through RBAC or ABAC before actually applying them to users or roles?

The AWS IAM Policy Simulator can be used to simulate permissions. With this tool, you can evaluate how your policies would grant or deny access to different AWS resources, allowing you to test and validate your RBAC and ABAC policies before they’re live.

How might you use AWS Lambda in conjunction with ABAC to create dynamic access control mechanisms?

AWS Lambda functions can be triggered in response to various AWS events and can include logic that examines attributes and context to determine access permissions. By integrating Lambda with other AWS services, such as API Gateway for incoming web requests or Amazon S3 for object-level operations, you can invoke Lambda to process the attributes dynamically and enforce ABAC policies before granting or denying access.