Securely Access AWS Services with AWS IAM and Amazon Cognito

INTERMEDIATE

90 minutes

5 tasks

In this lab, you'll learn how to secure application access to AWS services using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Amazon Cognito. You'll configure a federated identity pool in Cognito, allowing application users to securely access AWS resources with temporary credentials. Additionally, you'll enforce best practices for secure API access using AWS IAM roles and policies. This hands-on experience will help you understand the critical aspects of AWS authentication and authorization for application development.

Scenario

TechCorp is developing a mobile application that requires access to its AWS-based services. To ensure secure and efficient user access without hardcoding credentials, the development team needs to implement a secure authentication mechanism using Amazon Cognito and IAM roles. This will allow users to log in through TechCorp's identity provider and access AWS services securely.

Learning Objectives

Configure Amazon Cognito for identity federation.
Create IAM roles for authenticated and unauthenticated users.
Integrate Cognito identity with AWS SDK to obtain temporary credentials.
Securely access DynamoDB using IAM roles.

tasks (5)

task 1: Create an Amazon Cognito Identity Pool.

10 min

task 2: Create IAM roles for Cognito authenticated and unauthenticated users.

15 min

task 3: Integrate Cognito with AWS SDK to access DynamoDB.

20 min

task 4: Configure IAM policies for least privilege access.

20 min

task 5: Secure application environment variables using AWS Secrets Manager.

25 min

Prerequisites

•Basic understanding of AWS IAM and roles.
•Familiarity with Amazon Cognito capabilities.
•Knowledge of how to use AWS SDK in applications.

Skills Tested

Configuring Amazon Cognito for identity federation.Creating and managing AWS IAM roles and policies.Integrating AWS SDK for secure service access.Using AWS Secrets Manager for secure secret management.