AWS IAM Policy types: identity-based and resource-based

Learn about the first two policy types supported by AWS.

All IAM policies follow the structure detailed in the previous lessons, but how a policy behaves is determined by what it is attached to. We can attach policies to 5 entities, and they are named accordingly:

  • Identity-based policies: Attached to an IAM user, group, or role
  • Resource-based policies: Attached to AWS resources
  • Service-control policies: Attached to accounts
  • Session policy: Attached to assume role sessions
  • Permissions boundary: Attached to identities as a boundary

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