Identity and Access Management Threats

Identity and Access Management Threats

Identity and Access Management (IAM) forms the cornerstone of cloud security, making IAM-related threats critical to model. Unlike traditional perimeter-based security, cloud security depends entirely on identity. A compromised IAM credential can provide complete access to cloud resources regardless of network location. This fundamental shift requires rethinking how we model authentication and authorization threats.

Credential compromise through various means represents the most common cloud breach vector. Phishing attacks target cloud console credentials. Developers accidentally commit access keys to public repositories. Long-lived credentials remain active after employees leave. API keys embedded in mobile applications get extracted. Each credential type—passwords, access keys, tokens—faces specific threats requiring targeted controls.

Privilege escalation in cloud IAM systems often occurs through policy misconfigurations rather than software vulnerabilities. Overly permissive policies might allow users to modify their own permissions. Role assumption chains could provide unintended access paths. Service accounts might have broader permissions than necessary. The complexity of cloud IAM systems, with their policy languages and evaluation logic, makes these misconfigurations common and dangerous.

Federation and single sign-on (SSO) introduce additional complexity. While reducing password proliferation, federation creates high-value targets in identity providers. SAML assertion vulnerabilities might allow authentication bypass. OAuth misconfigurations could expose tokens. Multi-cloud environments multiply these challenges as each provider has different federation mechanisms. Threat modeling must trace authentication flows across these complex systems.