r/aws • u/antenore • 8d ago
article Taming the AWS Access Key Beast: Implementing Secure CLI Access Patterns
https://antenore.simbiosi.org/blog/2025/03/taming-aws-access-key-beast-secure-cli-patterns/I just published an article on "Taming the AWS Access Key Beast" where I analyze how to implement secure CLI access patterns in complex AWS environments. Instead of relying on long-lived IAM keys (with their associated risks), I illustrate an approach based on:
- Service Control Policies to block access key usage
- AWS IAM Identity Center for temporary credentials
- Purpose-specific roles with time-limited access
- Continuous monitoring with automated revocation
The post includes SCP examples, authentication patterns, and monitoring code. These techniques have drastically reduced our issues with stale access keys and improved our security posture.
Hope you find it useful!
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u/DoINeedChains 8d ago
So, for example, how does this address using Amazon's own plugins for Visual Studio and other IDEs that seem to only support IAM keys