An IAM user account as an entity that represents a person or a service
An IAM policy is a document that defines the permissions which are applied to users, groups and roles
Inline policies: policies which can be attached directly to the user
IAM Groups are a collective of users which have the same policies applied to them. Policies applied to the group are inherently applied to the users which are par of the group. This makes easier to manage and apply policies for multiple users
An IAM Role is an identity that can be assumed by a service
Authentication Methods
Access Keys:
Consists of an Access key ID and a secret key
User for programmatic access tot he API
IAM User accounts and passwords:
Used for authenticating to the AWS Management Console
Signing Certificate:
X.%09 certificate used for accessing certain AWS services