A security audit of an organization's cloud environment reveals that several IAM policies are misconfigured. Which of the following configurations represents the most significant security risk and sho

Question

Options

• AGranting the Administrator Access policy to an IAM user for temporary troubleshooting purposes
• BUsing service accounts with minimal permissions based on the principle of least privilege
• CApplying a deny-by-default policy for unknown or untagged resources
• DEnforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all IAM users with console access

• A
  53% (16)
• B
  10% (3)
• C
  7% (2)
• D
  30% (9)

Explanation

Option A: Assigning full administrative privileges (Administrator Access) to an IAM user, even temporarily, presents a severe security risk. If compromised, an attacker would gain unrestricted access to cloud resources, potentially leading to data exfiltration, privilege escalation, or even full account takeover. Instead, temporary permissions should be granted using least privilege principles and through time-limited IAM roles with just-in-time access. Option B: This follows best practices in cloud security by ensuring that service accounts only have the permissions required to perform specific tasks, reducing the attack surface. Option C: A deny-by-default policy ensures that any unidentified or unclassified resources cannot be accessed unless explicitly allowed, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. Option D: Enforcing MFA strengthens authentication security by requiring multiple factors for This is a best practice rather than a misconfiguration.

No community discussion yet for this question.