AWS IAM Access Analyzer

Overview

AWS IAM Access Analyzer helps organizations set, check, and refine AWS permissions with least privilege in mind. It examines external, internal, and unused access to AWS resources, using automated reasoning—a mathematical-logic approach—to assess permissions. Findings help security teams review access, while compliance teams can use the service to demonstrate access-control audit requirements.

The service supports several parts of the permissions lifecycle: monitoring resource exposure, identifying access to selected internal resources, reviewing unused access, generating policies from AWS CloudTrail activity, and validating policies against IAM best practices. It is a SaaS offering for AWS, not a general-purpose identity management product.

Key features

External, internal, and unused access findings

The external access analyzer continuously watches for new or changed resource permissions that allow public or cross-account access. Internal findings identify users and roles with access to S3, DynamoDB, or RDS resources. Unused access findings can identify unused roles, IAM user access keys and passwords, as well as unused services and actions.

Access Analyzer also provides last accessed information for AWS services and actions from select AWS services. This can give teams another source of context when reviewing whether access is still needed.

Policy generation and validation

Policy generation uses access activity captured in AWS CloudTrail logs to create fine-grained IAM policies. Policy validation checks policies for security warnings, errors, general warnings, and suggestions based on IAM best practices. Policy simulation is supported.

Workflow integrations and checks

Custom policy checks can be added to CI/CD pipelines to review policies before deployment. Access Analyzer integrates with AWS Security Hub CSPM and Amazon EventBridge, supporting findings analysis and notification workflows.

Pricing

AWS IAM Access Analyzer has a free plan, but not every analyzer capability is described as free. IAM policy validation, policy generation, and the external access analyzer are provided at no additional charge.

The internal analyzer monitors access to business-critical AWS resources within an AWS organization. Review the applicable billing basis for each capability when estimating costs.

Platforms

Access Analyzer is listed for web, API, Android, and iOS. Its supported cloud is AWS, and its deployment model is SaaS. Listed identity capabilities include SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, and OIDC SSO protocols; FIDO2 authenticators, virtual authenticator apps, and RADIUS MFA methods; directory sync; and lifecycle provisioning. Adaptive access and adaptive access policies are not supported.

Who it's for

This service is aimed at teams responsible for AWS permissions rather than readers seeking broad app access controls across unrelated cloud platforms. Security teams can use its external, internal, and unused access findings to review and refine access. Compliance teams may find its policy checks and access visibility relevant when demonstrating access-control audit requirements. Development teams can use custom policy checks in CI/CD pipelines before deployment.

Organizations should also account for the distinct pricing of custom checks and internal or unused access analysis, alongside the no-additional-charge policy and external analysis capabilities.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Covers public and cross-account exposure, selected internal resource access, and several forms of unused access.
• Pros: Generates policies from CloudTrail activity and validates policies with warnings and best-practice suggestions.
• Pros: Integrations with Security Hub CSPM and EventBridge, plus CI/CD support for custom checks, connect findings with operational workflows.
• Cons: Focuses on AWS permissions and resources, so its scope is narrower than general-purpose identity management.
• Cons: Internal and unused access analysis have usage-based billing details, while custom policy checks are billed per API call.
• Cons: Adaptive access and adaptive access policies are not available.

Alternatives

For a broader look at adjacent categories, see Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management Software, Identity and Access Management Software, and Single Sign-On Software.

Other products to consider include C3M Cloud Control, Qualys TotalCloud, Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud API Security, Sysdig Secure, CrowdStrike Falcon Surface, FortiCNAPP, Rapid7 Surface Command, and SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security.

Verdict

AWS IAM Access Analyzer is a focused permissions-analysis service for organizations already working with AWS. Its combination of exposure monitoring, internal and unused access findings, policy generation, and policy validation addresses multiple access-review tasks, with integrations and CI/CD checks extending those workflows. The main considerations are its AWS-specific scope and the separate charges associated with custom checks and some analyzer capabilities.