- Usecase Overview
- Solution
- Prerequisites
- Benefits
- Reference Links
Usecase Overview
The organization needs a modern, secure, and fully auditable approach for managing access to its AWS environment. This includes centralizing and controlling AWS Console authentication, enforcing granular least privilege permissions, and providing administrators with a unified way to access all AWS EC2 servers. Traditional EC2 keypair based server access creates operational overhead and security risks, so the organization aims to eliminate static keys in favor of identity based, short lived access. Additionally, complete visibility into user activity including session recordings and detailed audit trails is essential to support compliance requirements, streamline troubleshooting, and enhance overall security governance across AWS workloads.
Solution
By integrating AWS with Okta and Okta Privileged Access (OPA), the organization can centralize and secure AWS Console authentication through Okta SSO with MFA, while implementing granular, least privilege access by mapping Okta groups to AWS IAM roles via SAML.
OPA further streamlines operations by providing a unified portal for accessing all AWS EC2 instances without relying on static SSH or RDP key pairs, instead issuing short lived, identity bound certificates for every connection. This keyless access model eliminates the operational and security challenges associated with key management, and with OPA’s comprehensive session recording and server level audit capabilities combined with Okta’s authentication logs, the organization gains full visibility into who accessed what, when, and what actions were performed across all AWS resources.
Prerequisites
- Super admin privileges to access Okta Tenant.
- Admin access to Okta Privileged Access.
- Admin support or access to AWS Console
- Admin Access to Target EC2 Servers
Theoretical Demonstration
Please watch the video to understand how we can secure AWS and AWS EC2 instance with Okta.
Technical Demonstration
Watch a streamlined demo showing how to easily manage identities with Okta and secure both AWS console and EC2 instances using step up MFA factors along with session recording to boost efficiency, security, and auditability.
Benefits
- Centralized & Secure AWS Console Access
- Granular, Least Privilege Access Control
- Unified Access to All AWS Accounts & EC2 Servers
- Eliminate the key pair used to access the EC2 instances.
- Comprehensive Session Recording
Reference Links
Okta Privileged Access | Okta Identity Engine
Configure SAML and SCIM with Okta and IAM Identity Center – AWS IAM Identity Center
