👤Account

NEW

A system identity representing a user or service with credentials, permissions, and associated resources or billing.

DESCRIPTION

An account identifies a person, application, or service to a system for authentication and authorization. In cloud platforms, accounts often serve as isolation and billing boundaries. Accounts are governed by IAM policies, roles, and access keys or credentials. Good hygiene includes least privilege, MFA, lifecycle management, and periodic reviews.

ALTERNATIVE DEFINITIONS

NIST

A representation of a user, group, or other entity that is uniquely identifiable to an information system.

Concise security-focused definition emphasizing unique identification.

Source

AWS

An AWS account is a container for your AWS resources.

Highlights the cloud-oriented resource container aspect of accounts.

Source

RELATED TERMS

Identity User Service Account Authentication Authorization IAM Tenant Subscription Application Profile Access Key

COMPETING TERMS

Anonymous Access

RELATIONS

• Broader: Identity
• Narrower: Service Account

KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Data Security Cloud Platform & Tooling Data Management

TARGET AUDIENCE

Application Administrator Security Architect DevOps Engineer Software Developer IT Manager Chief Information Security Officer

EXTERNAL SOURCES

• Wikipedia - User (computing)
• Microsoft Learn - Overview of identities and accounts in Azure AD
• Google Cloud - Projects and accounts as resource boundaries

TOP QUESTIONS

What distinguishes an Account from an Identity?

An account is the system object that stores credentials and permissions, while identity refers to the unique subject represented. One identity can map to multiple accounts across systems.

Category: Misunderstanding

Why are Accounts important in cloud platforms?

They define isolation, billing, and governance boundaries. Multi-account strategies improve security, blast-radius control, and compliance.

Category: Relevancy

What are common security controls for Accounts?

Use MFA, least privilege, strong rotation policies, conditional access, and service-specific roles instead of long-lived keys.

Category: BestPractice

What is a Service Account compared to a user Account?

A service account represents a non-human principal for applications or automations. It typically uses scoped credentials or short-lived tokens.

Category: Definition

What risks arise from orphaned Accounts?

They can retain excessive privileges and become attack vectors. Regular lifecycle reviews and deprovisioning mitigate this risk.

Category: Risk

How do Accounts relate to tenants and subscriptions?

Tenants hold directories and identities, accounts authenticate principals, and subscriptions or projects scope resources and billing.

Category: Concepts

What is the role of IAM with Accounts?

IAM attaches policies and roles to accounts to manage permissions. It enforces who can access which resources and how.

Category: Management

How should shared Accounts be handled?

Avoid shared accounts; use individual accounts with role-based access. If unavoidable, enforce strong auditing and short-lived credentials.

Category: BestPractice

How do Accounts support least privilege?

By scoping roles and permissions narrowly and using temporary credentials, accounts limit access to only what’s necessary.

Category: Principle